New-York tribune., 1869-03-16
RESUMPTION.
LECTURE BY VAN BrRrY pyysLoy.

LECTURE BY VAN buren, DENsLOW.
The concluding lecture of the free course on
Social and Political Science Cooper Institute wasgyen
On Saturday evening. br. Peter Cooper presided. An
audience Of 600 men, mostly merchants and bankers we're
present The lecturer began by saying that the resump
tlon OF specie currency is almost question. En-
gland during her with Napoleon, suspended specie
payments but not specie indebtedness Wo have sus-
pended both, and the first difficulty IN the way OF specie
payments Is that nobody specie debts To egsate
that there should be payment IN specie for private debts
which only currency worth In specie threeourths OF
ITS face legally payable would be alike malevoent aud
disastrous Russia after waiting 80 years without grow
ing any To specie payments resumed 18i3 by
issuing new currency nj par with gold, in mode which
forms our precedent The lecturer then proceeded
TO answer FIVE questions. viz l. What ia currencyl This
included money aud all transferable debt, which
Of of'' s credit and proportion ease 70 rs no snser
For buying imports our bonds currency Their value
cents per dollar because tho Government trying
borrow money for Gper cannot get FOR less
than 81 per cent An s. per cent bond would sell par
hence G per cent sells no 49, per cent bond would
sel at 0ne-thIId OF Is or 70 In gold The Government
would invest goo IN per cents at 26 In q
ernment pays the fun rate OF Interest and ultimately an
increased principal The effort to seem to borrow at par
cent has doubled the principal Of our debt without
ing the interest. The coin interest makes the bonds
their value from the bonds and because based on the
Government credit and depending for redemption
the revenue. But being without interest they
must be worth less than the bonds by the amount OF the
interest, Hence bonds could never fail to DO worth
Tency,. no matter how they might rise or
a As lse grSenDaek dollar pays py 9peIaton @ 9e .ne
the bank note and bank deposits these must remain at
the remanderof currency stands at aboutT2 As the
OF the premium on gold the lecturer referred to
diagrams showing the course OF the gold premium during
the war, that with decline OF the credit OF the
Government caused by defeat and feLl with yletoryi
that however gold rose bonds always remained at the
price currency, showing that IN all nuctuations
of currency the bonds and currency ie ana rose 10
gether This proved that the value OF greeDack cur
rency did not depend on its Own quantity merely but on
the credit OF the Governments hence hat lts Ne couu
not be enhanced by eontraeron which would only cause
private notes 10 MI tne vacuum made by Withdrawal OF
Government notes The premium on gOld Is not ealstu
by gold being dcarer here than In other countries 1t IS
cheaper shown by the fact that II II is exported gold
cheap where It Is dear Dispensing with gold in our
dcarer Hence the socaed rise IN gold is any in
In the yalao Of gold but fall In that OF paper
abundance advantage. bur It's depreciation and hnc
tnatOn evils The remedy s therefore, In curing the
nestle prices, when expressed In currency now Include
the premium OF gold, say Sc per cent aud at the aver
creased taxation and another fifth caused by loss Of la
Dor by tho war ana emancipation These amount 10 a
rise OF &c per cent, which, by comparison Of rise
in prices Of labor &c. appears TO be the average rise
While the premium on gold only increased the nominal
pce it fluctuations poll labor and cndanger capital
Hence we should How Our currency, national
bank uocs and private debts consist OF ~ per cent
value aud 23 per cent ~ sOund-uame-nOthng. We
should reduce the nominal amount TO correspond
With It's actual value. Let the Government issue its de-
mand notes redeemablo at par In gold and buy
in with them outstanding deprecated notes. at the
they worth IN gold say 500 OF the old Tor S2 OF
the new II the people would take notes only 10 the
extent Of tho gold actually IN the treasury 10 redeem
notes at par with gold, ~ purchase OF wv @ 0I @ Ne
preciaed notes Ths would lessen the debl oy SOoO'
and would be the starting point l0r itugonauo oul
rcncy But IN fact the people would take the new notes
10 four times the amount oi goia IN the 10, ior
their redemption, as they had under our stat Dah
TEN taken s. 0 CdeCmabe currency Tor ~ 0 specie hed
for iis redemption Hence Government could ony u, JUS
entire s4ODoOOCO Of legal tenders WIN soVV0i 0i re re-
dcernabo notes, lessening the debt by Su5,NoOOo'
without any payment' sua nrcssIrS SoI,pgS naSer
of the volume ~ new currency put forth
Al bn in their existing s3JOOOOOOO OF currency with
$1,000 90 OF new redceuabc par In goldsayng Of
Srovo s'G nm ~ spee ~ pgymcnt Let them adjust
tbsr accounts currency into gold deposits ~ ike
either party by reducing tho sums To compensate Ior
the increased value OF the currency In which they arc
aLd banks alone by this mode Of redemption, rather
their aggregate loss by any other would amount as
S..nO)0Cg0 The people would whatever sum one
fourth of the private debts and credits oaLs IN exist
inns enSitably and voluntarily become Indebted Ia
sprcie az is equivalent as fast the "new currency
trcd they would pay them and this is all there is OF
sumption OF specie payments Congress is moving In
coin values half the battle. Issuing rcdeemable cur
rcucy the other half TO attempt 70 enforce or legls
Iatr for gUcie p1HcIu fOr currency debs Is equally In
bad Euth bad policy and bad law. IL would c0n1seate
many times more property than was destroyed by The
war and produce more misery ard suffering.
Tie sItagCr tAgU referred To the Wild Initiation which
followed resumption Ia England. In 1873 aud 1928, aud
argued due 10 the ret urn OF gold 10 the cur
I1lcy, l.d that like results would follow here unless
nearly the gold of tine country say S2oooOoOoO
ROud be required to be absorbed by the banks prior 10
resumption aud security Tor the redclnp
tOu " their and the stability ana caution OF their
Cfsyns Tie lecture entered into many details and its
length occupying nearly two hours, involved dcIEery
tovrd tbr close TOO rapid the subject matter IL
Was heard with close attention and closed with ell
thusiastic applause.