The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-01-30

own IN reply, but will produce incOntrover-
tible authority which no buIliOnist dare dis
pute.
The suspension of the Bank of England
10 1s4T caused A solemn parliamentary in
vestigation Of the workings of tie financial
system " paper convertible into gold at
pleasure, which was most elaborateiy, inn
partially, and intelhgently conducted and
| point % the conclusions of the report of
the COMMITTEES 10 the House of Lords AN Y
truthful portrait or the Ell 4ct upon busi ems,
and the country Of a currency based OIL and
instantly convertible into specie Hear the
statement Of the facts developed before that
committee:
1T is true that 90 those who may have 80
pected that the and s Wet, cap 32 TPeaI'a
act requiring The bank to keep specie t0 re-
en- her bills, would efectually prevent re-
currence of cycles ot commercial excitement
and depression, the contrast between the years
ls45 and 1547 must produce gricvous disap-
pointment
ITO those who anticipated that the act would
put check on inrrovideut speculation, The
disaPfOintinent canr, be Iess X reliance u ~
o. placed t11 tEV committee EFe conddeut il
may On the statement of the governor of the
bank and Of other witnesses, that 'speculAti0ns
we're never carried 20 such an enormous extent
~ IN ls4s and the beginning w l54T'
''Ii the act were relied on as a security
against violent fluctuations in the value 0i mon
ey, the faliaci0usness VI such antlc patton ~
conclusivey proved BY the fact Lhar while the
difference between the highest and orest rate
Of discount was in the calamtnus Years 0f lsaT
and 1889 but two ana quarter ~ twC ana
three quarters per cent. the dif renee in ls4I
rose 70 six and three quarters.
''If 10 was contemplated that tne number ani
che extent 81 commercial failures would hava
been lessened, the deplorable narrative of the
governor ot che bank, recording the failure 0f
thirty three houses, comparatively in large
business, iu London alone, w the amount 1f
$40, ,t45, GOO, il a conclusive reply
"It the power Ut obtaining banking accom-.
modation or moderate terms were cousilarel
to be promoted Nv the act 0i lS44 it cannot be
said that this important object has heen attain
cd, since il appears In evidence that il lSA7
in addition To aa interest 0f nine or ten per
cent, commission va also Frequently paid.
raising the charge to ten, twenty, Ky thirty per
cent, according 70 the lime which biils had t0
rum
Does anybody believe that az inc0nver-
tible paper currency can 10 worse than
that "lf %, for him ! have offended"
Having given the distinctive features w
the proposed system of currency need not
employ the time Of The House long upon tile
details of it. execution.
To prevent shock to business in making
the change | would require the collectors Of
taxes % the first daY Of every month, begin
ming the first day os July next, 10 return 70
the public repositories All the legAl-tender
notes received by them III previous months,
which should never be reissued, bat instead,
Certificates Of value,H NY proposed, in pay
ment 0f the expenses 0i the Government.
would als0 require like return Of all che
bank notes collected tor taxes, and thay
should continue t0 be received s0 long a.
any were offered, up ~ the drst iay Of Jan
uary next, at which time their receipt f0r
internal taxes should cease Ana un0n all
the amounts of bank notes s1 retuI ned Ave
per cent. interest snail be charged t0 the
banks by the Government, aud retained from
the interest payable on the bonds by which
the bills are secured until they are redeem
ed BY the banks in certificates 0f valEe, Dr
in the three per cent certificates issued IN
prra-apne rf tba, ,aet AZ March M 1897. and
lsv 80 oE Jui Z. 1865, .sIau an ~
proportion cf sach securities ahaIl se-
surBed 10 the banks redeeming them.
After the tirst day Of January thu Comm.
troIieT of the currency Should charg to the
banks five per cent Interest On WIFI the bills
heretofore issued % them, not redeemed III
,he manner before stated, o-, All the option
NJ The bank, furnish ir.stead thereof the cer-
Iificates 81 value, based On bonds pledged
Tor their redymTtcH, the awful money NJ
me Government II the national banks
should not choose 70 receive money IN lieu
Df their notes, then upon their return To the
treasury, the bonds lldged with the comp
trolier ~ the currency to secure them are ID
De returned.
Experiences has shown that fractional cur
-ency, ~ which there IL. Jay, S3l ,O0N, 900
N circulation, il used only t0 the extent of
H. convenience VI the people. TX "a now
-he practice of all che countries wherein 1t
y made of metal j. s1 lo debsse N u com
par,son With the standard N value AZ to
prevent X beng boarded, exported, or used
Ia the arts
1 would propose, therefore, ior convent
ance of handing. that tile fractional curren-
", instead Of paper, should be in denomin-
atoms Of ten cents and upwards, composed
Of tokeRs IN tile form ar silver coins here
-0tore used, made NJ silver allowed with
some Of the metals t0 such III extent Az ID
prevent boarding or expectation or o. in
the arts AZ metals, which should ~ issued
n redemption of the fractional currencr,
after the lst day of January next, should
not be received except AZ rhe treasury lCr
exchange for the tokens herein described.
On aud after June lst the Government
should be prepared to issue money in ex-
change for bonds A. before &c forth, ana t0
allow the money 20 exchanged 70 be rein
vested into The same bonds Al the plea IRE
o. the holder
One, and not tnc0nsiderable advantage 0f
this gradual but entire change ln the currency
81 the country, certainly enough W pay All
possible expense attending it ~ the de-
tectiOn and extinguishment of aIl the forge
ries of bank notrs ana fractional currency
now i'll circulation. n w WILL known there
y now, practically, no redemption Of na-
tsonal bank bills. They are rarely or npr ar
TO the bank that issued chem fnr
20 that no test can De applied
as To genuineness. Large amounts of the.
having been issued On the same Ase8 and
counterfeiting has been greatly
faciliIated-specialiy u this trne of the frac-
tional curaency of the United States, which
never comes bIck ID the Treasury IN any
quantities. But the exchange
herein proposed would At once entirely en-
tinguish the colnterfeits nov in circulation
and render All che preparations, plates, ami
vignettes of the forgvrs useless and value
less.
IL has been assumed that the reason our
securities abr IA do not command plr u
because We have not resumed specie pay
ments here. In one sense that ray be true,
tOr II we resume specie Payments, end were
capable Of continuing that resumpt )n, our
bonds would command par, beca Ise they
would at once be sent home for ale, com
manding higher price here than abroad.
But il seems 10 me that the defect Of the
reasoning which makes our bonds abroad less
than par because our currency here u az
discount, is that II mistakes the effect for
the cause. whereas the ruth IN that our cur-
ran..rr w AZ q Alsnnur- Lnna.1an nnr 49,