, 1869-11-17

\
:" 60 very fartoward establishing for any.
body reputation for economy.
'oeAEEHsAcKERs AND AHr1-REsumP.
| 1l0H1sTS.
The Reform Lnres,syator, published at
MORRISON. Hhnois, is unable to SEQ how the
doctrine, which We hold IN common with
AL economists, that gold is not enhanced in
salae under our present system Of depre-
GATED papsr currency, is consistent with
our recent assertion, in discussing the ro-
sumption question, that, "f We want gold
to enter aBnin into tho channels Of trade,
! we mnst gre ii once more it, fui7 palue in
| trade"
| 1t appears thut whi1o the Inrestfgator
supposes that deprecated paper currency
makes gold actually worth thirty or forty
per cent more than il our psper
| currency were at par with gold, We.
in the above extinct. ars assuming
That aepreciased currency deprivcs guild Of
part Of its former vulue- Utility would
have been better word, though both ara
applicable. We arc asking that gold shall
he rcssoEctl to Its full value in trade, !. C..
to its full utility in connection with our
currency We will try 10 make this plsio.
Under specie suspension gold loses
whatever utility and value 1t derives from
being coin or money, and Tho only legal
tender, Though it il quoted ut premium
in the deprccinted currency, this promium
measures the fall in paper. Gold has not
risen, but is actua'1y worth q l'rle less than
! when it was the medium If redemption Of
the paper currcncy. Az all commo3I-
| tics aow from the countries wheeo their
| utility aud value are low, tu wh~ro they
| arc high. so, rs soon AS We deprived gold
uf lts utility rs the medium of redemption
Of our paper currency, We reduced its ac-
tual value here below its value in Europe,
where it still performed ali its functions.
and hcnoe caused our gold, except whA,
was locked up in tho Treasury, tu fow from
heDce to Europe. This il what We mean
''y lcsscning the full value Of gold in trade
To restore il, We must make our paper
currency. once moro good for its face in
gold, which can only be done by providing
for its redemption in gold. We have said
That the quan:ity Of guild ia the country
S15o.0o0, ,0o0-if held by the banks, would
be sufficient TO maintain redemption upon
St;oo, ,0fm,ooo Of paper currency issued un-
der tho National Banking system, iaasmuch
ss under the State banking systrms the
ratio OF gold reserves to tho paper 10 be
! redeemed WIS never more th4n one dollar in
five The real security for the redemption
If paper currency is not its guild resources,
but its bonds deposited with the Comp
troller- Under our former wild cat ays-
tenn these bonds might be personal notes Of
irresponsible parties, or Of seeding or re-
f'udiatiug States- As these bonds depss-
ciated the notes fell with tham. But uuder
our National Banking system the bonds
pledged are those Of the nation.
They have pretty uniform crodit
and market throughout the world.
They are worth to-day 10 cents per dollar
in American gold. Each hundred dollars Of
them is good security for the redemption in
gold Of eighty dollars Of paper currency
unless the bonds decline IN value more than
10 per cent II our gTeenbacks we're With
drawn, and National Bank notes at pas with
cuiu substituted in their stead, We should
have, in place Of the present s7l1 ,00o, ONO
of mixed and deprecated currency, worth
7S cents per dollar, a total of
S554 $50. 600, which wculd haze the
same purchasing powe. as the
entire volume Of the present currencg. If
honds remained at 90, and the National
Banks were required to keep in pledge 10
PR cent more in bonds than were necessary
to secure tho redemption OF their currency
in gold. there wou]d be on pledge with the
Comptroller, for the redemption Of this
! S55f ,hs0.oO0 Of Eation.l Bank notes. a
sum in national bonds 20 Per cent ereater
than the volume Of the currency, or
$GG', 49G,00 of bonds. The sale Of
these bonds would, at all times, secure the
notes, except in tho contingency Of fall of
more than 20 per cent in tho price Of .he
bonds To gua1d against this, the law re-
curing the golt' rn{ue Of tho bonds to be 10
per cent greater than the face of the cur
reucy secured by them, would authorize the
Comptroller, if bonds should fall to require
the banks to put up moro bonds The pur-
chase Of theae bonds in the market
would not only secure the currency, but
! nETest The decline in bonds, and thus reeu-
late their value. The gold reserves would
oe the mere test, not the source, Of the
| sclvency OF n bunk. The banI would
need only 60 many as were required to
meet nm. One-dfth Of tho whole amount
W currency assaeo "oalu be ample The
! "'niy sucn system 6ives to gold ls
seen IN the iact that for every
ao..af o. eoia III the country 1t issues five