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


the wisdom Of Congress may speedily ma.
ture some legislation to meet the wants o.
the country, and TO assure II not to height
en- that degree Of prosperity in business
which the people have enjoyed since the
passage OF the legal-t tender act Of 1862. In
attempting this | have avoided everything
which will give shock to our present fnan-
ces, or materially changes the values Of prop
erty or the relation Of debtor and creditor,
whether public or private
Observing that the amount of legal-ten
der notes now issued by the Government
say 1850, ,OO0, ,000-are very nearly equal the
amount Of the taxes and duties to be nee
essarily collected by the government, for a
series OF years to meet our expenditures-
at least the variation is not material for nv
purpose propose that, retireing the pres
ent legal-tenders without shock to the busi
ness OF the country, in the manner heresf-
ter to be explained, the Government shall
issue an amount equal to it's taxes. saw
$3.50, 900, Of certificates of vaItle. OF
convenient denominations, not less than one
dollar, which shall be lawful money and le-
ga tendsr for sll debts, public and private,
which, by the law creating them are not
made payable in coin, and shall be reeeiva-
Bile Tor all taxes, duties, and imports Of
every kind whatsoever, TO be reissued at
pleasure under the conditions hereafter set
forth or In payment Of tbe debts Of the Uni
ted States, and which shall be received for
ali public loans made to the United States.
II will be convenient here 20 explain the
changes suggested IN this certificate Of val
ue from the present legal tender note.
propose that the paper money OF the Gov
ernmeht shall be 'certihcate,' with apnro-
pirate vignettes, 70 prevent counterfeiting.
10 form Ike bank-no stating its value
only upon it, face, with the provisions Of
law creating il. instead Of as now a note
promising 70 pay certain sum at the Treas
ury OF the United States, which il bv Law
70 De paid only Ia another like il, so that no
stupid person, hereafter in order to depre-
ciate the currency and have an opportunity
20 declare - "faIIed paper" shall present
u Tor payment 70 the treasurer Of the Uni
ted States expecting it to be redeemed in
any other manner than is provided by law
and stated upon its ace
ln providing for the certificate to be legal
tender have avoided undertaking. by leg
islative action here and now, to decide the
mooted question whether the principal Of a
portion ot the public debt is payable in
coin; not desiring to complicate this, which
should be measure Of instant relief. with
The discussions incident to that very grave,
legal question, which may hereafter have to
be decided either at this bar or in the
courts Or in the higher and more potent
tribunal OF the judgment Of the whole peo-
pie.
The most important and only other diff
ference viii be seen to be that tai. money il
10 be received for all taxes, whether collect
ed from external commerce Or internal rev
snue. IL y difhonlt to see why The Govern
pent ever should have established two kinds
1t Lawful money al which 20 do its own
business, and, stranger still, enact one only
Tor I.s cisIzens.
assume that the change will at once
lring this lawful money Of the United
states nearer 20 goodwill very considera-
1lY diminish, IL not entirely prevent, the
operations Of the gold room and he nefari-
1ns pursuits Of the gold gamblers. Gold
aud silver viii then take place as commodi-
les 70 be exchanged abroad according 70
heir value 10 weight as merchandise. In
is2 :. y. -. = ..s-..s ;.,..,ss
NJ Haan taAt this las always Sssn tbs case
shaa gold IL used In kind fnr the payment
4 f5reign aabts.
One principal argument in favor OF cur
ency based on specie, has been that our
'Crrency ought to be of the same value as
he currency 81 The woFld--as the phrase u
lin order that we may be able 70 Jay our
0reign debt in our own coin. But IN fact
,ur coin u never used abroad at the value
We have stamped upon it, or for payment Of
oreign debts. Ii il always reduced TO the
Talue q 80 many ounces Of gold Of GER
ain fneness, and exported as bullion,
and safe form of merchandise,
against which bills Of exchange may be I
irawn, and that value hactuates very mate /
tally in different countries. As an exam 4
'le, take Japan, whore the standard Of val =.
le 4 silver. La 1881 our counsel at Sim0- I
la, Mr.. Townsend Harris, informs u that
,old y only as one 70 three and half in /
liver, while th us it holds By Law, az a
lart OF our specie standard, the rate OF
Ibout lfteen and half 90 one !. q, in Ja- 4
'an three ana half ounces Of silver would 4
purchase an ounce Of gold, while in Ameri- |
"a il took fifteen and half ounces Of silver
o purchase an ounce Of gold. How, then,
,an it be said that gold il the standard Of
Talue Of the world, when In one country
Ehich absorbs large amounts Of our specie,
{ stood. deprecated in comparison with sill 4
Ter at our standard at nearly eighty per
,ent., and IL il not the standard Of value In /
Either Of the great oommerciel countries
ave Englanll
The experiment Of issuing money based
IN taxes alone as it, rcdeemable value has
leen tried to a small extent at an early day
a this country. Soon after the revolution,
North Carolina, having no money, for the
Of her people issued, ,say, $780, |
700 in state notes, receivable in payment OF
axes. Or course, she could not make them
egal tender. Although her annual taxes
we're only about two hundred thousand dol I
ars, these notes sJ once took their place at
BAR value, and became, in practice, CONVEX
ible into gold, although no man could de-
nand gold for them. They thus remained /
until they we're gradually worn out or ab-
'orbcd, no new issue being authorized and 4
he bills OF the State banks took their place. /
| assume that these Certificates Of value
y circulating medium will at once take |
heir place as nearly eq Iivalent to gold |
They will be redeemed ln the payment Of
axes every year. DO not mean to say that
zach individual piece Of paper would be re-
ieemed, but an equal amount. There 10 an
objection to them as compared with the
PRESENT greenbaek, and that 10 the Govern
nent would have to procure gold to meet it's
interest and pay the difference between the
gold and the certificate.
But let Us here reflect a moment that the
gold now paid for customs duty il obtained
oy the merchant borrowing it upon the Gov
note at thirty five per cent. pre-
MUM, and it is very clear that the dl fer
snce between the proposed certificate Of
value or greenbacx and gold would ia the
future be much less. have al 40 endeavor-
ID to find a compensation for this apparent
loss 70 the Government, as will be hereafter
seen.
Ii may further be objected thar making
these certificates receivable for duties inso-
much as they may be below the par Of gold
would to that extent reduce the percentage
Of the tariff. This, IL an evil, would soon
cure itself. ANY considerable increase Of