, 1869-01-25


given to him at Fort Wayne. and, IS though
the wooIsack had given Nm Inspiration, nc
to his entertainers upon fuance,
ard gave utterancc to his wisdom. It was
Just eueh wisdom as might 1e expected from
q man that knew nothing about statesman
ship, or even politics. mere broker, who
Hhicn had stolen a charter from a Demo.
cratic indiana Legislature, which the cheated
Democrats Eero seeking 10 take away on
the first opportunity, and who, therefore,
managed his hauk upon the conservative
principle Of always beng ready to redeem
the bank notes when Presented. This policy,
however wise for bank, fsso utterly dl.re-
Gardful Of the interests and necessities Of the
people in times OF great f1uancil dsrauge.
nent, that action upon 1t b. the Secretary
Of the Treasury has produced vast mischief
TO the country. The burden OF that speech
may bt, "RtturH 10 spseis p7yns<nss''; and
this has been echoed and rt-cchoed bY all
tho se1t-styl.d "fnantirs" " OF the land.
Il The Redundancy Of ths currency and the
s7tcesstv Of q Trtart TO tpteie favaa<1ast =" hzs
been the burden OF th= Would-be wi.e-acres
and ,hey still keep up the err, although lters
Il not a bnsin<ts centre in au the United Sl0tes
tcfe7e Haoneu i not Slghl. When Mr.. McCul-
loeb came lnao The office VIC were paying
of the public debt at the rate Of $500 003, ,C0U
per annun, and If nothing had been done 10
create apprehension In the public mind, and
busincss had gone on as It would hlyc done
but for tuch views Is be uttered It Fort Wayne,
nut the acqulesccnce in them Of Congress
and thr business community, nearly half Of
the public debt would hare now been cx.
tIEEutshed. aud We should have been On the
hign road 10 specie payments, not by CON-
traction Of the currency, but By it, ahsosp-
tlou in the Increased business OF the country
and in payment of tho revenues.
| We arc told that If s2oo, coo toD currency
wtrc enough to DO the business Of the couu-
| TT befoTt the war, twice th1t sum Il enough
| q return TO spes!e payments. This Is mere
theory Without fact to sustain 1t. Facts arc
! valuable in science and finance. Theories are
| unreliable.
| Before the war the whole business OF the
| country wRs done on credit system, from ihe
manufacturer to the Wholesale dealer. the
wholes ale de alcr TO the jobber. the tobber to
the retailer, mud the rctailer to the consumer.
! The average credit Was not less than eight
| mon1hs. Durlrg the war private credit vas
mainly destroyed, a0d the whole business ot
the country done upon & ready pay basts.
This l1as required many times as much cur
rcucy a was uccess4ry before the war; and
Instead Of there being q surplus Of currency
there would not be enough to do the busl
Eess Of the country, had not general apprr
hcnsiou Of evil to come through coutrActtoc
paral5zed msuy branches of Industry. What
the tuturc. Had not Conaress last wlntel
taken away from the Secretary Of tue Treas
| ury tic power to further contract the cur
tency, we should hare had panic last wintcl
and general disaster. We ehall have It now
whenever tho policy Of co1ttactlon Is enteret
upon.
suspension Of tpcele payments, England VI
more prosperous than ever before, and tht
! prosperity conttnued until It's "fn7..eitrs'
undertook arbitrarily by, sompulsfon Il
return 70 specie paymeoes. Then cam
terrible dikett9s upon the country, 4. I'll
coma now If Congress listens to these duau
clal quacks. What cla1u have these men t,
the Confidence Of the public? Arc they tn
men who aided the government during th
fearful war by their wisdom! Or are IN.
men who hoardcd tcelE gold mainly for th
destruction Of the government or tn
other towards who declared the inability c
The country to ralsc the money to catry on
lonc VEL, and counsc1led the abandonmer
, Of the 9outht
Financial wisdom i. not to bo found |
6ta.c &ucet, CT Wall, or William stree
, Views thence, arc money-chsngess fsncie
rot wisdom for tho people, It Is not glre
Eiscst can do Is To discharge his duty, x
day in tuch manner hs toao the least Il
| Jury, ftAvinp to tomorrow It's own poffc.
VIC knew from experience that contEacsin
{ Of the currency du1lngA scarcity Of Cnone
, produces panic and disaster. We know
further, that the onll immediate remedy {
relief from such pressure comes f1om IN Il
c1ease Of paper money.
> In 1857, tho Government OF Crest Brlt1]
: suspended The Bank act, thereby permitting
unlimited Issue ofpaper money, and By resto
Ing confidence, prevented greater oissstc
l a. ~ - II ~ r. fkAf IN
: result vas accomplished By the banks 81
e pending specie payment, and receiving II
= paving oul courtry money without 1e4uisil
!. apy redemption un,it public confidence cou
;, bo resttsed.
i In both THOSE instances business regulate
q itself; and what we neeo now Is not Al
, financial quackery OF owl-eyed wisdom ffo
uen who have the financial strut. or 60
: eeiFc tbas they have financial wisdom, eth
l. because thcy have been connected vi
a banks or been elected to Congress- :
y chance 10 b editors Of newspapers. No
), Of Us have aur more wi:dom voaeh4assa M ,
:, In politics and business, Is we'll Is
= theology and morals, nc npst cease 70
9 evil'' before we can "learu 70 do well
e The action now required Is such as VII ,,
!. to be .ahde bsahup,s, or rulne! 70 car g.
hA1d.mone1 theories. Ne Of The w
/, know that II Is not necessary. VIC ma
sten worse times, and had more dep'
Ie ciated currency than we now have.
le Aflcr the disasters OF 1870. We ii
IL neither money nor credit Our internal II
~ prossnent systems had been failures, Q
~ ststes cerld pay neither principal nor
l. tc1cst, hnd thc e1chcquer or the State Of
81 fintis was ten"~cd 30 low that Govern
Ftrd sent message to ths Le1t*iature a
~ nouncinZ that there y - not sufficient m on