The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-01-16
Butler and Finance.
. E,:om u1e INilqdel,lhta Lcdoer

FROM Lte 1JtituuetCLhtu IICHDeT.
General Buffers "plan of finance"
laid before Congress on Tuesday, was
published in the proceedings of Con-
gress yesterday and by this time has
been read and received judgement by
nearly all the people of the country who
in0uire into and think about such mat
ters. He supported his bill by an elab-
crate argument, quite ably constructed, ,
but lacking solid foundation in the
parts intended to support the bill. AS a
consequence of the lack of this tunda-
mental element, the argument has al
ready been shaken to pieces by popular
discussion in counting houses, business
offices, on the street, at the breakfast
and dinner tables, in the newspapers
everywhere, that potent discussion by
the peOple interested, which not only
settles the fate OF Congressional bills,
but very frequently the fate of dynas-
ties and empires. In word, General
Buffers plan has alreacy been "disa-
greed to'' by an almost universal pub
lie opinion. a part of his IrgWn1cnt,
however meets Il better fate. He deVO.
ted considerable portion of his time
to the demonstration of the "impracti-
cability" Ofthe other "PlAns of finance"
now before the Senate and House, and
concerning which similar views were
expressed in these columns on tuesday
morning. To this extent Il large ma jOr-
itv of the public will agree with Gener-
al Buffers speech, though they will diff
fer from him by CHASING his bill among
the other iInpraCticable schemes.
His bill proposes to call in all the
"greenbacks" and all the national bank
notes, because they are bankrupt
promises to pay, and these are to be re,
placed by paper Certificates of value"
the disting guishinR characteristic OF
which is that they are never to be paid
at all, and therefore have no value to
be certified. The new notes, in short,
are to be Certificates of value" without
value! We are to get rid OF the evils,
the fluctuations, the vast losses of "ir
redeemable paper" by issuing other
paper which has not even the virtue OF
n possible redemption, however remote.
This feature-thiS cutting loose of the
currency from coin. from the worlds
measure OF value and every other meAs-
ure OF value, he argues, will give it sta
bility or uniformity of value. 1t is pos
sible this may be so, but the stability
and uniformity would not be of the ma
ture he expects. If it ever should be-
come stable and uniform, it would
be at zero-just no value at
all. General Butler is not the
first man who supposed that mere
change OF names would make change
in the nature of the thing itself. The
festive and unfortunate Micawber owed
certain sums of borrowed money to
Tommy Traddles, and this weighed
upon his spirits to such an extent that
he resolved to pay 1t, and being an
eminently original flnancier, he sum
med up the whole amount of his in
debtedness to Traddles, put the amount
of it in / o u, and then felt the greatest
possible sense of relief in the idea that
he had honorably discharged the debt.
Micawber's o u was hiS certificate of
4 r1tN Inv NFN1 n
Buffers In the fact that it was never to
be redeemed. There is another illus
rious example: Richelieu said to his
Young friend, "Monsieur De Mauprat,
you must pay your debts;" and to this
that bold young financier promptly
replied with all my heart, my Lord
CARDINAL; where can I bOrrOW the
money?'' General Buffers plan is
therefore scarcely patentable on the
score of novelty.
In several portions of his argument,
however, where he is not engaged in
the impossible task of proving the teas-
ibility of his plan, General Butler eX-
presses number of sound and states
man.like views. This is especially
true of what he says concerning the
| prerequisites to a permanent return to
| a specie basis, il that is to be the way
out of our financial difficulties. On
| this subject we have recently submit
ted some carefully COQSlueEeu Nle"S III
these columns, but scarcely expected
to hear them so promptly echoed by
Gen, Butler on the same day. Here ls
what he says on that interesting sub
| iect: "If return to specie values IS the
only remedy for our financial evils,
then there is but one plan, in my judg.
ment, by which it can be accomplished:
we must wait and grow TO it.
By the industry and economy OF
our people; by the development
Of our resources; by the enterprise OF
our business; by the extensionIof our
commences; by the production of the
precious metals; by reducing importa'
tions-the only method by which we
can keep specie at home; by retrench'
ment of the expenses OF the Govern
ment, both State and national; by the
reliuGuishment of all hazards and
doubtful enterprises, we must accumu-
late sufficient surplus wealth to bring
back the 5000, 100000 of our national
bonds held abroad, to which may oe
added an equal like amount OF state
and railroad bonds also held there, and
thus stop the annual drain of more than
| $40 600 600 ;of bullion now sent abroad
wear by year to meet interest alone
When this is done, we may with WIS
dom return to specie values and specle
payments, without serious nnauclaI
disaster and commercial ruin"