Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-09

mated value upon the caprices of OPT
ion.
Money of shifting value is curse
the great body of the people. 1t render
e the rate of wages delusiye, cOunteraC
: and defeats the economy of the household
- and makes the savings of labor laid up
the cost of much self denial, of uncertai
and variable value. If we would avoi
discOuraging regular industry, and foster
ing il its stead spirit of speculation, tn
money which we use to denote the valu
OF what we have to buy and sell ever,
day, and in which we fix the rate o
wages, must be constant in its own valut
aud not liable to CapTiciOus fluctuations
1t is misfortune that we ever departed
from the use of the money of the cOnsti
tuition. Sooner or later we shall be oh.
liged TO go back to it. We have before us
the alternative of returning to a sound
condition by wise and prudent efforts of
our own, or of awaiting the possible adj
vent of financial panic of greater in
tensity than any we have yet witnessed,
and return to specie payments, at cost
OF great and protracted suffering, by the
operation of self-enfOrcing laws which are
above our control.
| do not believe that any contraction of
the legal tender currency is necessary in
order to reach specie payments. The
amount of such paper is limited. We
have not, as some other countries have
done, issued paper money without limit
and to an manageable extent, making
the depreciation of it so great as to render
1t almost worthless and its restoration to
par hopeless. The whole sum of the le-
gal tender notes scarcely exceeds the
amount of coin received in two wears at
our CustOmhOuses.
The amount Of legal tender notes afioat
on the first of December last was, inclu-
ding fractional currency, 1895, 600, 900.
The present annual gold income of the
treasury, from import duties, is $780,
100000. With the abundant resources
Of the Federal treasury it ought to be,
and 1t is possible, to leave this currency
at Its present quantity, and yet put it, at
no very distant period, at par, and thus to
give settled prosperity to the people and
save them the distress which will attend |
contraction.
SPECIE PAYMENTS.
After the peace of 1915, England re-
turned to specie payments by contracting |
the volume of her paper money. She had |
no other means Of reaching the result. |
She was not, as we are, a gold producing |
country, and was obliged therefore to cur
tail her paper currency so as to force gold |
to flow in TO her from abroad In COnse
qucnCe of this policy the trade and bust |
ness of her people were crippled, general |
distress cnsued, and immense numbers of |
those who lived by wages were deprived |
OF their proper employment and con-
demncd to idleness and want. The ten
years from 1915 to 1925 was a period of
fearful suffering in England, and of re-
peated and most disastrous financial con
vulsiOns. We should take warning from |
her experience. We have no occasion to
force gold into this country from abroad.
We produce it largely at home, and all we
need to do is to retain enough Of our own
product 10 effect our purpose.
10 REPUTATION.
The government is as mnch bound to
pay its legal tender notes as its bonds. | |
am for paying both in full, and against
the reputation of any portion Of either
The legal tender notes are promises of
The government 10 pay mOney-that is,
gold COin-On demand They are in the |
pockets Of the labOrcr and the farmer, in
the tills Of tradesmen, in the vaults of the
banks, as a part of and as security for the
deposits Of the people-whiCh deposits
constitute available capital essential TO
daily business.
The Federal Treasury, in the hour of
It's need, forced this irTedcemablc paper |
Dn the people it is a matter Of simple
luty, now, in the time Of its abundant re-
sources, to redeem it. This paper dis
placed the coin which was before in use.
The business of the country has adapted
Itself to the existing quantity of our pres
INT lawful money, and the people rely up
IN this legaltendeT paper wherewith to
pay all ordinary debts: it is the substance,
100, in which bank notes are redeemed,
and in which all this vast aggregate of in
lob.cdness known as bank deposits is pay
able On this paper, therefore, the whole
structure of our internal business now
rests; and upon its sOundncss is depend
mt the substantial prosperity of the PEG
PIE 1t is bad faith to the pcople to lessen
is quantity, OF to take from it itg legal
ender quality, until it is paid.
TIE CONTRACTION THEORY.
When coin occupied the same place in
)uT money system which is no% held by
he legal tender notes, any serious with
travail, from whatever cause, of the gold
hen in use from the general circulation,
invariably produced financial trouble. The
withdrawal Of lcgal-tCndCr notes now
must be followed by like trouble. The
hcOrv of those who advocate contraction
S that so soon as the legal-tender notes
shall have been reduced to $3.50, 600, GOO
1r some other theoretical sum, the govern
nent will he able to make This reduced
quantity rcdccmable in coin, AMI 50 put
he notes at par with gold.
1t will be possible to put the lcsscTqUan-
ity al par by making II rcdcCmable, 1t Is
obvious that, with little more effort, the
present quantity can be made redeemable
md put at par; and this effort is due from
he government to the people.
com AND PAPER MONEY.
The Federal Government is bound 90 |
restore coin to the place which it former
V occupied in the business of the country,
md from which the treasury, for its own
displaced it. Il should be
'cady to substitute coin in the general
circulation before it undertakes to with
lraw legal tender notes; otherwise the |
withdrawal of the paper amounts to an
lbsOlute destruction of so much of our |
;tOck of lawful money, and practically of
20 much of the peoples capital in the
form of ready money. Such withdrawal
would lessen everywhere the resources for
paving debts, make all debts less secure,
diminish confidence and render disastrous
Danics probable.
UNEQUAL VALUES.
Two kinds of money of unequal
value will moi circulate together.
The government, therefore, cannot make
coin take the place, in general circulation,
of any portion of the notes which may |
be Withdrawn until the notes are first
rendered equivalent to coin. This can
only be done by making them redeem
able in coin on demand. And it must be
borne in mind that this is all that is neces-
tary to be done 10 restore general specie |
payments. The banks arc not in a state
of suspension; they redeem their notes
and pay their other debts in the lawful
money of the country. If that lawful |
money were to-day equivalent to coin they |
would find themselves and all their Gus
toners paying specie without any effort |
on their part, and without any distress.
THE GOVERNMENT ALONE SUSPENDED.
Ii is the government, and the govern
ment only, which has suspended payment; |
the legal-tender notes alone which are re-
deemable. When the federal treasury is |
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