Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-07-31
GRERLETAs sAFINANCIER.

anu Tic DuSluco5 W OAlu
There are thousands of citizens in
town and country, who, no matter
whether in their political views they
belong to the Republican or to the
Democratic party, look forward to the
Presidential election with anxious
concern. These are the solid business
men of every kind, traders, wholesale
and retail, manufacturers, w0rkmen,
money lenders and money borrowers,
who have the fixed feeling that a
change of the national administration
must, according to all human calcula-
tion, be followed by the most injuri-
GUS perturbation of the money mar
ket, and consequently of all eeOnomi-
cal conditions and Of the whole in
dustrial life of the country.
The conviction springs from no idle
fancy, but rests upon very precise
facts and reasons.
Among all the people in the land,
who possess even the slightest knowl-
edge of finance, Greeley himself is in
evil repute, on account of his extreme
childish and withal dangerous ideas
and plans regarding financial sub
jects. For years he has preached two
measures, which only utter ineOmpe-
tenee could couple together, for they
are two horses which, tied together
by the tails, should run in opposite
| directions. On the one hand, he de-
! sires the sale of the gold stored in the
national treasury; on the other hand,
he desires the immediate introduction
Of specie payments through the an
nouneement that the treasury is ready
to redeem every paper dollar with q
dollar in gold. That two such propo-
sitions could be made at the same
time proves, for every man. who has
five sound senses, that Greeley knows
even less about finances than he
knows about farming; that he is, in
fact, not quite right in the upper
story. The understanding even of q
schoolbOy suffices to see that so soon
as the national treasury should have
sold its superfuous gold, full play
would have been given to the mad
dest gold speculation, and that the
swindling stock jobbers of New York,
with agio for ball, could push their
game to the utter ruin Of business
life. For years under Grants admin
istratiOn they have been held in
bounds by the conviction that the
Secretary of the Treasury, by the
quick sale of five, ten CT twenty mill
lions of gold, could always break
down sudden rise of premium effect
ed by stock jobbing tricks. The only
time when the spectators dared, by
stock jobbing conspiracy to run up
the premium, the Secretary was able
to make things sounpleasant for them
that they have behSTed quite decent
ly ever since. Bat suppose that, ae-
cOrding to Greelsy's plan, all the na-
rTN Nrrf frrrlor
would restrain the most crazy speeu-
lation, the gold premium would make
the widest springs up and down, and
thus all substantial business in the
country would be Frustrated, while
the rogues and swindlers would hold
q witch's Sabbath.
Not very different would be the
operation of the other measure which
is Mr.. Greeley's second hobby horse.
When bank has Onefourth of the
amount Of its notes lying in gold, its
paper circulation is safe enough. For
it needs. only sufficient gold to en-
counter the first strong run upon it.
If such a run takes place, the bank
hes time to make available its other
resources, consisting in property and
discounted bills of exchange, to cover
its paper. But q government has no
such additional resource. If, as Gree
ley wishes, the treasury should an
nounce that it would redeem every
one of its four hundred millions of
paper dollars with a dollar in gold,
while it has only eighty or ninety
millions of gold dollars, they would
be paid out as fast as they could be
counted, and when it was done there
would be over three hundred millions
of dollars in circulation without
specie coveringl Everybody can tell
the result on his fingers. The green
backs would sink to the value Of sew
enty-fve, fifty, or perhaps twenty
five cents, in proportion as gold spec
ulators by their artifiees, should en-
hanee the price of gold. .-....
It may, however, be objected that
Greeley as President would not be in
a position to carry out his schemes
To this the reply Is that the money
market is exceedingly sensitive, and
is as violently, indeed more violently,
disturbed by mere apprehensiOns OF
evil than by evil that has actually
come to pass. Naked propositions IN
a Presidents message might exert
upon all financial interests an infu-
ence as disastrous as the proposed
attested every day in Europe as il
America by perfectly valid proofs.
In the present case, it must be add
ed that the Democratic party, which
will east nine-tenths Of all the votes
that Greeley viii receive, represents
the most pernicious doctrines respect
ing the financial politics of the eOun-
try Only a shallow fol can believe
that the acceptance Of the Cincinnati
programme of phrases signifies real
change in the opinions and purposes
Of the Democratic party, or implies
any essential modification of their
The Pendietonian plan
for paying off the national debt in
deprecated paper money, and the
war against the national banks are
indeed put aside for the moment, but
are by no means permanently aban-
1oned. Should Greeley be elected, il
IS. perfectly certain thatfin the first
Congress Of his administration YER
table deluge Of propositions of the
.enor indicated would break forth.
Thenational banks especially would
be the object of the onslaught. And
.hough (by reason of a Republican
in the Senate) no one of such
should be actually adopt
I'd, yet the effect upon the public
credit could not fail to be disastrous.
For Just so soon as the possibility of
1 partial reputation of the national
iebt Through payment of the same in
paper money! or the abolition of the
national banks and reintrodUetiOn Of
he wildcat bank nuisance Of other
years, began to be feared, hundreds of
millions of American bonds would
stream over from England for sale at
my price, and thus the money mar
zet would be completely broken
loWn. A peeuniary and business eri-
is more terrible than that Of 1857
when wages in Chicago sank to three
hilling a day, and tens of thousands
ost their all would be inevitable.
All this is no ghost seeing or mere
aney, but it is absolutely certain as
nv event still future can be.
Those who object that in former
eanvasses similar predie-
ions were made and not fulfilled, fail
o remember the great fact that the
redit and business life Of America
vas never before so entirely as now
ependent upon the confidence OF
Europe. Experienced bankers estl-
iate the aggregate amount of Ameri-
an paper of all kinds held in Europe