Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1872-04-10

There ls now befors Congress bin pend
ing, the result OF which will be 10 cause the
national banks Of the United States 70 call In
their present Issue, and replaced By new bills.
There Is no proposition now before that
body which 20 warmly comniendn itadif 70
the great mass Of the people, The currency
OF the country Is now mainly the bills Of tnesp
national banks, which bear date from 1901
and 1885, and most Of them have been In eir.
culation for many years. The result "a, that
they are generally exceedlngly soi,eai o t,,t
slye 10 the senses and Injurious " the health.
Many Of them have been handled BY persons
engaged In the hlthlest employmonts, 70 say
nothing Of the comparatively clean hands q
blacksmlths, butchers, hshmen, rag and fat
collectors. But worse than this, they are
saturated with diseases OF various kinds;
measles, itch and more especially smallpox,
arc materially spread by the bank bill pass
ing, thus lmpregnated, from hand 10 hand,
and from tho city 10 country. The farmer
who sends his chickens aud corn 10 market
is badly repaid by bunch Of greasy. bills,
Il Ia stated by competent medical men 10
bc received opinion that the present small
pox epidemic Is Ia no little degree advanced,
II not caused, by the public incubation
through injected bank-bllls. Every man In
the smallpox hospital pays for his board,
Injuries, carriage hire aud bis thousand III
tlo expenses BY porous paper bill passing
through his hands, even when Issuing dis
ease through every pore. When our clrcu-
latlon was metallic, such accidents were pos
sibllltles, not Necessities; and these bills are
never redeemed BY tho national banks, but
go on indefinitely, communicating and do
stroylng life,
Ills q comparatively small matter TO cay
that these bills arc, many Of them, so tattered
and mutllated as TO be very suggestive of the
rags from which they were created. Little
by little they wear away, until . time comes
when some sharp ono suggests that an eighth
or quarter Is gone, and this loss falls-not
upon the bank that has issued II, and who
should have been compelled 10 redeem Il
years ago and supply its place by fresh
81 ], but the loss falls upon the last holder.
This one Is generally among the poorest
class In the country. The rich man will ro-
fuse such bill from his debtor. IL Is the
day.iaborcr and the poor washerwoman-
the dependent who receives his wages like a
charity, and who Is supposed not 70 bc too
particular, or who Is too ignorant 70 Know
better.
In cities there are some clean bills. The
husband strives hard 10 furnish hls wife with
clean money for shopping; but In the coun-
try money oil every kind IL 80 scarce that the
farmer Is glad enough 10 take any bill for his
products; but when he goes 10 pay of bis
mortgage or lis interest then he has to make
up the loss.
Nnht huy ohuh AhNhoeoS
It's circulation by declaring itself ready TO ex-
change new money for old. We call upon
Congress TO pass an act compelling the ma
tlonAl banks 70 call In their notes for Reissue
every two or three years; TO form bureau 10
every large city where clean money may be
demanded for dirty and diseased bills. There
is more disease cngendercd by bad bills than
by bad meats In our markets. The officer
should be compelled 10 exchange and burn all
the money paid out at Blackwells Island
Smallpox Hospital. Would II not be cheaper
TO prevent the smallpox by destroying this
method OF public incubation than by general
vaccination, which IL now 90 loudly called foi
with the newspaper headings of tho "Greal
increase Of this fatal epidemic"
II Is impossible otherwise TO account fot
the fact that this loathsome disease 10 now 81
prevalent 10 the country as well as the cities
throughout Europe rs well as America, ex-
copt by the fact that there was never before
such volume Of paper currency so rapidly
circulating over the world from man 10 man
This necessity we admit, but Its evils can b,
mitigated. We at least can have fresh cir
Culatlon, as OF the United States Trcasur,
notes and the fractional postal currency
which arc constantly cancelled and renewed
II Is bad enough TO think that these rag
were once the refuse clothing OF tho ylles
and worst Of Italian lazaronl aud Nth!
Aslatlcs and Africans perhaps the exhumeS
cerements Of Egyptian mummles but let NJ
at least think that water, soda and ehlorlnl
have since purified them, and not that the!
arc foul aud nolsome with recent abomlnE'
tious.-FrdHk Leslis's Illustrated