National Republican., 1873-03-24
CrRRENcY LEGISLATION.
Lecture by Wallace p. Groom on the Ma
tlOuRl Currency-Gold, Its Value anu
Iscs-The GrnNNth Of National Menlth.

Uscs-The Growth Of National Wealth L
The president Of the "New York Mercantlle
journal Company, Mr.. Wallace 7. Groom, ue. .
lycred from his standpoint an able lecture ~
Masonic Temple Saturday evening on the subject
Of fcurrency legislation. lie had good audience,
and Mr.. Groom his made dry and statstcal
subject interesting by the introduction Of much
useful Information. Below will be found aieW
| extracts from the closing portion Of his lecture
We have been quietly endeayoring 70 ascertain
for what uses u any, gold "a speclaiy heeueu Sn ~
lhus lar, no nnc We nnNS Nsheu ,ia W. ~ ,hc orna
mental arts. And there Is little doubt that even
| for ornamentatOn II wonll soon be superseded
| values were reversed Certain II Is, that while t
the intrinsic value Of gold Ia found upon eNaml- '
nation 70 be very small, reGulaSs ats ss,mated SSt
| the entire amount Of gold known 70 the WoIln' |
In bullion and ornaments at %, ,OO0, 100000. ksti-
mates at the present time made by tne oest Hu-
th1rtlcs, put II at about the same figure, NOT ln.
cludng Asia. A cubic foot OF pure gold weighs
liso! ounces tfroy0 and rs saiu 70 pherstnTe ne
s3a3 cubic feet IL the total amount OF gold, upon
which so much dependence is placed LOT cur
IL would only make a solid block 90 feet long
and 90 wide p,l feet deep. All the gold coln AM
ornaments in the United states to-day msieu ns,en
SrSTn' rSSt "0"'" "O' "AN' 'O''" '""' "
I'hc distress caused by the toppllng over Of the
pyramid Of credit placed on Its apeN-ot gou-
J which occurred III 1885, and numerous other
i financial catastrophes which preceded It In this
country and Europe arising from the SAME Ssuse ,n
: ought to have convinced all business men OF the
/. extreme folly Of relying upon basis so oHeu
c proved fallacious.
A 5,OOO, 900 men, women and children In the United
z S;ates-to say nothing Of European countries.
0 were kept out OF employment foratwelyemonth
as the result OF the panic OF 1881, and that thelI
Q average wages for, say three hundred days IN q
G year, would reach, including board, one douar
THIS would give US ine saGTmpIs ~ you brpi sd
L space Of one year, through unemployed laoor
N caused by the panic.
c once perceive that merchandise, whether gold,
q silver or anything else, has never been, AZ, AL
never can be- Just stanharl Of value bne vu,n ,Il,
{, the mines, the manufactOry, or the farln, are
ID constantly changing. They are estimated from
er time to time only by way OF comparison, anu
X then the conclusions necessarily Of indefinite
ri and unstable character.
e While admitting that the use OF gold and dhliyer
d, as money Is grand step In advance OF the time
ut when cowry shells, cut nails and tobacco were
y used to facilitate the exchange OF other COM
III mOdties, It must be acknowledged that further
Ell Improvement Ia necessary.
nd Gicid has so far deprecated In value, compared
m with other products Of the country that given
nd amount OF certain nncness Will not to-day pur-
chase one half the amount, even OF farm pro-
nj ducts that It would a quarter OF century ago.
IN so scarce that the price Of days work was nxed
ei by act Of the English Parliament In 1851 az one
nd penny per day; aud in 1874 the allowance OF the
"a England was three half pence per day. A. thls
" time "a eggs were sold for penny, pair OF shoes
is for penny, wheat three pence per 6ushe and q
IN. fat OK for six shlllings and eight pence on the
81 whole, human labor bought on the average about
ln- much cloth or clothing as Il now doea We thinl
,od "the gold old times' are not worth recalling
an Have gold silver and copper changed IN value
'u the advocates Of gold standard for measuring
values make to this question That gold hai
the changed In value, Immensely, there can be M
de- doubt. Hence il can no more be a true standar'
OF value than growing plant can he standar'
OF measure, or u lump OF melting Ice q standar'
vas With a Government and lndorsement such a
nd we now have on national bank notes there cat
he be no more bank redemption In the future thai
ne in the past, LET US suppose for moment, then
'ho that oil persons be freely allowed the prylleg
and to deposit Government bonds with the Treasur
ted Department and receive % per cent OF the lac
nor value OF the bonds In currency, and eontlnu
ne' 10 receive the interest on the bonds seml-annu
hy-as all should u any are 80 eliowsdnan an
the then inquire how II would work. For example
the man has s21O 900 face value In bonds; he make
NV his deposit Of bonds and receives 20 per cent,
, ~ the amount, or tis0OOO, In circulating notei
10 With these he at once purchases bonds, paylni
case say, " per cent. PREMIUM and obtains In roun
and numbers sldo,OoO in bonds, makes MS dep5s
rson again aud receives SlA,OOO In notes, and thu
sS continues to repeat the operation until he ha
MT. a credit on the books Of the Treasury DepAr
G Of ment OF deposits OF bonds drawing interest
fter the rate Of per cent 70 the amount OF sITOOO
,,In IN round numbers, against which he u deblte
' with circulating notes TO the amount OF tSs9 20
ilteu on which he pays no interest, and has In han
say t5I, GOO, to loan on call. Ia not this altogeth
will too enticingf tnder such operations u w0u
her seeih as lhpuRn n, .e uny ,h oSsUrI,y
Nlyn, free banking propounded In the sherman bl
Y on Is It not the net rent after paying insuranc
on 3c., OF house. store, or other real or person
east. blp,nin,. ,ho yeine ~ sncb nInnertys n
iiler ali Innst admit Then as the rent OF any and
the things, II definitely and permanently nxed, 4
s as termnes their value, there can be no doubt n
% ,ho measure Of value much nearer perfect tn
TUT gold or silver ever have been or ever can be m
lie secured and with great advantage to the GC
was crnment, as such. and 10 the people In their
was dyldual capacity, by the issue on the part OF
an1 former OF paper money tokens, made full lei
: an" tender regulating the value and volume Of
the same by making them interchangeabe; At
he at option Of the holder, with Government boI
and bearing nxed rate OF interest.
~ As rent or interest paid for the use OF capi
cst Us bears important part as that OF a''goyern
lcr 10 In regulating the volume OF the currency we
orted YOcate, as Il will accurately, and at the Ba
cL hy time "1x the value thereof, let us look at
n hcr subject u single moment.
N her There are probably few, however familiar "
IN In the subject of the rapid increase Of capital
wn to at interest, who would not be startled al
statement that the cost OF the outnt OF Oh
,,,o, tOpher Columbus In his INST voyage OF dscoyt
ip"'' put at interest at six per cent, would by
lrt Tor time have amounted TO more than the en-
T. money value Of this continent together "
Ia was the acCumuatOns from the industry OF all
Tho, have lived upon 1t. II any doubt this let II
i 'hN' reckon the amount, estimating the entire OF
what to have cost only the small sum OF ave thous
r, who dollars and remembering that money double
Ia now SIX per cent In little less than twelve yea
ature ye0t VS ylone aVs knoWIng Il Ia don6e ey
face. twelve years, ihis i've thousand dollars at
being terest at six per cent since lt92 II will be fou
~ en- would have auounted 70 " ,Isso lVo,ooO, WI
''""' Of America (SOrth and South TO be eighty.
millions, or seventeen million families, a.
sband, aging ave members each, would give more
her at million dollars as lhe possession OF eNeiy
NJ thIs OF these. The interest upon million dollar
lsIN IL Ihuuaunl "
would now be the prncely annual lncOm
each OF these seventeen million families !
RSs s S oT 0s he tune Of 50
- T., coveTer.
IL stated that Manhattan island-afterwardc cI
'h eS- New Amsterdam, now the city OF New 70
,.,,o. was bought by the Dutch from the Indians
napier sixty guders, or twenty -four dollars, I2I,)
=, this Only about two hundred and nifty years
isc'r' And yet, II the purchaser could have Hecu
placed that t2I where II would have added u
hch'h principal annually Interest at the rate OF y,
Ssa s Tsae % All hs wTTd Tss
p. NJ city and county Of New York.
Giving, Now, the growth OF national wealth Is
sell on sndSS SSg ny asseIon of those Who nave NJ
H., the n mnrh higheT through compaTinQ the oid
q pro- uations with the new, (which have been gr,
streets increased,) instead OF taking as the basl
their calculation, as they should have done,
actual number OF horses, cattle; hogs, sheep
.,,,. &c, at the different periods.
going Ii Is plain, therefore, that the great mis-
he fair eanitai AT an Immensely high rent, ordln
he last Termed interest which 6y the use OF gold N
,OO,OOO renCy, IL often forced still higher While
ehpta- growth OF the national wealth remains al
Is near nresent rate the average man who Attemp
I've not nav even seven per cent for all the caDIta
time to ran get shoulI moi expect TO avoid bankn
as the result.
Let the wide awake, gS-aheAd American
a fair chance; give him not an OYer-Abun
hut full supply Of currency, so that the rA
interest shan be brought down to q level
70 other countries, and the glorles OF our pai
Will be compared win our lntuie, Wou" pale INK
inee on MUM "e'o'' '"''-o'"e. SUI
pc sung The WnshinEtou CITY SnyinEsBanh
a. !, AZ corner OF Seventh street and Louisiana az
ny unIi. pays per cent interest Oh all deposits
ewmAn, It's 'uh NC 'hA'o "u' "'H"u ~ ""'
Tst per-
in Eng SPRISG GOODS for ordered work now 7
4 10 De- Showroom on second floor. Gentlemen del
ndered. nrst-class WORK VIII please inspect
~