The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1874-02-07
LOGAN AS A EINANCIER.

. that he has had it printed in pamphlet torn
- for general circulation. John maintains Ii
the outsart that st is necessary to reduce TIT
r. present stringency in money matters by plac
~ inc the currency on secure basis" and t
~ do this his remedy is "a moderate cxpan
% sion" That is, he not,only favors legalizinl
and making permanent the issue OF the S44,
NJ 100000 reserve, but would add about 800,
70 100000 more to the present issue OF green
y backs As to specie payment, he goes into
y a long argument to show that gold and silver
. never have been reliable standard OF value
) that their relative values have been chang
ID ing from the earliest ages to the present time
that at one time gold was worth but SIX
times as much by weight as silver, while
now the rate is us one to 16, &c, &c. Then
, as basis for our currency gold and silver
are too scarce. All must admit says John,
that our present volume of paper money
some sGj0,00000 COOS none too large; yet il is
absurd to talk of rcdeeming this in specie
when there are but $l00,0O0,00O of gold In
the country. While this estimate of the
amount of gold and silver in the country is
absurdly low, yet did it not occur to Mr.. Lo-
Igan that gold is generally found where it is
wanted? In this country, for the last twelve
years, we have had no use for 1t except as mer
chandiEe, and in that time have exported
about 5000 900 d00-hearly twice enough TO-
redeem all our greenbacks. But for our pa,
per initiation, most of this gold might have
been kept here Then if gold is too scarce
now for a satisfactory basis" for currency,
how is it that there was enough gold for such
a basis all over the world 25 years ago.
though California and Australia have since
then more than doubled the quantity of gold
in the world? In fact, while in this country
we have been suffering from a redundancy of
paper money, English capitalists complain
of an unhealthy appreciation of prices from
a redundant gold currency. The United
States government would have no difficulty |
to obtain gold enough to keep her grcenbacks
ahoat at par With U. S. bonds worth from
to per cent more than gold, the govern. |
ment can get any amount she wants in ex-
change for her bonds to redeem greenbacks
with Let her issue and exchange 100000
600 of bonds for gold and redeem greenbacks
with the proceeds; then put out the green.
backs, now as good as gold, and buy back |
her bonds, and once more exchange the bonds
for gold, The process need be repeated very
few times before we should have, in addition
to all our present paper circulation, several
hundred millions of gold in free circulation
That would be an expansion wit ne sense
in it-an actual addition ofmorl 81 the cir
culation, and not of deprecated Tags,
But that is not up TO Logan's idea if mon
ey. The gold dollar is entirely too small
an affair to SUIT his notion. Says Mr.. Logan
If we were new race of beings, Just |
launched into existence, with no debts or
contracts, with no history or precedents,
with no traditional idea of prices or values,
possibly we might call what is now dime a
dollar, and regulate our trade and business
by this lilliputian standard, but | think it
would be a long time before we would span
the continent with railways or cleave the
ocean with steamships. With u ten-cent cur.
rency we would be very likely to have ten
cent commerce, ten.cent internal trade, and
Il tcn-cent nation.
So instead of SILVER ten cent piece or a
gold dollar Mr.. Logan would have 3 by 8
inch strip of paper, with NICE pictures on it.
Gold and silver arc scarce and hard to get
you must dig down in the earth for them,
and smelt, and hammer and purify them, all !
of which is cXpensive while paper is cheap
and abundant and picture dollars can be
printed hundred millions a day 1t is not
the Intrinsic value Of the money Mr. Logan
cares about-not the qHality, but the quantity
The principle recognized by every publicst
or thinker as automatic, that after any gov.
crnmcnt or nation has issued so much paper
money rs TO reduce its value below par with
gold and silver, no addition to the quantity
can increase its aggregate value, NJ Logan
regards as film of the brain. He would
double our circulation-double our aggregate
wealth by dividing the dollar bill in every
mans pocket and making two of il; by Civ
ing every man two deeds instead of one for
his land; if the soup is not enough to feed the
poor he would double its quantity by issuing
more soup tickets; make more milk by add.
ing water; double your supply OF apples by
cutting them in two; or double your quantity
of wheat by reducing the size of your bushcl
measure.
This is the philosophy of the inilationists-
this is Logans philosophy--it all whites
down to this.
There is no doubt Mr. LOGAN is correct
when he says the country jus, now is oppos
cd to contraction. But preparing to return
to IA specie basis does not necessarily involve
contraction. The government, to redeem its
greenbacks is under no necessity to retire
them. The greenback once on par with
gold and the fact established that 1t will al.
ways bring gold when presented at the treas
ury or subtrcasury, and the rush for gold
stops on the instant, for any man would then |
prefer the greenback 10 the com. With re |