The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-01-30
EBrOWnIOYv Om the Currency
Question.

BrOwnIOw On the Currency
Question.
Senator BROwNLow made speech
last week i'll the Senate in favor of in
hation He thinks the commerce of
the country needs 81 100000 Iegal-ten
der notes We quote from his
speech:
Mr.. President, in the southern and
western sections of the country, and
especially in Tennessee, there has
been and there still remains, much
suffering, caused by the want of an
adequate supply OF money, Of any
hlnd, TO meet the imperiOus emergen-
cles of business. Every department
OF commerce and of manufactures,
ana every material interest of the
whole country, and especially of the
sections named, have been deeply in
juTed by this deficiency of money.
II Is this state of facts which induces
me to break my accustomed silence in
this body,and to submit my views upon
the gravity of the question. and the
most promising measures by which
safe ana general. relief may be real
led
am the more inclined to submit q
few remarks on this subject in COnse-
queuce of certain views recently ex-
pressed in the Senate by several gem
tiemen for whom / entertain great
respect, and, also, because of the fact
that something like a concerted move
ment has been in progress in several
important commercial centers. evil
IDENTITY designed 10 induce, if not to
force, the Government to reduce the
amount OF money in circulation, and
TO resort prematurely to a resumption
OF specie payments. / am distinctly
anu utterly opposed to an immediate
resumption OF specie payments. Tor
can i Tor moment agree in opinion
with those who distrust the ability
and usefulness of our existing system
Of banking and currency On the
cOntrary,:I hold that, properly admin
lstered, il Is not only adequate but
largely beneiicentin its scope. This
system Sprang into existence during
the late civil war. 1t originated in
the necessities created 10y the war
Yet II has proved a most effective
agency in averting the destruction of
the Government itself, in preserving
IN fact this sacred Union of States, and,
at length, in opening the way to the
renewal of the earlier feelings of broth
erhood and amity SO rudely destroyed
by civil strife but which are so essen
tial to the happiness of society and to
the rapid and general development of
the country. The financial system so
happily conceived and projected by
the illustrOus 'and lamented late Chief
Justice, wildcat the head OF the Treas
ury, was perhaps, a closer approXima-
ton TO perfection than any which his
tory has recorded. It is no reflection
upon the comprehensive skill dis
played in establishing this great IL
nanciai plan, that experience has de-
velOped deficiencies in it which wise
craftsmanship should seek to supply
The, Financial administration OF the
Government during the war Was one
which displayed amazing wisdom,
and which sheds a luster on the his
tory of that period scarcely, ii at all
inferior 10 that of its political and mil
ltary departments. Few Americans
can be found who question its wisdom
or doubt its grant efficiency. Vet it
Is no diSparagement to that system
that, with altered conditions OF the
Nation, deficiencies should be dis
closed. Among these are the unequal
distribution of banking facilities
throughout the various States of the
Union, and the bestOwal of exclusive
privileges upon certain classes of our
citizens Let the following compare
tive facts illustrate the inequality of
distribution complained Of. With a
population Of one million and quar-
ter, Tennessee has a circulation of its
National banks of, say s., $40 coo, or a
traction less than - for each person
in the State
Rhode Island, with q population of
less than q quarter of a milliOn-2l7,-
352-has a circulation Of, say-S22, 0OO,-
0oO-OveT six times as much as Ten
uessee-while the population Of Ten
nessee is nearly six times Is large a
that OF Rhode Island-that is, Rhode
Island, with One-siXth of the p0puia-
ton OF Tennessee, has relatively TO lis
population fifty times more cirCula-
tiOn than Tennessee. There are per
hans ctI,rr conditions than mere
numbers which would reduce this pro-
portion somewhat, yet it does not re-
quire much reasoning nor arithmetic
to see that the distribution is une quail
and unfair.
Free banking has always been Il IA
vOrite idea with me and which ! may
hope vet to see incorporated in our
system of finance But ! would by no
means favor return t. the system of
State banks. Our banking system
should he National, and not State.
The currency should have equal value
in all parts OF the country. No man
houlG ne obliged, ia passing from one
state TO another. to change his money,
perhaps at a loss of one or more per
cent, into the currency of the State
he enters. It would not he the most
convenient nor comfortable thing to
Go, surprising 'lEat | leave my home
IN Tennessee, uu ms way to Congress,