The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-05-15
SOUND CURRENCY (!
SPEECH OF
HON. WILLIAM WALTER PHELPS.
OF NEW JERSEY. IN THE HOUSE OF REP
REsENTATIvEs, APRIL, 1, 1874.
SPEECH OF


II speak for my own people. They have asked for
bread, their Government has given them a stone;
they have asked for money, their Government has
given them arag."
bill III r. No ,57S) entitled San act to amend the
several acts providing national currency and to
establish free banking and for other purposes"
Mr.. Phelps said II.
MIR. Speaker, we are bound to give the
people of these United States sound cur
rency. We are bound to give them specie
payments; for only gold, or a credit based
on gold, is sound currency. We are
bound, whether we be Liberals, Republi-
cans, or Democrats, by express promise
we are bound by the provisions Of law,
the first ever signed by our Chief Magis-
trate; we are bound by the oath we took as
members Of this House to support the con-
stitution; we are bound by the conventions
of Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Baltimore,
which pledged the three great parties to
speedy resumption :" we are bound by
the act of March 1869. which "solemnly
pledged the public faith to make provision
at the earliest practicable period for the
redemption of United States notes in
coin !" we are bound by the constitution,
which was formed ito promote the gener-
al welfare. Can we better provide for the
general welfare than by giving to the peo-
pie uniform, stable currency?
For the general welfare, for the interests
OF other classes, others may speak. Let
me to-day speak for the interests of labor
the labor of the farm and of the shop
FOR THE POOR MAN.
| believe, and / think | can show, that
while the moral evils resulting from de-
preciated currency fall uniformly, the ma
farial Ill tho raol ffarinn onl larc ell
upon the laborer and the farmer. The CAPT.
talist and merchant in the resources of
varied exchanges and varied investments,
may adjust and shift the loss; the poor
man receives it all. Wall street, and Bea-
con street, and Chestnut street may es-
cape the farm and the workshop, never.
Therefore urge to-day the resumption of
specie payments in the name of the farmer
and mechanic.
ask sound currency for those whose
plows rust in the furrow; for those who
darken the streets of Paterson with their
patient waiting
SPEAK FOR MY OWN PEOPLE.
And let no man smile that / speak for
those whose wants best know and most
feel speak for them and not to them.
Shall tell them of sufferings they have
felt = Shall 1 point them to the silent
forge, spindle and loom? They have
lived and moved among them all this dreary
winter, as men can live and move. even
among the silent monuments of departed
life. They ask for a sound currency as
their representative, | ask for it in their
name They have waited, they are still
waiting, with patience. So far, they have
asked for bread and their government has
given them stone; they have asked for
money, their government has given them
q rag.
MI. Speaker, a century ago, part of the
English people gathered around West
minister Hall to impress SEN
tlmental grievance upon their rep
resentotlves. Their subsequent con-
~Ict was not such as friends of order
could approve. Not such would be the
conduct of Paterson mechanics, should
they gather around this Capitol to impress
their real grievances. There would be no
noise, no disorder, no riot They would
stand the livelOng day in patient waiting
They would part without threat, to lei in
and out the representatives of the people.
and as each passed, they would simply
say, You believe the testimony of JEFF
ferson, Jackson and Benton; or, you be-
heye the testimony of Adams, Clay, Web
ster, and Sumner. Give us the money
they recommended give us dollar that
is dollar. Give US the money of our
fathers; give us the money of the world
Mr.. Speaker, l could spend much time
in proving financial truths that were never
disputed before this year of our Lord
Why should |? Shall put up a man of
of straw, to knock him down?
Shall l tell truths that the
theory and experience of the world
have established? Could / write them
better than Smith, Ricardo Say, Rice, and
Bagehot2 Can speak them better than
Jefferson, and Benton, and Webster, and
Clayf 1t there is a man who believes
there is any other basis for a sound curren-
cy than gold, and who maintains that be-
lief IN the face OF the worlds testimony,
and the world experience, i cannot convert
him will not attempt it.
1t seems to me that most of the confu-
sion OF thought and expression that ap-
pears IN this discussion is the result of
INACCURACY OF TERMS.
HE words are used inaccurately, The
confusion rs one, not in the subject, not in
the mind that grasps it, but in the termir
oiiogy. Give that stric. definition H. or,,e
give that strict use of terms W ON defined
which rules N ether scis,,,ces and ali con
D4st give way to order and har
money. In the great process of exchange
there are W. functions. For parts, thes,
two run stions, two different instruments arr
need..ed. Let us give these different instru
.nents different names, and carefully main
tain the distinction.
WHAT Is MONEY!
1t is the measure of value. 1t is the in
strument devised to transact the first stel
in an exchange. 1t is the commodity uset
to estimate the relative value Of other com
modities.
Before we can exchange commodities W
must know what is their real value. w
must take commodity of fixed value, an
dividing it into units, make these represen
the ratio which other commodities bear {
each other. This measure Of value
money.
THIS MEASURE OF VALUE Is GOLD.
Why Because gold has the mechanic;
qualities for such measure. 1t is divis
bic and indestructible. 1t has, too, q un
versal and stable value. Now, money mul
have value, because it is used TO measuI
value. If we wish to measure the lengt
of commodities we should take a measul
that had length, Did we wish to measul
weight, we would take as measure con
modify that had weight. So whe
we measure values we must have me
sure that has value. And gold is the on
article that has universal and stable va
ne. Universal, for here civilization al
barbarism, the past and the present, met
Abraham counted shekels in the first +
corded bargain, and William exacted fro