The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1874-08-08
THE GOLD BASIS HUMBUG.

/ This is the way the Atkinson (hanJ P"-
trjot. a granger organ. goes for The gold mum
bug: Banking on II specie basis has brch
tried in all civilized countries ander The sun,
and every system OF government For 400
years financial men have tried to increase the
wealth of the country by the issue OF paper
money based on gold aud silver IL has run
well for II while, but the system has lntviia-
| bly, brought ruin and disaster in its tram
| Al periodic times the gold basis turns out to
be a fraud Banks that issue two TO five dol
lars IN paper for every dollar of capital, have
never been able to redeem III gold, and conSe-
oucntly holders of their notes have suffered,
| The gold and silver in the country is not
sufficient for its business. This is admitted
bv ALL A different currency Is indispensable.
| History shows that currency based on spe-
Gle always entails loss and disaster The
faith and resources Of the government pres
ent tangible and unimpcachablc basis"
We cut the above from rag money organ.
If the argument amounts to anything, it Is
against rag money and not gold The rag
advocates labor under singular delusion,
which 1t seems impossible to dispcl; it is,
that paper rags are money, and that money
in this country can only be scarce or plenty
in proportion to the amount Of paper prom
ises in circulation. On the contrary, expert
ence shows that the amount Of paper money
in circulation in n country has very lit
tie to do with the scarcity or abundance of
money. England has less than half as much
paper in circulation as this country, yet in
no other country on earth is money so cheap
and plenty. The reason why the gold ba-
sis" of paper IN this country so often proves
failure is, that By an Over.issuc Of paper it
dcprcciatcs in value, whcreupon people at
once rush for the gold and that is exactly
the time when the gold dollars, like scared
mice, run away and hide themselves, and
money becomes suddenly scarce.
The only way to make money permanent
ly cheap and plenty IN this country, then, is
to make it Il hanging otfensc ever to have a
dollar more paper in circulation than can be
converted into gold, though every dollar is
presented for redemption on the same day.
Two or three hundred millions, issued direct
from the national treasury, is all the paper
the country needs. With this paper always
jrcdecmabe in gold, and the government
bound to redeem it whenever presented
what sacrifice, and the country will soon
have in circulation all the hard money 1t can
make profitable use Of In 1860 this country
had but trllc over $200,000000 of paper
money, but we bad $4OO,00OOOO Of gold, and
money was never plcntier or business more
prosperous, Yet the paper money then was
! bank bills, and most of it from / to per
cent. ueo% par. II we had had no bank
bills at all w should doubtless have had
| 5000, 1000 Of gaiI, for, by the natural laws
! of trade and Gnaac@ paper money simply
crowds out or takes tbs place Of 50 much
gold, apd when paper money sinks below
par in gold and is no more redecmable in
gold on presentation, it drives out all tho
GOLD, as is now the case
If the natural laws of trade and finance arc
allowed to take their own course, this coun
try will always have just the amount of mon
cy ii can earn pay for, and make profitable
use of in legitimate business transactions. Il
we need and can constantly make more pro
fitable use of one on two thousand millions
of gold and silver than Europe or Asia can
it will come here, as inevitably as water runs
down hill. Halt or more of it may be repre-
scented in every day transactions by paper
but the paper, if honestly issued, and like {
gold draft or bill Of exchange, payable II
gold on demand only replaces so much go(
for the time, and makes money neither scare
or nor pcn;ier 1t is the overissue Of paper
alone that causes unhcalthful excitement anC
speculation, ending in revulsions panics
and sudden dearih and scarcity Of money; SC
that it Is the paper basis and not the gold ba
sis "humbug" that should be reproba,cd.