The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1874-04-23
THEa CURRENCY QUESTION.

Liverpool buys on a specie basis. IL
fate the currency in the country and you
donot to the title Of hairs breadth affect
tne price Of cotton in Liverpool, nor
therefore Of the same commodity IN New
! ork or New Orleans. But you do by
that initiation Increase the value OF all thar
8e bring to this country. And this on a
wen known Law Of trade that values rise
or fall according to the abundance or
scarcity of what Is called money.
If We sell In Liverpool Oh a gold and
silver basis, and buy in the country on
the basis Of an inflated paper currency, it
seems % me that we must stand at dis
advantage
Tothe first point We reply that it is
true our cotton Is sold in Liverpool for
specie. bur when We are paid for it if We
do not get the difference between specie
and currency it will be our own fault
Thus, if bale Of cotton sells for fifty
dollars in specie, the producer should
realize as much currency for II as the
fifty dollars win buy, and the product,
viii answer bis purposes in paying debts.
The increase Of the circulating medium
viii make it cheaper and more plentiful
and thus inure to the benefit Of the debt
Or class, which is the condition Of our
people We don't care how cheap it IS,
nor how intrinsically worthless, if it serve
our purpose.
/ If you do not belong to the debtor
class. the gold for which you exchange
your cotton will command It's worth Of
whatever you wish to purchase So that
while a redundant paper circulation will
/ facilitate the operations Of the debtor,
/ it viii not injure the party who is able to
/ deal exclusively with the specie, which
/ our great staple will always command
and which, if the producer does not real
/ lie, will be his own fault
I 1t is true th at an inflated currency en-
bances the price of what We buy at
home; but this cause will only begin to
/ operate when the supply exceeds the ne
cessities Of trade 1t is far below this
standard at present in the West and
South, whose people are suffering from a
stringentsupply,whi!e It's overflowing and
superintendent in the Northern and East
ern monetary circles. But people sit
uated as ours, who are in debt, have
need to buy but little. They can
produce all they need at home, if they
would The lessons Of the late war are
too fresh to have been forgotten; and the
necessity Of needing them at this time is
too apparent to require argument.
Another reason why we have taken a
deep interest in this currency agitation is,
that it affords the opportunity we have
long watched and earnestly desired, for
a union Of the South and West the oblit-
Grafton Of the old sectional lines which
have been fruitful Of Improbable strife;
and the formation of a new one on a
more natural basis and upon practical is
/ sues in which our prescribed and Cypress
ed section can align on the side that is
stronger. and therefore able to take care
of itself.
To recur to the question of increasing
/ the currency In order to infame the
minds Of the Northern capitalists cores
pondent Of the n Y Herald submits the
following opinions as having been adj
vanced by Ga Southern politician of
thirty odd years experience in public af-
fairs" which, whether their imputed au-
thor be myth or reality, presents our
view Of the subject:
IN a conversation yesterday morning
with an old Southern politician of thirty
odd years experience in public affairs, he
advanced some startling but growing
opinions touching the necessities of the
South and West calling for more currency
and the advantages that viii be gained to
these sections from an initiation and de-
probation OF our paper money.
The South and West, said he, want
more currency, simply because not one
Of the Southern or Western States has
anything like the currency facilities which
ii had before the war, and most of them
have less than half the amount Of their
dnte-beiItHn circulation This, too, when
their business affairs call for more, and
more they are bound to have. OF course, |
in proportion as the currency is inflated, /
it will be deprecated but suppose it is |
deprecated so far that 80 in paper will be |
an equivalent for only 81 in gold do YOU |
not perceive that the Western and South |
ern States, as the debtor States, will gain |
largely by this depreciation? A Southern /
merchant, we will say, owes debt to a
New York importer Of $50, 600. He I
pays IL in legal tender paper money, and /
if $50, 900 of this paper are in value equal /
to only S20, 900 in gold he saves upon I
the gold standard so, 900 by the opera |
ton; and so through all the transactions |
between debtor and creditor as indi- |
viduals, States or sections: and if through /
Congress these debtor States can enforce I
this system Of settlement, IL it not ac-
cording to
The good old r,tie, The simple plan
That he shall take who has the power
And he shall keep who can:
aud self-interest are the
first laws of nature. The interest of the
East are the creditors interests. the in
terest Of the West snd South are those
of the debtor, anu 20 use a familiar
Southern expression, 'tthe longest pole
brings down the Persimmons. That is
all there is oft, and if we have the pow
er over them in Congress our creditors
must take the consequences. Wee versa,
we would be the sufferers The balance of
power happens TO be on our side, and we
avail ourselves Of lis advantages What
Else could you expect us TO DO? l grant
you that imitation at this late day opens ,
he door to reputation, through fnan-
'ial collapse; but as a Southern man,
whose interests are those of the South, ..
What is ren1aiatinn 10 Me- Nv idea Is