National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-11-27
4 SOUND CURRENCY AND /
HEALTHY CIRCULATION.

HEALTHY CIRCULATION
We hear a great deal of loud talk nova
days about the importance of a Sound cur
rency." And VIC hear a great deal more
about plenty Of money" Just what is
denoted by these terms, which are so
ghbly used, is rarely well defined. There
is a vagueness about them which smacks of
the petttfogger and the demagogue. They
tickle the fancy of the poor ignorant laborer
with the notion that it is in the power Of
the Government to not only give him the
gold coin which now goes to pay the in
terest on the public debt, but also bestOw
it upon him freely in unlimited quantities.
The demagogues who talk this stuff to the
idle and discontinued mob also ask that mob
to believe that the bondholders, who re-
ceive gold interest, have never given any
consideration for the bonds which they hold.
In the next breath they ask them to believe
that greenbacks are equal to gold in value.
They also insist that Congress should so
enact.
II is little singular that men cannot be
brought TO look upon the currency and
finances of nation in the same light as
those of ndividuals-judge of them by the
same principles which govern the transaC-
tiOns between men. A sound currency
between men is that money which will
pass current anywhere and everywhere
the world over at the same uniform valua-
ton. Men say, 81 will sell you so and so
EG,E
"price thirty days. or such another price
sixty days, or still another price payable
on demand" Everybody understands
that cash will command the lowest pur-
chasing rates Of all property. And why?
Why is it better than demand note, or
thirty, sixty or ninety days acceptance?
1t is simply because it is convertible in
stancouSly into different shapes, and be-
cause there is no risk attending the holding
of it. A demand note or dUe-bill may be
said TO represent money, and is, therefore,
Just as good so lOngas it is accepted as such
universally, and is faithfully and promptly
redeemed upon presentation. But the
failure to accept it on the part of any por-
ton Of the community for any sort of COM
modities, or the failure of the creator Of it
TO redeem it upon presentation, at once de
stroys IFS virtues as a currency. This can
not occur with full-weight coin as me-
dunn. Currency redccmable in this is
good the commercial world over. Such
currency is gold notes.
The greenback is Government due-bill,
yorol,lo IN oorfaiD cloccoc Of Indebtedness
1t is legal-tender here, but you cannot
buy clothing in Canada or any other for
eign country with it at its face value. It's
then, like going to the wrong store with an
order for merchandise from the boss of
Saturday night You cannot use it at all
Ifyou 60 10 the right store you will have
to pay an cXorbitant price for your goods,
but you will get them. So if we go to New
York and purchase goods Of an importer
we can obtain them ten per cent. cheaper
by paying coin than by paying greenbacks.
These greenbacks are the people s due-bills,
which they have agreed among themselves
to take in lieu of coin. And they stand up
TO their word, but because others will not
do so they are at a discount They can
only be brought TO par by prompt redemp-
ton in coin, when demanded by the holder.
We say that money is plenty when it is
in active circulation, when it passes rapidly
from hand 10 hand, Iquidating debts as it
goes. Ten dollars may be made the me-
dium of purchases amounting to one
thousand dollars in a single day by active
circulation. On the contrary, it may be
utterly useless as a medium by lying idle
III your pocket because you fear to trust it
to any investment All money hidden
away in pockets is Withdrawn from circu-
lation and tends TO make the market
tight" If it is deposited either in banks
of savings or issue, deposit and loans, it is
loaned out by the bank on interest and thus
continues in circulation.
Suppose, for instance, that each one of
the ten millions of heads of families in the
United States should go TO bed every night
with $40 in his pocket, that would be
800, co., coo withdrawn from tine circula-
ton of the country. And if they should
get in a panic and increase this pocket
hoard BY ten times, or attempt TO do so in
their fright, when they had reached an
average of $40 each the whole circulation
would be absorbed by these pocket hoarders
and what is generally contained in the
Treasury as a comfortable working balance.
This would be sad state of affairs, indeed,
and yet no one would have more than $40.
This is what might properly be called
paralysis of the circulation. 1t would be
decidedly an unhealthy circulation. What
caused il? Surely no lack of the medium.
Only the day before the circulation was free.
We had plenty of money" and now we
say money is scarce, when we know that
we have every cent of it in our pockets. If
we possessed the courage to pay it out, and
the faith that it would return to procure our
next necessities, we should all do il at once
and find money plenty again. But because
we have not this courage and faith we all
cry out with one voice, eve have 10
money" "Giveu US more money" 1--WE can
not work unless We have more money,
when a little reflection would show us that
all We wants healthy circulation of what
we have
To aid in making circulation more active
Government should adopt new system of
payments. Its laborers and employees