The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1874-12-17
THE CURRENCY.

aid Secretary Brlstow. and perhaps it
might be said the Administration are in
favor OF specie paying bank currency.
Congress is divided between them, and
the division may be SO nearly equal as to
defeat legislation in favor of either.
And there better be NO legislation
than legislation in the wrong
direction. And, in our opinion
legislation in favor of bank currency
would be legislation in the wrong direc-
ton. And we believe that whatever 10
done in that direction will be without
constitutional authority, and will operate
against the public welfare, and will ultie
mately have to be undone.
Congress has rower to coin money, and
regulate the value thereof, and of foreign
coins. Money we believe 20 DO The
constitutional representative of value and
medium ofexchange A promise to tay
is not mercy. Money never premises
and Congress should never authorize q
promise to pay to pass AN money, and es-
pecially anything short of the national
promise. Waving however, for the
present, all objections to promises to pay
passing for money, we have insuperable
objections to the promises of specie pay
ing banks passing for money. We do
not believe it possible to have specie
paying banks. We never have had. and
we do not believe We ever shall have
But admitting the possibility of having
specie paying banks and admitting ali
banks to be specie paying banks, we
still believe that specie paying bank
ing system is delusion and fraud,
We shall make but one objection to
the system, at present, and shall ask the
friends and advocates of the system to
oViate 1t. Ard, until they do it, IL
should prevent its adoption. The legiti-
mate operation sf all banking syetems
and especially of a specie paying
banking system, ie, in good times and
when money is plenty, to make money
plentier, and in hard times and when
money is scarce, to make money scarcer.
This is the necessary and unavoidable
operation of every banking system, and
1t can net be otherwise. When times
are good and money plenty banks use
their money to the extent of the demand
for it and their ability to accommodate,
thus stimulating to over production, rick
and speculation. Sooner or latter the
excessive plentiness of money, overpro-
duction. risk and speculation eliminates
in prostration of industries. failures and
bankruptcies. And, If the banks are
specie paying banks, the operation is
still worse. 1t may easily be seen, to
some extent, what the operation would
have been in the Jay Cooke failure and
panic if the banks had been specie pay
ing banks. All bank accommodations
would have been closed end failures and
bankruptcies would have been wide
spread and disastrous. The fact, that
the banks were otspecie payment banks
was, to very great extent, the salvation
of the country from widespread and
irremediablea disaster. The banks are
not, however, entitled to any credit for
their operation in this respect. Tha
bank currency was sustained by the green
bank currency, and the greenback
currency was sustained By the faith o.
the nation
Good as our national banks are, we
DEFY the President, and his Cabinet, and
Congress, and the ADVOCATES of bank
currency, to devise any plan Tor furnish
ing currency which would operate more
disastrously than our present banking
system does, or would do IL they were
specie paying banks. We presented this
subject ..ior consideration to Hon. G. G.
Williams when he was in Kenosha last
October to address the people on the
issues of the day. We said to him that
VIC did not then ask reply, but after
election was over and he had time to con-
slider it, we would ask and defy him, and
the President, and from the President vi
to the ablest and down to the weakest
member of Congress, and from the ablest
to the weakest advocate of bank
currency in or out of Congress, to devise
a currency system which would operate