The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1874-02-07
IoEAN AS A FINANCIER.

- that he has had it printed in pamphlet form
for general circulation John maintains II
the outstart that st is necessary to reduce TIT
~ present stringency in money matters by plac
,g ING the currency on secure basis ana u
-, do this his remedy is "a moderate cXpan
N sion" That is, he not,only favors legalizinl
and making permanent the issue OF the S44,
M 900, 600 reserve, but would add about 800,
% OOO,O 600 more to the present issue of green
- backs. As to specie payment, he goes into
y a long argument to show that gold and silver
- never have been reliable standard OF value
= that their relative values have been chang
NJ ing from the earliest ages to the present time
that at one time gold was worth but SIX
times as much by weight as silver, while
now the rate is as one to 1G, &c, &c. Then
, as basis for our currency gold and silver
are too scarce. All must admit, says John
that our present volume of paper money
some $780, COOS none too large; yet it ID
absurd to talk of redeeming this in specie
when there are but 100000 900 of gold In
the country. While this estimate of the
amount of gold and silver in the country is
absurdly low, yet did it not occur to Mr.. Lo.
lgan that gold is generally found where it is
wanted? In this Country, for the last twelve
years, we have had no use for 1t except as mer
chandiEe, and in that time have exported
about 5000 900 0O-nearly twice enough to
redeem all our greenbacks. But for our pa
per initiation, most of this gold might have
been kept here. Then if gold is too scarce
now for satisfactory basis" for currency,
how is it that there was enough gold for such
a basis all over the world 25 years ago,
though California and Australia have since
then more than doubled the quantity Of gold
in the world? In fact, while in this country
we have been suffering from redundancy of
paper money, English capitalists complain
of an unhealthy appreciation Of prices from
"a redundant gold currency The United
States government would have no difficulty
to obtain gold enough to keep her greenbacks
atloat at par. With L. S. bonds worth from
4 to 7 per cent. more than gold, the govern
ment can get any amount she wants in ex-
change for her bonds to redeem greenbacks
with. Let her issue and exchange 100000.
600 of bonds for gold and redeem greenbacks
with the proceeds; then put out the green.
backs, now as good as gold, and buy back
her bonds, and once more exchange the bonds |
for gold. The process need be repeated very |
few times before we should have, in addition |
to all our present paper circulation, several
hundred millions of gold in free circulation.
That would be an expansion wit ne sense
in it-an actual addition ofmors 81 the cir
culation, and not of deprecated fags,
But that is not up to Logan's idea ii mon
ey The gold dollar i. entirely too small
an affair to suthis notion. Says Mr. Logan
If We were a new race of beings, just
launched into existence, with no debts or
contracts, with no history or precedents, |
with no traditional idea of prices or values, |
possibly we might call what is now dime |
dollar, and regulate our trade and business
by this lillipuian standard, but think it |
would be a long time before we would span
the continent with railways or ceave the
ocean with steamships. With ten.cent cur.
rency we would be very likely to have ten.
cent commerce, ten-cent internal trade, and
a ten-cent nation.
So instead Of SILVER ten cent piece or a
gold dollar, Mr.. Logan would have a 3 by
inch strip OF paper, with nice pictures on it.
Gold and silver are scarce and hard TO get
you must dig down in the earth for them,
and smelt and hammer and purify them, all !
Of which is expensive; while paper is cheap
and abundant and picture dollars can be
printed a hundred millions a day. II is not
the intrinsic value of the money Mr. Logan
cares about-not the qaality, but the quantity
The principle recognized by every publicist
or thinker as automatic, that after any GOV.
ernment or nation has issued so much paper
money rs 10 reduce its value below par with
gold and silver, no addition to the quantity
can increase lis aggregate value, NJ. Logan
regard. as film Of the brain He would
double our circulation-doube our aggregate
wealth-hy dividing the dollar bill in every
mans pocket and making two of il. by Civ.
ing every man two deeds instead of one for.
his land; if the soup is not enough TO feed the
poor he would double its quantity by issuing
more soup tickets make more milk by add
ing water double your supply % apples by
cutting them in two; or double your quarti,y
of wheat by reducing the size of your bushcl
measure.
This is the philosophy Of the inflationists-
this is Logan's philosophy--it all whites
down To this.
There is no doubt Mr.. Logan is correct
when he says the country just now is oppos-
cd TO contraction. But preparing 10 return
to specie basis does not necessarily involve
contraction. The government, 10 redeem its
greenbacks is under no necessity TO retire
them The greenback once on a par with
gold and the fact established that 1t will al.
ways bring gold when presented at the treas
ury or subtreasury, and the rush for gold
stops on the instant, for any man would then
,,rnfor bn ,rraonhonk N the ,p,p With a..