The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-01-19
How to prevent Pauics.


Had tte men who have ga large quantity
Of unsoid bonds left on their hand" been
able to realize their value last september,
there would have been no panic. The own.
orc tried TO sell, but nobody bad the money.
,acb of money stopped the wheels OF COM
rnerce then and there. Money was every
Whese the a!l-epgrossing object Of soiritude.
A vast addition to the ordinary volume OF ek'
,chas,ees, arising out OF the movement OF Inc
crops. was waiting to be operated, but Waltea
in vain. The one thing needed was the In
strument of exchange. In moment OF des-
neration the New York banks invented
Temporary form Of money, called loan certlh-
Gates. to meet the pressure OF an lneAora-
bile demand. Had The Secretary OF the Urea
sury at that jnncttlre, under authority OF an
act of Congress, printed ereeneacks to the
amount of one hundred million Of dollars,
and stepped into the market to buy national
bonds. what shout Of rejoicing would have
gone.up all over the country. At low rates
the Government could have exchanged nom
intercst.beariGg debt for Understanding
debt, enabling Congress to cut down the ap-
propriations some six millions dollars. TIE
panic would have come to an Immediate end
Industry would have pursued the even tenor
of its way. There would have been no dis
tressing shrinkage of values. Hundreds OF
thousands of laborers, now out OF employ
ment, would have been continued at WORK.
Prosperity would have gone on. With sucn
instructive facts in plain view, some sas
cious men, with the'welfare OF all classe. n a.
heart, perceived 'thatthe remedy lol 800
evils, and the means of prerentIIs r;,;nn
ronno ne like calomities. consisted 10 giving
1000 MORO money. 50 issued that mo-
VIZ fpsiI ho converted into bonds, ana
hondS into money, ut the, will of the holder.
p,,t ,rySIe these men are advocating this
hanofce,,t MAN the Nation cries out, :" Hands
oSi Donfyou see the Messrs. Money bags
ors reaning an opulent harvest Of gains
from the distresses of the country? Wait
mil the Messrs. Moneybags have done
oatberiHg the sheaves:" Such Is the
Real meaning of the Nations question,
.:Wby is it that the better class
of newspapers and orators have to be.
Gin once more to teach the rudiments of
financial science with a pains-taking and
elaboration which forty years ago would
have seemed ridiculous 2" This Is the talk
of men who denounce greenbacks as Gen
prayed falsehoods"; but watch how ten
derly the same men sweep these "engraved
falsehoods" into their pocket-books when
ever they get chance, and how loath they
are to part with the "engraved falsehoods"
without high interest and good security.
Says The Nation derisiYely "What an
exploded humbug the'' specie basis for cur
rency is" Exactly 80. The coins remain
in stagnant state, while fulfilling their pur-
pose as basis for the, circulating note, lying
idle, as they generally do when performing
such service, in vaults aud safes, where they
are neither meat, nor drink, nor clothing,
nor fuel, nor shelter, nor anything else that
is useful. The design Of this basis is trus-
trated the very moment this inactive, and
hence unproductiye, condition of specie is
disturbed by the coin redemption of any
paper issue, since the gold or silver given in
exchange for it at once ceases to be any part
OF the basis which may thus be dWarfed into
impotency whenever sufficient number Of
bill-bolders choose to exercise their right OF
conyertbility. 1t is not commended by the
advocates of the eold-base system that its
institution has any higher object than to give
security to and confidence in the resulting
any time be impaired by variety of circum-
stances over which the bank can nave no
control. This inefectiveness is the natural
result of the attempt to make superior eX-
changer of commodities and services mere
dpICuQdSC vi OAC W uISu ID ihiCiioiS tSuSu
policy is, in its effects, much like subordiDa-
ting inteligenceto the rule of ignorance, or
like making the American cultiyator mere
supplement-, in the work Of agriculture, to-
the Egyptian plough. Under specie basis,
we never have had specie ayments, but note
payments. A call for the specie retired the
note, and when the specie went out ofthe
country, as often happened, contraction of
the currency followed, sometimes to the ex-
tent OF crisis and panic, repeating the dis
tress of last September. So
What we want is found In circulating
notes, guaranteed by the Government, and
with the diversified property of the country
as the basis. Commodities thus being the
basis, the note is redeemed every time its |
holder makes a cash purchase; for he re-
ceives In return for his note an equivalent
part of the basis. The only use OF gold, as
money, is to make exactly such an exchange. |
When coin Is basis, it is not currency; and |
when it is currency, it is not basis. Then, |
why obtrnde basis between the circulating |
note and commodities Why do circuitiously |
what may be done directly? Did not the |
September panic demonstrate that green
backs are perfectly reliable instruments for
exchanges under the most try.
ing circumstances! Confidence in our parer |
money was never shaken for an instant. |
The only thing lacking to that money at that |
time was It's lack Of abundance. Abundance
would have cured the panic with an almost |
touch.