The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-05-04
:. ,aaIey ON the 3-e5 Bond. Hn-
-...hsn ~Sth Greanbnc1ESs

,ovjn0 soi1ud and clear etaleWsnt w ho, ~
Greeley OF the advantages oil the plan Oh nav
inp 3.G5 bonds, which shall, at the pieasuI'
If the holder, be Interchangeable WIN green
BACKS, appeared In the New York iT'ou"e ., y
November 8, 1871, and Is eminensiy woi.n,
of reproduction at the present monens
Few of your readers can fall to find instruc
ion from the perusal Of this admirable pa
per. nA
now TO RspusY fHA INTEREST On TIE sA1ioHA'
DHB7s
Mr. Routwelps plan Of funding the ma
,;onal debt has had pretty fair trial. true
,hs times have been adverse; but We haY'
"anerallv found them so when We neeoeu u
borrow money. The sum ana supstance
rho Secretary's success Is the funainS 0
so0o O0O. OOG at tive per cent, on Inc pay
| mcnt of a bonus Of one ana nal pei een.
RI the "syndieate" of foreign Da1hers Wnt
nave agreed to take the loan. Wo "oui.
not disparage this achievement, Tor we re
,,ord it a. decidedly better IMAM notnlng
Add to the Interest (S3,oO0,oOO) Sl,o0o,oo'
more for the aggregate cost Oh pruning tn'
new bonds, advertising, explaining ant
commencing the loan, and the entire COST o
funding the 100000 at five per cent. iol
ten wears is $4,000, 600. 1t seems to us ina
| this does not justify hope that our u, oQG,'
0OO. 900 OF instantly or presently redeemaDit
6's can be promptly funded even at hFe PEI
cent.
Having given to the secretary's efforts
hearty support throughout, we urge tnas
radically different plan may next nave As .a,i
a trial. Before we send another Dohu aplonu
10 be hswked from clearinghouse 10 pahh'
ing. house throughout Europe, we ASK 'ne
Government to try-just earnestly IVY
fund the bulk of our debt at nofe.
could not have sold our bonds, durlDs tne
dark hours of our civil war, to EUROPE !.
anv price, no matter how ruinous,lt we nau
moi first shown our faith in them by taxing
hundreds of millions Of them ourselves. %
now, having seen how reluctantly tney lShe
our reissue at five per cent. with o'scnun''
let lis show them that we stand ready ~
lake larger amount at lower rate OF ln'
tcrcst at par. Here is the gist OF our propo-
sition. o,,ds
Let Congress make our grecnbacks tunoa-
b]c at the Measure Of the holder In bonus Vi
800. 81 600 and S1O 900, drawing interest," at
the rate of one cent per day on each S!oo (ol
3 s5-1O0 Der annum) and exchange"o!e 'slo
o,ceubacks al the pleasure Of the hotoer.
Now authorize the Treasury 10 purchase
and extinguish our outstanding oouus 81
fast a. il is supplied with the means OF 20
doing by receipts for custonS,Rr otneI"ne'
and 70 issue new greenbacks whenever larger
amounts shall be required--eVery one being
f1ndable in sums Of 800, $1,000 or $4,000,
"a aforesaid, at the pleasure OF the holder,
in bonds drawing all annual interest OF
3 G5-1C0 in coin per annun, aud these bonds
exchapgeable into grcenbacks whenever y
holder shall desire 1t. g
The benefits Of this system would be these:
First. Our q eenbacks, which are now vir-
tual falsehood., would be truths. The Gov
erument would pay them on demand in
bonds as aforesaid, which is in substantial
accordance with the plan on which the green
backs were first authorized.
Second. Every person having greenbacka
for which be had no present need would
present them at some sub-treasury and ex-
change them at par for these bonds. Sup.
pose he has 100000 which be expects to use
a month hence; he can make them earn him
$50 mean time without mourning the smallest
danger Of loss by bank-failure or otherwise.
and with positive certainty that the money
would be ready for him whenever he chose
to take it.
Third. A merchant leaves New York with
81 100000, which he purposes to invest in
wheat at the West or in cotton at the South
lie calls at our sub.treasury, exchanges his
greenbacks for these bonds, and takes or
sends these to Chicago, st. Paul, New Or
leans, or Galveston, to be exchanged for use
when needed. After looking about for a
month, he buys half the produce he origi-
nally Intended, converts half his bonds into
grccnbacks, receives $50 per day, or $1,000
in all, as interest, and makes his payments.
After travelling and looking for another
month, be invests the remainder of his capt.
tai. receives s., 900 as interest there on for
the two months be has held the last hslf-mil-
lion Of bonds, and lays his course home
ward. His bonds may have lain nearly all
the time he owned them in the vaults Of
some bank; but they were earning money,
not for the bank, but for him.
Fourth. Our greenbacks, no longer false,
but.convertible at pleasure into bonds bear
ing a moderate gold interest and exchangea-
bile As aforesaid, could not fail to appreciate
steadily until they nearly reached the level
of gold. Indeed they would, unless issued
too profuSely, be really better than gold.
Drawing a higher rate Of interest than
British consols, and convertible at pleasure,
az these are not, they would in time obtain
currency even in the Old World.
Fifth The trouble so inyeterately bor-
rowed by Thousands with respect to cover
;ssues ;, g redundant currency" etc., would,
or at least should, be hereby dispelled. If
there we're at any time an excess Of curren-
nv it would tend to precipitate itself into
the bonds aforesaid. If there ever should
be scarcity of currency, bonds would be
exchanged at the Treasury for greenbacks
till the want was fully supplied. Black FRI
DAYS and the locking up Of greenbacks
would 5000 be numbered with lost arts and
hobgoblin terrors.
Sirsh. Though the demand for these bonds
might for months be moderate, their conve-
nlence and manifest utility would soon diff
fuse their popularity aud stimulate an ever
widening demand for them. They would
be fayorite investment with guardians aud
trustees who should expect to be required to
pay over the funds held by them at an early
day, whether fixed or uncertain. They
would say, Though I might invest or de.
post these funds where they would COM
mand a higher interest, choose to place
them where know they will be safe and at
hand when called for"
SeUenh. Ultimately, we believe they
would become so popular that hundreds OF
millions of them would be absorbed at or
very near the par of specie, and that with tue
proceeds an equal amount of our outstanding
SKIES might be redeemed and cancelled with
out advertising for loans or paying bankers
to shin for US throughout Europe. The in
terest thus saved to our country would be an
important item.
Such are the rude outlines Of a plan which
we did not originate, but which We heartily
indorse. Why not give it q trial? We
should dearly like to inform Europe that,
since she seems not to want any more Of our
bonds at five per cent, we have concluded