The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1875-10-30
Mr.. Myers Plan for Giving Flexibility
and elasticity to the Currency,
First Proposed in 1879.

First Proposed in 1879.
The weekly meeting of the Chicago
Philosophical Society was held on Satur-
day evening, at the rooms of the society,
corner of State and Washington streets
There was a large attendance, and Judge
Booth presided.
The President announced that the lee
ture of the evening was to be delivered
by
Mr.. SYDNEY MYERS
on the subject of Commerce.
Mr.. Myers then stepped on the platform
and said
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of
the Philosophical Society Lord Bacon
remarked that all matters in this universe
are So connected together Ink by link, one
thing to another, that it would seem i'm
possible to give any clear dissertation upon
one subject without entering into the con.
sheraton Of all things. Believing this t.
be true, 1t strikes me that one should al
ways approach the discussion of any sub
Ject III which great interests are involved
with humility. My theme to night is
" Commerce, which IN its the broadcast
sense involves all intercourse Its history
IS coeval with that of mau and its future
IS IN the ages. In its narrower sense com
merce involves the interchange u commo.
ulues, and the interchange of commodities
involves two departments. the one Of tran
sportation, and the other Of exchange Of
ownership. Before comm, titles can exist
labor must be pursued, and until find
better definition IN the books have adopt
ed as definition of labor 81 the intelligent
application OF power to use" Our mission
here Is 10 confer benefits one upon another.
to exercise all the faculties with which the
Creator has endowed us, to do ia this life
ali the good we can, and To use our fac,Il-
ties physically, intellectually and morally.
Ii all were disposed and willing to exercise
their faculties to the full extent for the
good Of their fellows, the
TRANSACTIONS OF COMMERCE
would be more easily settled. The shoe
maker would secure an abundance of -four
from the miller the brickayer would offer
hls services to the shoemaker to build his
house, and the laborer would come forward
and carry the mortar But it soon became
necessary that the shoemaker, the butcher.
the baker, and the builder should keep
some record 81 how far they exercised their
faculties FOR the good Of their neighbors
srverally We have first a verbal agree
meut pa the part Of one to compensate the
other tur services rendered, as in our farm
ing communities An exchange of labor
takes place, but after a while perhaps some
persons may come into the neighborhood
no are turgettJI OF the services rendered.
ana therefore they take to keeping books.
After while these books become disputed
and questions arise before the justices If
the peace With regard to the validity Of the
entries, ana then they say give me your
prOmlssory note. From the pronissory
note transactions becoming larger the bill
OF exchange Is brought into use A large
portion Oh the commerce of England is
carried on by means of bills of exchange.
Alter that come the account with the great
merchant, and after that come the &C
counts II numerous merchants who aggre-
gate together their wealth, experience, and
skill ~ that corporation called a bank
Again, another evidence of service, and
which passes from hand to hand, is the
obligation or promlssory rote of the bank
These pr"mlssory notes having at times
been refused, We have in this country ad-
Fanced e condition where the promissory
note is secured by collateral. This is
one OF the great steps il advance il that
department Of commerce which involves
the change of ownership. By the New
York banking system for the first time the
promlssory note Of the bank was secured
by something that was lntrinsically valua.
Die, superior IN value to gold.
EXCHANGE OF VALUES
ha lax
which distant period the Bank of Venice
vas established. The next event occurred
III years ago, when a man named Palm
struck, IN Sweden, invented the bank note.
lie became 50 unpopular on account of his
Invention Of the bank note that he got into
dlfhcdlues, and finally was Obliged To leave
his country. But soon afterward the gov
eminent Of Sweden decided that after all
the bank noe was not such a very bad
thing, and they took possession of the
bank which Palmstruck had abandoned,
and that bank to-day is the great central
bank OF Sweden.
The next step made was the establish
ment Of the London Clearing House 100
years ago. The next step believe to be
the Ne" York banking system, BY which
every promissory note was absolutely Sc
cured TO the bIll-holder There was per
haps something Of circuit to be pursued Ia
order % ultimately reach the security; but
the security was there. Every bill holder
was secured by the
OBLIGATION OF THE STATE.
Alter tins soon followed the issue Of the
greenback and the 3 per cent. certificate.
The impression may perhaps prevail that
IN other countries the bank notes are abso-
lutely secured by something Of Intrinsic
value behind Its promise. | thluk that
this Is a mistake | do not know of any
country where every bank note in cIrcula-
ton is absolutely secured by something
that is not only its equivalent but superior
to com IN value. Upon the New York
system has been engrafted our national
bank system, and the mode u securing the !
note Is the same Ia both cases. According
To Palgrave, Who is considered a high au |
thorlty on this subject, the total note cir |
culatlon IN Great Britain at recent date |
was t43, go, 900 sterling. OF this amount |
ESQ, OUO, OOO composed what is called The |
hducIary clrculatlon-based on faith. ''the |
substance OF things hoped for, aud the |
Of things unseen. Behind 1
El4, OOO, 600 of the bank notes only is there
gold available for their redemption. The I
provincial banks have So, OVO. 90 in circu-
lation, the Bank of England E25, 500. OOO.
the banks Of Scotland 4, OOO, 900, and the
banks OF Ireland 81, 800, 600, making with
the country and private bank circulation
! total of f43, $40, 900, as before stated
Of the
BANK OF ENGLAND
915, 900, 900 Is tiduciary. This
iducIary circulation is authorized partly
~ the charter of the bank, aud has been
tn some extent since the act of
844. But it was authorized in this way
and l am probably reminding most II
Iou Of facts that are perfectly familiar 70
nm and | haliava the nronar ofAsn. ..f :. |