The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-08-11


ouiries Won have made of me in relation 10
my views on the ss.called question OF
finance; now 60 much discussed IN the pa
pers of the day. as we'll as by public speak.
ers throughout the country, Twill ask you
to give place in your paper to the following
brief summary. Of these vie |s. stating at the
sa,nc time that they are substantially the
a me expressed by me In the Senate during
tho first and second sessions OF the Forty
third Congress. -. !
take it for granted that all men desire
t}at The medium OF exchange between man
and man (called money! should be undoubt"
ed.y coed and Of fixed value-and that there
should be enough of it to transact the Dusi-
ness Of the country. On these three differ
eut points. or requisites, presume there IS
perfect unity of opinion. While all men may
arree a to these points, yet there Gao be no
doubt that there is very great confusion OF
view, as to what is money, and growing out
of fbis wrnt of Gefniteness we have the many
different views which we daily see in tho pa
pers or hear from public speakers. have
read for the last two years everything worth
reading which has been published on this
sul,;ect- say worth reading, for no one can
n,ssiblv read al the foolish stuff which IS
~
notions ina ginable upon the sutject.
What is monev, aud what is its function :!
Of itself and by itself, il is not OF any Valle )
for YOU .cansot eat tit will not CLONE
YOU, nor will it protect you from the ram ana
storm. Money, like the fo0'.ruic or the yarc-
stick. or the bushcl measure, is measure:
Whiir the foot-Iulc, and the Yard-sticR, ara
the busheI are measures OF quantity, money
is y measure Of value, but in addition to this,
It is used in commences and in society every
where. A. a medium or means of exchange.
! That Is. if ( have one dollar in gold and de-
sire TO procure Il bu-heI Of wheat ana you
buve bushcl Of this grain In excess OF
what YOU need for your own Use, l
will make an exchange with You aud
hand YOU over my gold dollar, ana you
turn over To me the huShci or Wnta',
1Ec rclI dollar having thus performed Two
! lInct;onS-unc - 4 measure OF ine value u
/ the wheat and the other rs means oil OK
| cnaroe tor it, In the very earliest per'oo OF
the world. a. sar lack as the days OF Abralam,
| ooId and silver were u>cn both is measure
of vaIlc and medium OF exchange. The great
step forward made necessary by the vast cX-
! tension Of commerce in modern times j.
found in the use Of paper as medium OF
exchange, but not as measure OF Vaiue--'ne
measure of vulie throughout the entire com.
me, cial world being now, Is before paper
was known coin. Coin being used As Tue
basis. gives to this paper medium hXed
valuc. without which it Is vanelc>s.
f\Ou will carefully read everything Which
has Len written and said by certain CHS
Of pcr.ons on the 81: j"c', from judge heilcy
dawn. YOU will see that they think ana SPEAK
! of paperas money a. posScs>lDe only o"c cn'l
yc.cr-that is, s. measure OF eAc:auSN
and not "a Il medium ~ Eaiue' iuty
desire that thi. medium OF exchange shou'a
| j,c abundant. Judge Kelley says that unless
there is plenty OF this paper III clrcu'a''oh
ine work Shops aud ric!cr'es throughout Tue
county will be closed. rrferil?g 10 IL "h!y is
| ,o.1i,,m or mpsrs OF exchange. And so that
| this paper should continue TO De aDuhaaht
| h.. 5,TopoSrs the convertible bond, 30 As 10
rnahie parties needing This medium to pro.
cure II when wanted by exchanging bondStor
| i, All il tl,ionSt> are in favor Of an album
| ,ucr of paper 10 BE- used IL i medium OF eX-
change. and it is oGiy in this character that
this class Of mru lock ut it. Taking that view
of the subject myself, advocated at the first
session of the ForIy.third Congress an in
crease of paper money Tor tile West, Deilev'
inc that we needed AZ that time larger vol
nmn OF this .lt dunn OF exchange, the ma.
tioual hank system as then in force barInS
deprived Us Of GU: lust proportion OF clrcu-
Ia,ion. | believed then, as | DO now, mat
we had not s., tficiency Of this medium OF
exchange, while the East had an excess,
which enabled it to control and to dictate
the prices OF our western productions. l.
take rrlde now il looking over the speecheS
| made in the Senate at this time, as L be-
lieycG that faithfully represented the needs
and wants of the State | had the honor 10
sneak for. was called an ln1ationlst, anu
so | was in one sense, yet not I'D the SENSE
in which the present advocates OF an IRE
deenaLle paper issue contend lot. Az
this period of extended commerce gold
and silver by themselves are not sum
Gent to meet and supply tue wants OF the
commercial world as mediums OIL exchange,
and il is for this reason that the intellect OF
moderu times has invented this additional
means Of papcr--to be used Tor this pllT-
nose. But this 1T best is nothing tut
credit. aso Of modern birth, ard made
equally n, cc>>ary by the wants OF commerce.
| Paper, used as money, is nothing but credit
| in this shape. aud no more nor less than the
note of an individual. For example: lgiYe
YOU nv note fox one hundred dollars; the
note or paper on which it is written Is by
Itself of no value. Yet this represents the
value of one hundred dollars. because my
credit is good fer that sun: and this note Is
! the eyiQerc.' i!iat | owe you this sum. which
at a future day wit4hc up with something
else. With what? Either with coin or
with paper. But this paper itself is
but a plJmlse TO pay-and Is lhe
/ promise either of bank or the GO
! ycrnment. Now. who is 10 take up this
/ .,l> I h,,ro al
| note. II it is never 10 be tanen up, will 1t
have any value: Would my note, however
rich | might he, he Of any value if 1t were
| known that il never would be redeemed or
| taken up l. there practically any difference
between them. The idea Of future redemp-
| ton is the only thing that gives 10 both any
value whatever. The value of both depends
on credit. The life Of paper 10 be of any
value is its invlri;lbe and constant ability to
be redeemed in the same way as my note,
and whenever it loses tbis character it at
once and Immediately ceases TO have any
value whatever. Why is it, then, am asked,
that the paper OF the Bank of England main
tanned its value for twenty years, and yet 1t
was not redeemed? Or to come nearer home,
how Is it that our legsl-lenders are sfyery
good, and yet they are not redeemed?
First: 1t is not true that these two char.
acters of paper remained good. The paper Of
the Bank OF England was At times as much
as twenty per cent. below the price Of coin
and our lega-terders are now from ten to
fifteen per cent. below the gold standard.
admit, however. rs mediums of exchange
they are both very good,'becau$e the credit
of the Government gives them vslue, and are
of uudoubted usefulness as means Of ex-
change between man and man and ia all
commercial transactions at bone. Their
utility gives them very great value. Yet at the
10, +; 1,ns ~