Daily Kennebec journal., 1875-10-12
NEW YOR II
CARL SCHURZ.
What h5 Thinks of Wendall Phil.
lips Views on Finance.

New York, October IL. In an interview at st.
Lewis, Carl Schurz replied as follows to Wendall
Phillips last letter:
The difficulty with Phillips is he speaks without
thinking. Here he complains that banks do not
accommodate the whole mass of business men
with their favors and what does he possess, His
system of greenbacks and interconvertible bonds.
Now, what in the name Of common sense does he
mean? That the government, under his system,
is to discount tine notes of business men who can
make time loans to them. and to buy and sell them
bills of exchangei
Or does Wendall Phillips think that if more
greenbacks are issued, q business man who at
present does not get all desired bank accommoda-
lion, will then have to put tub out of doors in
the evening and q rain of greenbacks will pour
down to fill it before morning.
You see the thing is too childish to be discussed
among serious men. 1t only shows that Phillips
has not the slightest conception of what the busi-
ness of q country really is.
This attempt to turn and twist what said
about Germany and France, l will, in human
kindness, pass over. His assertion that France
has in FIVE years been the most prosperous with IT,
redeemable paper money, while she makes q
most rcsolute and energetic effort to get rid OF
ir,edeemable paper money, by contracting it,
will also cover with mantle Of charity. 1t seems
family to dawn upon Philips mind that imitation
of an mable paper currency will also initiate
prices, but he is not at all sure of it, and doubt
whether he ever Will be-
There are certain minds 90 crooked that
straight thing will not go through them. Quite
cbarscteri.tc in his assertion that France IS pros
perous and steady in her economical condition.
because, he says, she keeps free on silver basis,
while Germany. with gold as sole legal tender
finds herself slave to the London market.
In nv reply to his first letter, pointed out
how he mistook the suspension Of the bank act Of
"a in England, for suspension of specie pay
men.s, and now would tell him that from IS to
70 there were coined in the French mnts, accord
ing to the statistics Of the London Economist,
SO 600 600 600 francs in gold, and only 55O,0OO-
600 francs in silver; that is about ten francs in
gold to one in silver. But according to Mr.. Phil
ips it was silver that k, pit France free while 1t Is
gold that makes Germany slave.
Perhaps Mr.. Phillips in the interest OF freedom
would suggest to the American people q return to
the silver basis on account Of its stability, while
all other civilized nations enslave themselves by
gold. gold being notoiiousy more stable than
silver. Nothing seems impossible with such rea-
soning.
opposed to the resumption OF specie payments,
after all. He is willing to anchor under certain
circumstsnces ; and what are those circumstances
lie says whenever our foreign commerce, ike
that Of. France, enables us to pay neighbor one
thousand millions Of com, ana have have IS m"en iei.,
teaches us to wait Thus he wants usto have two
thousand millions of coin before we resume, or at
least one thousand after we have divided with
neghbor.
with their boarding habits and deficient bank IA
cilities need much more currency than our people.
Bnt in the meantime he advocates policy which,
as the increasing paper currency always does,
will tend to drive out of the country what coin
there is still in it.
Phillips, as an economist, has his use: He can
serve as warning example to teach others. 1t is
not safe to talk publicly about such things before
havin some idea at least Of the A. B. c. Of the
science The trouble is that many people having
thought only specifically, on the subject, have .
vague notion that If more currency is issued some
of It will somehow find Its way into their pockets
and in 4 general way stimulate business. Bu
when they are to express their ideas clearly they
make as Mr. Phillip, shows, muddle Of it.
Some, on the contrary, are convinced that the
policy Of expansion would under existing circum
stances be calculated only to chill what little con