The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1875-12-23
Currency and Finances of the
United States.

Currency and Finances of the
United States.
Editor Brookhauen Ledger:
A portion Of the many readers oil
these columns may deem it a pre-
sumption in the author to utter a
treatise to the public of such national
Importance. We are all free citizens
of this Republic, to vote, hold Office,
and proclaim an opinion on the i'm
portance OF public utility.
The limited space in these columns
is not sufficient to do justice to this
%stupcndous subject, with descriptive,
minute particulars l cal only touch
upon generalilies.
This is a theme the proper and
wholesome regulation of which has
puzzled legislators, lords, kings and
potentates in various countries and
kingdoms for generations and centu-
rics.
According to Article l., section s,
of the United States Constitution,
Congress has the sole legal power to
engrave paper or coin specie and fix
the value thereof, upon the wise ex-
ercisc of which the prosperity OF
every individual depends. Money is
of constant demand on account of its
inherent utility and its aptitude as an
intermediate subject Of exchange
Money becomes the more requisite
the more a nation advances in civil
cation and the further it carries its
division Of labor. Every one must
possess it, for none can exist without
its use.
The relative value of a produc
rises with the demand and in the in
verse ratio with the supply.
The amount of gold and silver il
the world is estimated at about $40,
900, 600, 1000. The quantity consumed
annually in arts, luxury and mani
features is about one-half of one pei
cent, or $50, 100000. The product o
silver is $25,0O0,0O0 and that of golt
from $l5,OOO,O00 to $2O,0OO,O0O, pei
year.
The proportion of alloy i'll the coli
Of gold in the United States is, il
1000 parts, 900 virgin gold, IS copper
and % of silver-Deing one-tenth
When it passes owe from our cOun
try to England, it is melted and re
moulded in sovereigns and other
coins, with an alloy of one-twelfth.
Sixteen ounces of silver in thu
United States is worth one ounce o
gold. In the empire of Japan, three
and a half ounces of silver will pur
chase one ounce of gold. The cost o
coming gold bullion is twelve cent?
an ounce; that of silver four cents al
ounce. $4,000 Of gold coin weigh
forty-five pounds troy or thirty-thre'
pounds avoirdupois weight. Tha
amount of silver is 1888 pounds tro!
or 625 pounds avoirdupois weight.
Gold aud silver, used as medium
of exchange IN country, have re
peatedly failed to insure the desired
purpose in various countries anC
kingdoms, as well as ours. The in
convenience of remittance from one
locality 10 another, and the cost and
risk of transportation, are much great.
er than those Of paper. The YEA and
abrasion of gold is a greater Iossitu
nation than the destruction and loss
by use of paper currency. The esti-
mated loss of gold by moving it IN
the London banks with steel shovels
is calculated to be $4,000 annually.
Gold coin is constan tly being drain
ed out of the United States by the
premiums offered Tor it in Other
countries for various purposes of arts
and manufactures. A considerable
amount is RENTED by this govern
mcnt annually to liquidate foreign
indebtedness for the excess of i'm,
ports over that of II exports. Dur,
ing ten years, from 1S47 to 1857, $500
100000 of gold flowed in from Cali
tornia, and gold, in 1860, was nearly
as scarce as it was before the purchase
of California. Gold and silver are
metals of merchandise, like that OF
brass, copper and iron. They are
monarchical mediums of exchange,
and England, in her matured legista-
ton of finances, tried it for three
quarters of a century repeatedly. The
result was panics and bankruptcy.
Gold and silver have proved to be
a failure as a currency, and will not
secure uniform prosperity to any peo-
pie. The scarcity of the precious
metals depends on the demand which
this and other countries have for it
as a material Of arts, manufacture and
luxury, and foreign powers may at
any time offer premiums on it and
draw it off.
A paper currency is the most suita-
BILE material to insure uniform pros
perity to this Government, when fix
ed at an Interchangeable basis. Too
large q quantity of inconvertible pa
per currency retards productive in
dustry. and encourages speculation,
gambling. swindling and counterfeit
ing. Too small a quantity deprives
the laborer and manufacturer of en-
ployment, paralyzes the energies of
the people, and throws the breakers
upon the wheels of cummerce.
State banks of issue and deposit
have failed on account of issuing too
large an amount of paper in proper
ton to the specie on deposit. When