Union and American. [volume] (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1875-1877, 1875-12-09

out plainly to the Southern people
the true pathway Of escape from
the financial troubles which now
oppress not them only, but the
whole country, and appeals, in the
most earnest aud noble language,
TO the personal honor and integrity
of the Southern people against
the demoralizing influence Of the
demagogues who, after insulting
and trampling them under foot,
now seek to corrupt and to dis
honor them.
WILMINGTON, DEL,
November 5, 1876.
Editor Of the AUdRta Her0ld,
My DEAR SIR: 1t would have
saved me some hours in a time of
business pressure if l could have
had the aid Of steBographer ut
Macon to report the speech there
made to the people Of Georgia.
But as no report Of my speech
was made | cannot fail, in view Of
the great Importance of the sub
jcct, to comply with your request
for "an open letter" in relation to
the question of national finance
and currency, winch so interests
and agitates the public mind at
this time, | shall speak as plainly
as / can, and must be fogiven if |
reassert truisms, which seem, how
ever, to be overlooked by many
who discuss the subject nowadays.
Whatever is by law called
"money"-the legalized currency
of the country-is the basis of all
public and private contracts, and,
therefore, of credIt-being made
by law the equivalent for all things
purchasable. ...
II this money" contains in it
self no intrinsic value, it cannot be
used us a standard by which to
measure the value of other COM
modities, and thus at once fails IN
the highest attribute of money,
because instability is its inherent
J and necessary feature; instability
is uncertainty, and uncertainty is
the fruitful parent of fraud and
wrong.
Thus, if with such money" we
buy land, or houses, or horses, or
bread, and obtain credit for such
purchases, the currency, having no
fixed value, huctuates from day to
day, so that no buyer can know
how much he will have to pay when
his debts fall due, nor can the seller
know what value he is to receive;
and thus all ordinary business op-
eFations become speculative and
gambling transactions. With
basis SO changeable all loans of
money are uncertain, as the lender
can feel no confidence that he will
get back value equal to that with
which he parted, and will, there
fore, hesitate to make the loan, un-
less upon a profit equivalent to his
supposed risk, and this undue
profit is always paid by the bor-
rover.
If the lenber was made to feel
confident that the currency he
loaned would not be returned to
him deprecated in value, he would
gladly put it to use, and on moder-
ate terms.
1t is the absence of such conf
dence that produces contraction"
and gives rise to the complaints
we often hear of "want of money"
and which causes the paralysis we
witness in ever branch of trade and
| business
The threat of ''inhatIon that
Is, of increasing the volume of ir-
redeemable paper notes Of the Gov
erRment, and thereby necessarily
decreasing the valUe IN greater
ratio-produces contraction" in
the amount of loans, because it
lessons the confidence which in
duces men, having money, Co lend.
4 Thus the inflationists have been
all along, and are now, the real foes
of those who wish to borrow money,
on reasonable terms, in order to
employ men who labor for their
daily bread.
We witness in the cities pie
thora of currency, which the own
ers long to invest-to lend upon
interest-but which the insecurity
produced by the threat of imitation
| deters.
To-day money can be borrowed
| in Millions in New York at the
rate of three per cent. per annum
"on CALI and secured by abundant
collateral; but it will not be lent
on time, or permanently invested,
until the owners are assured it will
be faithfully repaid Oadepreeiated
in value. That condition secured
and the loan is easy.
In other days it was the rigid snd
faithful performance of their con-
tracts which gave to the banks of
Charleston, South Carolina, Mobile,
New Orleans. Savannah and other
cities of the South their enviable
/ fame and credit throughout the
Union. Some of these institutions
never failed to redeem their notes
on demand in gold and silver coin,
even in the midst Of general tenn
porary suspensions of Specie Pay
| ment-so rooted were they in stub
born, old fashioned integrity. This
was not only eXpedient, but it was
right. 1t made loans easy to be OBJ
tanned, because they were to be
faithfully returned; and the rate
I =.
risk of lending was small.
And we must not forget that as
factors in all these transactions
personal integrity and good faith
were ever present-which were the
conditions of high mercantile stand
ing in the cities have namod.
Nowhere in the wide world of
commerce was strict business in
tegrity more rigidly insisted upon