The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1875-12-08


ing sIetteE "a the sAthnfas6 (1as1z Herald
WILMINGTON, ,DEL,yGQv4 s. 1874
DEAr SIR: It would haze saved. lne
! home hodrsT IN tine of. business pleas
! ure # I5confd have had the aid of aste
2 ndgrapheF at Nation 70 report the speech
s-IotheFe made 10 the people Of George
3 9Bn as no report, of my speech Ras
rnade I cannot fall in view Of the great
p6ftancs OF the subject, to comply
With YOUR request for an '@6pen letter
in relation 70 the question of national
i finance and CURRENCY, which SO Interests
a nd agitates the public mind at this fine.
Il shall speak, as plainly as L can, and
must be forgiven if i reTassert truisrns,
which seem, however, to be overlooked
BY many who discuss the subject nova
DAYS .-aes 7-afa4-rt fP-7 arat Sstfs :.
ri Whatever bv law is called money
the legafzed currency of the country-ls
the basis Of all public and private con-
tracts, and, therefore, of credit -being
made by law the equivalent for all things
purchasable. 7t'-ii ''''' sa'''.>''
;. If this .ssmoney,' contains in itself no
intrinsic value, it7cannot be used as a
standard by which to measure the value
Of other commodities, and thus at once
fails in the highest attribute Of moneys
because instability is its inherent and
necessary feature; instability is uncertainr
ty, and uncertainty is the fruitful parent
Of fraud and wrong. -
Thus, if with such ''money" we bug
land, or houses, or horses, or bread, and
obtain credit for such purchases, the
currency, having no fixed value, fuctu-
ates 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 Operations
become speculative and gambling trans
actions. 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, therefore,
hesitate to make the loan, unless upon a
profit equivalent t. his supposed risk,
and this undue profit is always paid by
the borrower.
If the lender was made TO feel conf
dent that the currency he loaned would
not be returned to him deprecated in
value, hewould gladly put it to use, and
on moderate terms. II
1t is the absence of such confidence
that produces Contraction" and gives
rise to the complaint we often hear of
want of money" and which causes the
paralysis we witness in every branch of
trade and business.
The threat of ''inhation that is, of
increasing the volume Of irredeemable-
paper notes of the government, and there
by necessarily decreasing the value in
a greater ratio-produces contraction in
the amount of leans, because it. lessons
the confidence which induces men, hav-
ing money, to lend it. Thus the infia-
tionists 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 a plethora of
currency which the owners long to, m
vest-tO lend upon interest-but which
the insecurity, produced by the threats
of imitation deters.
On to-day money can be borrowed in
millions in New York at the rate of 5
per cent. per annum ION CALI and Sc
cured by abundant collateral; but it viii
not be lent on time, or permanently in
vested, until the owners are assured it
will be faithfully repaid undePreeiated in
value That condition secured and the
loan is easy. U
In other days it was the rigid and
faithful performance of their contracts
which gave to the banks of Charleston,
South Carolina, Mobile, New Orleans,
Savannah, and other cities of the South,
their enviable fame and credit through
out the Union. Some of these institu-
tons never failed to redeem their notes
on demand in gold and silver coin, even
in the midst of general temporary sus-
pensions of specie payment-So rooted
were they in stubborn, old-fashioned in
tegrity. This was not only expedient,
but it was right. 1t made loans easy to
be obtained, because they were to be
faithfully returned; and the rate of in
terest was low, because the risk Of lend
ing was small.
And we must not forget that as fac
tors IN all these transactions personal in
tegrity and good faith were ever present
were the conditions of high mer-
camille standing in the cities l. have
named.
Nowhere in the wide world of COM
MERGE was strict business integrity more
rightly insisted upon and more honored
than IN the cities of Charleston, Savan-
nah, Mobile and New Orleans, when the
real men of the South had control of at
fairs, and before the days of carpet
bagging and military interference.
= The time has again come when the
true men of the South should, as l be-
lievetlrey can and will, restore the old
and high regime of high personal char
acter, and at once speak, plainly and
sensibiy, as of yore, in favor of such a
policyof administration as shall lead to
the substitution of sound currency,
convertible at the will of the holder into
gold or silver coin. Such policy an
nouuced by them will instantly give con-
fdence to those who own capital or who
control capital, and we should witness
the quick reward of such proofs of wis
dom and sound policy in the abundant
supply of money upon mortgage and
other security, and The States of the South
would become the theatre of the invest
ment of capital, which now lies idle in
the money centre for want of confidence
alone.
r Recent legislation in the West, in
Wisconsin and other States, and the late
declaration in Ohio, have alarmed capital
and will prevent its flow in these quarters,
where it has heretofore gone so freely,
and will induce its recall whenever prac-
ticable until the citizens of those States
shall take steps to reassure their creditors
of their intent to give due protection by
law to all investments. L.-l
Therefore it is that see in the present
condition of affairs, and of public senti-
ment, the great opportunity for the res
toration of the laws of sound finance, by
return to the limitations of the Federal