The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-11-05


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[Jatigs Haasi ssseat sasfer on the
CnEreneY Qnestfea.
rHE Eyrts or fnFLarios kusEs or THE u ARD
TINES -NssrIrfR rRaIAfioH E0Is coNTs. ACTION II J,
rHr CURE Roa rHEK WANTED, AseTEuk,
rIxrp. AND SoRRYcr. MEASURE OF VALUE.
7s, ~ NORFOLK, October is, 1875.
NV Dear sirs: lately received your iet-
ter asking Of me an expression Oh opinion
~, ,he si,riect ssaf- currency and ipdadon.
rhe iaie aftem r,t to connect this subject With
nar,a nolitics has failed, and any citizen is
| ,nw ftee "a t'iscnas It bit will without fear OF
hssnp drawn into the muddy stream of party
.,nlemfcs. It tnsy be well for some stern
,,.,erances on this subject TO proceed from
The South, for the ides has got abroad thas
re are all c.amorous for Inf lti0n. LIDO not
hope to say anything original on topic
which Is so earnestly discussed. but / will al
least cav something passive. or course
make 20 claim to the authority Of on expert
in finance, but speak only from such adyan-
tases Of observation and ref ection as are
common to every citizen Of the land.
Until lately I had supposed that botn the
South and North bad had enough OF infia.
ttcnto make them avoid It for. many genera
tious. at the South II overthrow all our
banks, insurance companies, and moneyeo
corporations. and destroyed oil our stocks OIL
every kind. In this and othersways 1t cost
US the loss of more capital than thu abolition
OF slavery itself. All onr securities, repret
ssnting the. surplus wealth Of the ricnesl
people per..odpito. In the world, which were ?
The accumulation OF long years Of prosperity,
| passed into the form Of Confederate money
and became worthless. 1t brought US ee'
fote the end to a state Of barter wbich; insle,
spect to finance, is a state OF barbsrlsm ahu
thus 1T became almost literally true tnas
Richmond housekeeper going 70 market ~
the nornipg could take bis money IN ms
| ba. kct and bring home Whatit purchased 10
At the North. but for the, events OF Get
tpsburg and Vicksburg ia 1868, and thesud.
den close Of the war in 1860. the, money OF
| the Government would have been equaiiy
worthless, and like universal collapse 10
the value and total loss Of all securities
would have ensueG. 9R
aud this happened in both sections, a.
though the inf1aton wasa necessity OF war,
and il was the duty of patriotism-a duty to
which The people responded with aIacrily-
to support the money OF the Govern Dent.
We have not ctescaped the cosst quences
of i; f,,on. The present long.continued
deDrcsson Of business is the result OF tne
rea :,ion which has followed, of necessity,
the high prices, great extravaganza, fictitious
wealth. insidieusly grown insolvency. and
widespread Indebtedness which imitation
produced. The remedy for the evil of the
times does not lie in renewed and indefinite
ipfliion, but in time and patience in pu0lc
ard private retrenchment and economy; In
pluck on the part Of each individual to look
his affairs squarely in the face; to accept
poverty if it be his real condition, to &C.
knowledge it with honest fraDkness, and to
make it honorable and credtable by manly
2ersonaliDdustrF and effort. The larger and
better class of people everywhere are pnr'
suing these golden methods of extrlcation
from their difficulties, and the policy will
soon tell most eGsctually on the condition of
the country, which is already just beginning
TO emerge from the depression Of the last
few years into an era Of recupsration, which
will gradually grow,I am confident, into one
Of .uneXsmp!ed prosperity and unprece.
dented enterprise. ea,aj,s :, r5,s, U@.aI :.
Now that we are just on the eve of better
times, it seems to me TO be q strange fatuity
that leads anybody to propose return to
inf ition In a period of profound peace, after
The melancholy experience we have had Of
itsruinous and abiding consequences! The
Object Is, by making money cheap and
abundsnt, to enable the insolyent classes to
bridge over their present difficulties, rand put
eff for an Undecided period the ultimate and
inevitable 'pay.ddy. individuals might sue
cscd, by this help, in eluding the necessity
Of ilquidatipg their aff.irs; but not SO the
insoyent classes generally. Tbese'might be
enabled by imitation to continue In the prsc.
ltice of borrowing; but they would thereby
only be making debts in cheap money which
some day would have to be paid in dear.
For initiation In the nature Of things cannot
last long. A return to the policy ia time
OF peace would soon destroy all confidence
in paper money; and contracts would have
to be made on the basis of specie. Then the
debtor would be worse off than now, for he
would have an increased debt, contracted in
cheap money, to pay off in dear money ; and
"the last state of that man would be worse
than the first" ia7 - -soa 49,! ~, -.
Indeed, if q, return to specie-payments
were an end to be accomplished regardless
of consequences, know of no surer way OF
forcing the country into it than by inhation;
for by that means confidence in paper money
wosld be destroyed, and return to the use
of coin would be necessity. -, . p..
Yet it is notactual specie-payments that is
demanded or necessary. What is wanted is
that the measure Of value shall be honest,
fixed, and true. AS we want our yard sticks
to measure yard, and our pound-Weights
to weigh pound, so we want our dollars OF
currency to be worth dollar in value.
The currency dollar, is now only worth
about eighty.six cents. This is not only
wrong in respect TO the business of the PEG.
pie, but tits wrong in respect to the honor
oethe Government. The Goyernmenthasp put
out into circulation notes which are; not
worth the one, five, ten, twenty, fifty. dol
lars which it declares them to be ) but are
worth only eighty.siX per cent, sometimes
more, sometimes less, of those amounts. The
paper fuctuates in value, is never worth
what it purports to be worth, is not a true,
truthful, or fixed measure of value, and the
business of The country is just in such d con.
dition in respect to this false measure of
value as it would be in il all the pound.
weights Of the couatry were less than O
pound, and all the yard-measures less than
a yard, varying in weight and length each
week and often each day in the year. Is
this sort of money such as ought to be toll
Grated by great people, an honest people?
think not Ali other civilized nations have
fixed and true measures Of length, weight,
and value. Why shall we not have fixed
and true measure of value as Well as of
length and weight? The fixed and true
measure of value In this country, recognized
as such by all nations who deal with us, is
the gold dollar. We shall never get right in
our affairs until all the dollars used in the
business of the country are worth the!yalue
of gold dollars, whether they be gold, silver,
or paper.
Engineers measure the height of noun.
tains, the breadth OF rivers, the distance of
c>hiantc difioilt hx scicratific