New-York tribune., 1875-10-16

To get rid of this higher law and to make iron SUD-
sttute for gold but his experiment was not 10 happy
in its results az 10 be followed by any one else.
Suppose Congress should undertake TO substitute
nickel for gold, and should decree that piece OF
nickel of the size Of an eagle should oe' DC
tween man and man and for public dues
receivable az an eagle; would il thereby
possess tho value Of one' This would DC
undoubtedly an act Of folly, but woud 1t
be any more unwise than the present legal tender
acts by which legal tender notes are attempted to
be made substitute for cOinf In one respect the
nickel coin would DC preferable 10 notes, because IL
would relieve the Government from the charge OF
dishonesty which now rests uponit. OF making its
promises legal tender without rcdeeu1ing them
One of the severcst charges brought against
dishonest and irnpecunious monarchs was that OF
adulterating the coin. This there has never been
people degraded enough long 10 endure, nor mon
arch powerful enough 10 enforce, and yet are not
the free aud intelligent people of the United States
virtually doing the Same thng' We are not II is
true, debasing the coin bat are substituting for
it an inferior legal tender currency, which sub
stantislly amounts TO the same thing.
pIsHoNoRED CURRENCY.
Our people wonld not sustain Congress for day
If il should attempt 10 adultcratc our gold coinage
10 would be worth a voyage across the Atlan'ic 70
hear Gen. Butler (of whose ability and eloquence
there can bc no doubt, whatever may be thought OF
his financial theories denounce il, and yet he repn-
dates coin as "A OF value and Is, a. undcr-
stand an advocate of further of legal tender
notes. How did this elastic currency which was TO
prevent all pancs answer the purpose I'm November
and December, 1877 When before did II happen
that the great banks in Ncw-York unable to
pay even the smallest checks of their depositorsf
There was never before such lookup under the
sum- mover such panic as occurred with outstand-
ing notes to the amount of nearly SsW,ONooo,a
panic which was not relieved by an issue of
$26 600 900 of the legal tenders, and which was IN
fact aggravated by an importation Of Sl5,0oO,oW
of coin. Gold and silver coins, instead OF being
what of the infationistS in Ohio call then-a
relic of barbarism"are the great financial regu-
latOr of commercial nations, indicating by theh
movements uncrringy when nation is going TOO
fast and putting on the check before the movements
become dangerous.
Gem Bnter thinks that currency which was
good enough to paw the soldiers during the war ia
good enough for civilians-that as legal tenders
answered. the purpose for which they were isSneh,
while hostilitics continued, they ought :? answer
the purpose of circulating medium long after the
war had been brought to a successful close. Tho
soldiers in the War of the Revolution were paid IN
Continental notes. but in those days of intellectual
darkness this was not considered a sufficient
Tor tnelr Deln0 InnnIaNlPI ~ - ptEUtH'Nl 'i'ud-
ton. The soldiers of the Revolutionary War were
paid in Continental notes because the people had
nothing better to pay them in. Every effort of the
colonies and of the Continental Congress. failed 10
give them value after the amount had become eN-
cesgive. They answered for the time an important
purpose, but nothing could prevent their utter de-
preciation The Federal Government could not
assume the payment of them, and they became as
vanclcss the paper upon which they were printed
Our legal tender notes were issued q war measure,
and they answered the purpose for which they were
issued does il follow that they should he maintained
az q circulating mediumG They should be with
drawn because they keep specie out of circulation
and prevent the restoration Of specie standard;
because the duty of Congress- under the Constitu-
ton is to coin money and regulate the value Of for
egn coins not to print notes and force them upon
the people nc n value they do not possess. Tho
original isSne for war purposes was an net Of Doubt
full expedicncy and sul more doubtful authority.
Itccraly violated well settled principle of finance
and political economy. Is there not practical
question of another KIND also involved in an author
ity on the part of Congress to issue notes FOR cur
rencv? If the amount 10 be issued should
tiuue to be limited by law, what wond
prevent party in power from repeating
the law and continuing It's power by the use of this
tremendous everage9 Is there Democrat in the
country who would consent that such power
should be lodged in the hands of Republican, or
Republican who would be willing to nrlst 1t TO
Democrat' If this, to my mind, very serious objec-
tion and the other objections that have been made
to the legal tender notes, could be overcome, IL
would still DE found that they would not meet the
wants of a commercial and trading people-that they
could not he tho flexible and yet stable currency
which business requires If We ever entirely emerge
from our existing embarrassment, it viii bo by re-
turning to first princi ples-by contning Congress
TO it's legitimate power of coming money, and by
leaving the question Of the currency to be
settled under sound banking system by the laws
of trade The legal tender notes should not in my
Judgment take the precedence of bank notes for tho
reasons which have already named, and because
they viii not afford the country, especially the
Western and Southern portions OF il, the local cir
culaion they need; because they represent debt
and debt only, while bank notes represent bonds
which have been deposited with the Government for
their redempt0n-the capital of the banks and
notes and bills under discountin other words. bus-
ness transactions.
TIE REMEDY.
The remedy we seek, then, is TO be found-aud in
my Judgment to be found only-n the gradual re-
tiremeut of the legal tender notes and in fixing
time after which they shall cease to be a legal
tender Whatever is done should not be done
hastily but the time for temporiMng has ceased.
Action, and decided action, upon matter Of 50
great importance ought not to be longer postponed.
If were member of Congress, my first act would
be 10 introduce bill making Ire United States notes At
once corrctbls into boRds bearing interest at e rae Of
4 or Az per cent ia gold, eih prorson that bdhk
notes TO an amount equal TO the notes uhch may thus be
retired may be issued. II relaired by The banks. and
that from and Gftcr the rst dGy Of January, 1873, he
United States notes shan cccse 10 be legal tender.
4 -. a..