, 1875-04-18
TEE. GOLD. STATES,

constantly used and still use specie as cir
cu1ating medium. Three of them-C California
Oregon, aud Nevada~belong to tho Union
The other six form Canada. Only m imagina
~ political line separates the latter from thii
| country. Their business interests are inter
woven with ours, and their political institu
| tons are modelled after ours. The slight diff
! ferences which exist in this case do not exis1
in the other: California, Oregon, and Nevada
have exactly ths sames business and political
interests as the rest of thesUnion. Yet they,
in common with tho six Canadian States,
have gold-standard currency. 1nthese nine
communities, irredeemable greenbacks are
demonetized, as gold is with us. They pass
at discount, as gold passes here~ at a
pramiuna The taker sells them at once to q
broker or banker, and they are shipped to the
States, where they are the standard Of value,
five can call IN ever-shifting point a
standard
The history Of the way in which California
has preserved her business from the coutaui-
nation OF auctuating, debased currency is of
especial value pow, for it shows what State
1egis1ation, backed by the popular vii, can
do to hasten resumption elsewhere. In the
first place. the Constitution Of California for
bids any Stats Bank to issue notes. It must
confne itself to deposit and discount bust
ness, buying and selling exchange and loan
ing money. The only currency recognized
By the Constitution OF that state is gold and
silver. When the Legal-Tender oct was
passed by Congress, under the pressure Of o
real or faucied necessity, the Legislature Of
California enacted law on contracts which
contains this passage: '*1n an action on d
contract, Or an obligation, in writing, for the
direct payment Of money, made payable in a
specified kind Of money and currency, judg-
ment for the plaintiff, whether the same be
by default or after verdict, may Cahall] follow
the contract or obligation, and be made pay
able in the kind Of money or currency speci-
fed thereir." The constituti6nality Of this
law has been upheld BY the Supreme Court
OF the United States.
Such simple means as these, supported by
hearty public approval, have proved sufH-
cient. The Pacific Slope has had gold
standard currency from 81 to rs. The r.
suit has been that prices have been steady.
There has been no unexpected ductuation, no
violent changes, no gambling or betting on
the value Of dollar. Business has not stag
gered on one continuous spree, now in
drunken delirium, now in PROSTATE or
comatose condition The perfect proof Of
Californian and Canadian currency-wisdom
came when thirty-four States Of the Union
saw their business crushed, their laborers
thrown out of employment, their capital
wiped out, their deiusive, fictitious pros
perity swept into nothingness, by the panic
Of 1873 The gold-standard~ States stood the
strain. No crisis checked their business.
Their industries rested on hard gold aud
sold values,-not Hi1nsy, fuctuating paper
which the Government refused to redeem.
/ law like that Of California, adopted in L.
linois and other States; would throw safe
guards around gold contracts, apd would
draw public attention to the possibility Of
what may be called individual resumption Of
specie payments 4 great deal Of wholesale
business is now being transacted in New
York and Boston On a specie basis, and much |
moro would be, provided the importance Of |
individual action we're urged upon the public.
The Secretary Of the Treasury cannot resume
specie payments on his own hook Jan l,
l879 The uation must help him. !