New-York tribune., 1875-10-09

ycisstudes OF the produced from ule 10 thie ee
rious doubts II Mr. Phillips does not know the effect
the history OF the will inform him. He
will find that every battle lost. and every
period OF dscourcgcment, at the stands'I
OF operations raised the premium gOd and that every
battle We won lowered IT, until finally the surrender OF
and the end Of the brought II down at treinen
dous bound. Although the quantity OF the currency IN
circulation had been diminished, every sensible man,
understanding the reason, will not hnd tins SURPRISING
1t is surprising only that pretending to good
sense should have 10 be informed Of that reason
But can Mr.. Phillips really he in earnest when ne "e-
nes that the expansion OF an irredeemabe currency WILL
OF necessity act upon its value as to g0d ana 10 fedue
generally its purchasing power soon as the volume of
such currency exceeds the amount which would circ
late in gold and convertible into goldi Can he not
understand that tho dishonorcd promises 10 pay
of a government must necessarily lose in value
the greater their amount ana the less the
probability Of their redemption Assuming ms own
tone Of argument, / would inform him that tHere Is
country called the United States which once Fad
an irredeemable paper cerrency called Cohuheh'ai
money which was increased in quantity until 1t shiank
i'm yalne to nothing. There is country called france
which had an irredecmable paper money calI'd
assigrats" which became plenty that bushei OF u
would not buy a potato There is country called
Russia and one called Austria both Of which have had
experiences with irrcdcemabe paper money, deInohS't
ing the same principle
THE OPINIONS OF Mills AND PRICE.
Mr. Phillips has probably beard OF those things but
there is evidently vast field OF study left for him before
lie writes on this subject again. lie argues also that the
qnanty Of an rrcdccmabla currency in circulation has
no connection with prices and in support of that theory
he quotes John Stuart M;s Political Economy as fol
lows:
Iopurcbeud tha; bank notes bills or cheeks as such
do not act upon prices all What does act "n prices Is
credit in whatever shape given, and W n'r J. flhts
rise To any trnsrrrahfe instruments cdl'pc III P>Se
nj
Then Mr. Phillips quotes Prof Bonamy Price III conir-
nation of the doctrine. cannot IL seems, expect
Mr. Phillips 10 he polite. but might expect HIM to he
candid Does he not know that John stuart Mill III the
passage quoted does speak Of rrdcemabc paper
currency at ALL but does speak Of the bank notes CON
vertble into coin Is SIR Phillips ignorant of the differ
ence between ricdecmauc paper money, aud paper
currency convertible into CONT IL woGd seem So lof
otherwise common honesty would have prevented him
from quoting sentence from Mr.. Mill referring TO one
: referring to the other.
As Mr.. Phillips desires to know what Mr.. Mill thought
Of an rrcdecmablc paper currency in that respect
would refer him to pages SS-Oi, Political Economy,
second volume. will select ouy passage at random
To the increase OF incOnvcrlibe currency, II per
il ndctintcly lowering its value and raising prices in
proportion. They may ia other words, Gcpecate the
currency withOur limit. Pa"e "oD
Mr. Phillips has evidently studied John stuart Mil TO
much advantage. Has lie studied Bonamy Pr.cel Un-
fortunately have his book currency before me,
but may recommend it to NJ Phillips and all those
who still affected with the irrcdeemale currency dis
temper. know Prof. Bonamy Price well, ar have per-
sonally discussed with him this very question feel
warranted in saying IL 5Ir. Phillips that If he should
assert before Bonamy Price that the expansion of an
rrcdcenable paper currency ond the amount which
would circulate in gold and notes convertible into gold
would not initiate prices, tho Professor would 2nXousy
inquire after his health much for the second point
A FEW HISTORICAL AUTHORITIES.
Thad: | argued in my speech that the emission Of
large quantities of rredeemablc paper money viii pro-
mote extravaganza prohgacy, aud corruption. Ny his
iorca reading well my own observation OF t'mgs
in this country, had convinced me pro-
fouudy o. this fact; and, a. far as know
il Is admitted by almost all respectable author
tiles OF this subject Mr. Phillips came e'llanly
10 the rcscuc of s paper idol H. refers me 10 Great
Britain, telling me that without irredeemablc paper
money England could not have conquered Napoleon;
that uaper notes fought the battle of Waterloo and that
our late war tells the story. Mr. Phillips is I'M
doubtedy plcndid decamer but logic does not seem
10 he his strong point The question is not whether r-
decpllble paper money has been used to adj
vantage in times of public emergency, when other
resources seemed eXhausCd not whether 1t fought the
battle of Waterloo the battle of Gettysburg. The
question is whether emission of the large quantities
Of irrc,leernabe paper currency viii promote eXtlaya
gance and corruption. II Mr. Phillips tries Ia cyade that
question by way of Waterloo, he must permit
us TO suspect that he cannot meet 1t sqlialcly
II he will look into the suspension period
in England he will find that irrcdcecmable
paper money may indeed have fought the battle OF
Waterloo that this fact did not prevent from pro-
noting extravaganza and corruption at home; and unless
he ignores what everybody else knows he Will surely not
DENY that this country tells the stony. He might
also study the history OF Russia with profit. sun less
will he he able to deny that extravaganza, prohigacy
a,d corruption in extraordinary degree will result
&, %
money for the very sake of getting II out.
GERMAN AND FRENCH FINANCE
Mr. Phillips uses one illustration which Is intensely
ludcrous He refers me to Germany and Franee-Ge'-
many involved In bsns, crisis, and France in a con
,ltlon of prosperity. Aud this from gem lenan 2dNo-
eating expansion OF the currency. Docs Mr. Phillips
know what the cause of the business collapse in Ger
many was! will tell him. Certainly not the want
Of money, for after the French war an aba"-
dance of il hoa,ed into the country. The causes
of the collapse oycrproducton, oYcrtiHding
over speculation and ovcrstraniug OF Ire credit system
which is always ne excited by an overabmdancc OF
money not the product Of labor and industry; and the
business sringcncy l. now prOiIactei hy sweeping
change in the monetary system of the country. What
can Mr. Phillips make ont Of this fact FOR his argument,
or will he, perhaps, pretend that the business
crisis in Germany would not have oc-
CURED had the currency Of that country been
irredccmabe paper instead OF Specef suppose there
must be- some Limit To human folly. Now, as to France
what is it that has produced her present condition of
prosperity Certainly not the supply of more money!
for "a soon "a the war bills paid France began
sharp contraction Of her irrcdeemabe currency, with
set purpose, as quickly possible, TO
return to the same system of specie payments
which Mr. Phillips wants to run away from,
and under that contraction strong effort by the
people to repair their disasters by frugal and wold
reced industry. 4, is the benecent influence of more
money Mr. Phillips wants to demonstrate ne has been
IN Illustration