davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

1t will be seen that the circulation was
larger the year of the panic 167S) than
before, and that it increased next year
$50, 739, 900, and that the fiscal year ending
June so, 1875, shows an increase over 1873
of S29, ,041, 119, and decrease ever the pre-.
ceding year of 81, III, ,S61. How is it pos
sible fer our enlarging volume Of currency
to produce contractionf How can it bring
disaster, when, according to the Western
Democratic views the facts show it to be
increasing in volume7 II the currency
was not contracted, it did not bring "disas-
ter to the business Of the country" If it
has expanded since disaster came the policy
pursued cannot be charged with accelerat-
ing or continuing said business disaster.
To say that it does denies the facts, and
produces logical assurdity.
But the Democracy proceed to say: eve
demand that this policy be abandoned, and
that the volume Of the currency be made
and kept equal to the wants Of trade, leaV-
ing the restoration of legal tenders to par
with gold to be brought about by promot-
ing fhe industries Of the people, and not
by destroying them"
Here is q syllogism. Republican legisls-
ton has not destroyed the industries of the
country-sccording to the pretended law
laid down by the Dsmocracy-for it has
not contracted the volume Of the cur
rency," but on the contrary, while it seeks
to appreciate its value to par, it has pro-
vidsd means whereby it can ''be made
and kept equal 10 the vents of trade" in
that banking is absolutely free, no limit
being placed en- quantity, and aRy enc be-
ing allowed to organize national bank On
depositing bonds with the United States
Treasury, receiving therefor currency to
the extent of ninety per cent of the par
value of the same.
Ifthe first effect of this is to show that
the wants of trade need seven and three
quarter millions less than it did year age,
who is to blame3 Surely not those who
voted for the process of expansion, thus in
dicated Our Democratic friends are hard
to please. They object to moAoPoly; the
banks are made free-sheR thoy object to
the banks. They demand more and
cheaper paper. They are shown that there
is q proper expansion, leading to a better
paper. They see that this does not reach
the need, and continue their delusive cry
of more money" What is wanted is safe
money-convertible money-equal to the
national credit and eKchangeakle at par.
To obtain it we must appreciate, not in
fate, That needs work, not bawhng; in
creased production and lessenIng of eX-
pe1ditures, not speculation and eXtrsVa-
gance. There are two roads. On one the
Republican travels, and will reach firm
ground; on the other there are pitfalls, and
the end is quagmire. This is the road
and the end to which the imitation Democ-
rscy are bound.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08
ssrhe Wants OF Trade"-DemOcratis
AbsUrdities.

The distinction between the Republican
and Democratic parties as to financial non
ssty and the measures to be adopted to
maintain the same, can best be seen by OBJ
serving what Is said in the platform Of bott
ORGANIZATIONS, as they express themselves
in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The Republi.
cans in both States are one in declarations
''That the policy offnance should be stead
lily pursued, which, without unnecessary
shock to business or trade, will ultimately
equalize the purchasing capacity of the coin
and paper dollar"
That is plain, simple, direct. "He who
runs may read" Understandings. 1t Is a
declaration in favor of accrediting the pa
per currency; of appreciating It's value so
that it can bring one hundred cents instead
of as now, only from eighty five to ninety.
The way to do it, when resources are am
pie though not Immediately available, is to
set day, reasonably distant. and work up
to it. This is what an honest merchant
would do. An honest Government must
pursue the same policy, keeping in view
the greater interests intrusted to its care
EWhat do the Democrats propose to do 2
In Ohio they derounce contraction. q"
There is none Of appreciaBle importance,
and the few millions Of bank currency sur
rendered is in accordance with those
claws of trade" which find it moro profit
able to use the capital represented by the
bonds deposited for said circulation in
other channels than issuing currency.
This mythical contraction" is charged
in both Ohio and Pennsylvania by the
Democracy with having drought disaster
to the business Of the country" The
falsehOOd embraced in this statement has
been repeatedly exposed. 1t wont do any
harm to repeat the truth. The following
official figures show how little there is in the
absurd charge:
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

The TRUE CAUSE OF FAILUREs.-The
uited States BcOaonist says: "It is a sig.
fcant fact that all the failures which oc.
'rred from the commencement of the
mic OF 1873 to the present time were
used by excessive speculation; engage
mt IN enterprises outside the proper
siness Of the parties concerned, and to
> waste of capital consequent on these
iudicious operations. To this statement
ere appears to be absolutely no excention.
few minor, and as we shall assume in.
cent firms, may have been carried away
oYerborne by the failure of greater
lcerns." And this excessive speculation
mes Of imitation.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08
AFen Facts For Infationtsts.

At the meeting of infationists in New
York city, on the evening Of the 2Sd o.
September, the following resolution was
adopted:
ReSOECed, That the csotractIon Of thecur
rency heretofore made, and the further
contraction proposed, with q view to the
forced resunptisn Of specie payment, hal
already brought disaster to The business of
the country and threstens general bank
ruptcy, We demand that this policy be
abandoned, and that the volume of cur
rency be made and kept equal to the wants
of trade, leaving the restoration of legal
tenders to par gold to be brOught about by
promoting the industries Of the people, and
not by destroying them.
In reply to this extraordinary statement il
is shown by official figures that there has
been no contraction ofthe currency since the
Republicans came into power, excepting In
1858 and 1875, and the whole not over ter
million dollars. The contraction in 1868
was under President Johnson's administra
ton, while the contraction Of the past few
months was caused wholly by the volun,
tary will of the national banks to reduce
their circulation to the actual wants ofbusi
ness.
To present the facts clearly to the eye,
the steady increase ofcurrency is presented
in the following figures: Omitting fractions
Of millions and giving the result in round
numbers, it is shown that in 1874 there
Izyere in circulation
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

THE ISSUE of inconvertible paper
7sterious and potent effect in stim-
: the production of wealth and
every one rich is one of those
fAllacies which, though often re-
th by unanswerable logic and by
el fkperience, finds new adherents in
b '2neratiOn. The present advo-
5 f paper money, however, are
so,senfdent as were the followers of
W and Hume in the last century, and it
now pretty generally understood that
osperity based on paper is like the ex-
.aration produced by alcohol; the dis
mforts which follow the debauch exceed
pleasures on paper nloney.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08
The s.MOre Money, Bubble.

The following tables, furnished through tn
Secretary of the Treasury to Col. William
GrosVenor, now doing such yeoman work IL
Ohio, will illustrate the demsgogery of the
Democratic argument of the wants of trade
requiring more money. The three following
tables show:
First liable A)-The amount of currency
voluntarily surrendered by the banks in each
State from June 20, 1874, to September Is
1875.
second-( Table B)-The amount of cur
rency issued to new banks in each State since
the passage of the act of January last to Sep
tember Is, 1875, with the amount issued to all
banks during that time.
Third-I add liable C) a comparative
statement showing the amounts issued to new
banks and surrendered BY the banks, July
and September Is, IN each State and in each
section Of the country. It will be seen that
since July only $500, 900 have been issued to
new banks, and about s., 1000 surrendered
by the banks. The amount of increased cir
culatiOn issued to the old banks of each State
is not shown in the Comptroller's statement
but the aggregate-S6, 1851 ,075-may be pre-
sumed to be divided among the States in
nearly the same proportion as the issue to
new banks.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER OF CURRENCY, ,
WAsHINGToE, September Is, 1875.
TABLE A.
DEPOSITED FROM JuSE n 1874
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

To GO ON TO FURTHER NFLATIoN,
whether By free banking, intro-convertible
bonds or direct issues, means simply bank
tuptcy and reputation. Each new issue
Hin produce, only for time, ease and ap-
parent prosperity, to be followed in few
years by new crisis and new distress,
hen a new issue, and so on over again.
Reform will then be no longer possible, and
we must run the course to its end, in which
ihe paper disappears as ignominiously as
the Continental money. Let our people
heed the lessons of history and face re-
sumption before it is too late.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

WISE MEN accept the experience Of
others, if thereby they can AVOID suffering
themselves. So wise nation should ac-
-cept the experience of other nations with
nper meney. The history Of the past
JrOves, beyond the possibility of doubt,
) hat long continuance in the circulation OF
n irredeemable currency leads to certain
disaster. France, Austria, England, Rus
sis and our own country afford sufficient
illustration of the danger of putting off the
day Of honest redemption.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

The BEST WAY to increase the currency
to increase its purchasing power. This
IN be done only by the appreciation Of its
alue, and this can only come through 3
5licy which looks to its redemption by
le Government on a day certain. That
ay has been fixed. January 1, 1879, is
the date, and if the people will prepare to
vtain the nation in this great undertaking
: re will be no shock or jar when the day
TTIves. A settled purpose to resume will
radually and surely bring gold and paper
ian equality, which will make specie
,aYmsnts in 1879 an easy matter.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08


MONEY WAS NEVER MORE ABUNDANT
THAN IT Is Now.-That money as never
30 plentiful as now is true, not only in all
the large centres, but in the small ones.
Every day the banks of this city receive
letters from the banks in the interior towns
begging them to take sums ranging from
ten to fifty thousand dollars and lend them
out for the country blaks who can find no
customers at home. Everywhere there is
large sum of unemployed money. The
statement of "empty workshops" "silent
foundries," and factories running at hall
their capacity" and ''armies of unem-
ployed men and women" is not wholly
untrue, but is greatly exaggerated. But
the fact remains unchanged and uncontra-
dicted that there is not an empty workshop,
nor silent foundry, nor a factory running
at half its capacity because Of any inability
to borrow money to manufacturegoods to fill
orders. It Is not an Inability to borrow money
10 pay wages and purchase raw materials
to fill orders that has closed workshops.
They are closed because they have no sale
for their goods; because they have no or
ders to fill
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

WE HEAR MUCH said of sufficient
currency to meet the wants of trade +"
3emagogues claim that the wants of trade
lemand an increase of the volume of cur
ency. This is shown to be e false claim
som the fact that the wants Of trade were
double what they now are with 800, 0O0,
800 less currency ahoat, and yet there was
40 lack of prosperity. The wants of trade
demand a stable currency; one that will
not change every twenty-four hours. This
i'll be secured when the policy Of re-
mption becomes the fixed policy Of the
efion
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

WHEN our paper currency is convert
le into gold and silver, at the pleasure of
, holder, we may well boast of having
= best financial system in the world. If
spolicy of the Republican party is faith
ly carried out this good time will come
1879. Then we shall have the business
the country resting upon a solid basis
free from the fluctuations and conse-
mt uncertainties of an irredeemable
& ncy. A greenback should be worth
Qdndred cents on a dollar, and the
iblican party has given its pledge to
II 60
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08
The Distinction

But it is said this note is good. So it is
good to pay taxes, for the taxing power agrees
to take 1t, and the same power declares that Il
shall be legal tender in payment of debts
but would 1t not be better il 1t would buy as
much wheat and corn and clothing as goldi
1t would then be good for an purposes. There
is no power in human law to ix It's value IL
gold or wheat or labor or clothing. Every
body measures its depreciation daily. While
It is good In the sense that the United States
is able to pay it, 1t is not good in the sense that
the United States does not pay 10 according to
promise. Goy.-Allen said the other day at
Newark that the United States note aud United
States bond rests upon a promise duly per.
formed, and the note upon promise not per-
formed. The difference is eighteen per cent
We wish to place the note.holder upon the
same footing as the bondholder by making ON
promise as good as gold, instead of fourteen
per cent. less, The question we have TO deal
with is, are We now ready TO enter upon 'thia
policy of honesty, Of equality between note, note,
holder and bondholder; this policy -9I 80
money, national money, paper and golIi sgu4
to each other and worth what u Pr0ui''eS'
John Sherman
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08
Senator RaHard,s YisMs.

In speech made at Bsltimere a few
days ago, Senator Bayard said:
''Our fathers intended that money in the
pocket should be money everYwhere.
[Applause.1 When the commercial world
touches the currency it wits like the leaves
Of autumn. The currency the country
deals with depends wholly on credit. If
the people could understand that the price
of their products is fixed in Europe in gold,
and that they are paid in paper, they would
vote to remove this curse, delusion and a
snare. The necessity of its abolition is
plain. The people wanted hard money for
hard labor, the value of which caa be regu-
lated. The infationists opposed having
their railroad stocks and values based upon
credits contracted in value by a return to
gold. No increase of volume will make up
the quality; capital is startled by the propo-
sition to initiate, and foreign capital has
ceased to flow to our shores"
Further along Senator Bayard
Begged the laboring man, as he valued
his own interests, not to aid the capitalists
IN, increasing his inflated wealth by voting
to increase the volume of paper money.
Imitation would eventually bring curse
upon the country, before which former
panics were nothing"
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

As THE emission of inconvertible paper
progresses all prices advance, and the rates
of wages are enhanced with other things.
But unfortunately for the laborer it Is q
rule almost without exception that the
prices of all the necessaries of life rise
more than wages. .-Ednn.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

Paper promises and the gambling of Wall
street, and the slow response of retail prices
70 downward changes of the market, have
been robbing our labor of its earnings for ten
years. Every year DESTROYS vet more of the
VlIahty OF industry. And yet we are told to
wait still longer, until the country "grows
up" to q specie basis.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

The above statement of the circulation of
paper currency may be accepted as reliable, as
the figures have been revised and corrected
from official records. 1t is more difficult, how
ever, to give the exact amount of specie in
circulation at any specified period. This is
owing mainly to the fact that portion Of the
silver and gold coin is annually melted and
used in the trades, and for other purposes.
The following figures are, however, accepted
at the Philadelphia mint, and in official esti-
mates, as being nearly correct:
Estimates ofAmount of Coin IN the United States
at Different Periods.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

THE ISSUE Of inconvertible paper money
adds neither to the amount of capital in the
country nor to the efficiency Of labor, and
hinders, rather than aids, the union Of the
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

THE only direct gain from the issue Of
Treasury notes was the loan to the Govern
ment, without interest, and the oonse-
cuent lesSening of taxation.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08
B N GT.
HONEST MONEY. !"
RUIN.
Specie Payment and Prosperity
Views Of PFsmillt Statesmen and WTitT

To MOST MINDS in computing riches dol
lars of paper count up the SAINT as real dol
lars, and SO long as the increase continues,
the Illusion is not discovered.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08
I Per
Year. Specie. Paper Total. PoDula-. cap
tiOn. Iita,

Is4sa Oco OCO O4 OOo s4g5 $50 eco ~ s Oo $50
1859 27s co.. OOD Is3 sos O0 s65, ,30 OIS OBJ 30
ls74 49, III 53S O0 e4i 53S COZ a. q Sc
Here it is shown that while the circulation,
per capita, was 1850 in 1854, and only 80
in 1859, it went up to 81 1.96 in 1874, from
which there is little or no variation to-day
demonstrating the fact of larger circulation
now, by about 25 per cent, than at the pre-
vious date indicated, or in fact at any former
period in our history.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

"IT TENDS to aggravate the inequality
Of fortune; 10 make the rich richer and the
poor poorer; TO multiply nabobs and pau
pers, and to deepen and widen the gulf
which separates Dives from Lazarus, -
Thomas II. Benton.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

A PAPER CURRENCY is a great curse to
any people, and particular curse to the
laborer of any country, for Its depreciation
always falls upon the laborer. "-A"drsU
Jackson.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

Senator Sohurz mentioned merchants in
New York who had changed prices of their
goods six times in one week, to cover changes
In the value of currency.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

TIar,, ami there are gamblers who would wei
come even another civil war ior It's elSn1's %
utea, ~ - 'nsnocratic faction makes its appeal
nIn hstred of property and hatred Of those who
sr,,steJ the Union. The sans e,'lotts and the
s,',tsynnt have Joined forces. IL Is for honest
men 70 say whether the life Of industry ane
the honor OF the Union shall perish under theiI
blows.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

"Convertibility In the currency is like con
scientiousness in o man-it has many grades,
and Is valuable in proportion as &c is strict ana
pure ''-S,unnsT's History Of Alnertea" I ~
rcney, page il6. This is NOT the ai'n o, ent
Democracy in Ohio and PennsylvaniA; any
thing but nyertlbiHty-aDything but honesty
lt should be.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08
The Currency 0uestiOnNOt q Complicated


Inc question of currency is not necessarily
complicated one; nor sbould it be diAicnIt
70 comprehend and apply, in its bearings upon
tne business ana industrial interests of society.
YET the pubic mind is divided upon the sub
ject, and It is made prominent issue IN some
Of the most important election campaigns.
In view of these facts, It Is the purpose of
the writer to present few brief statistics and
statements which will enable every intelligent
reader to arrive at correct conclusion on the
subject.
THE VOLUME OF CURRENCY.
I. Is the currency of the country adequate
in amount to the legitimate business demand
A hurricane or tornado among the elements
of nature can never occur without adequate
cause. So in financial circles money strin-
gency or panic is precipitated and controlled
by causes as unerring in their results as the
laws that govern sunset or an eclipse.
The country has suffered during the last
twenty four months, and is still suffering,
though less severely, from the effects of q
financial crisis, which has been attributed by q
certain class of thinkers, or rather OF thought
less individuals, toan insufhciency of currency.
Can this position be logically sustained Let
US look at the facts; and to do so it will be
necessary to go little into historical figures.
Before the war there was little or no complaint
of a scarcity of currency; yet the amount of
money, paper and specie in circulation in 1874
was double what it was in 1859. Here is the
aggregate circulation for each period indi-
Gated:
1874. Circulation. 1894 5Ss 900
1872 Circulation. 46s SO6, 900
increase S465, ,2S2 900
Instead of contracting, here is an actual in
crease of currency amounting to within a
fraction of one hundred per cent. in fifteen
years. There has, of course, been an increase
of population during the same period, but the
ratio of increase in population is less than
half that of the increase in circulation. The
amount of money per capita in use, at differ
eut periOds Is seen in the fOllovino statement.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

$29, ,000, 600 moro than in 1873.
O,000, 900 more than in 1872.
SIS, 600, 900 more than in 1871.
$4,000, 600 more than in 1870.
S63, ,000, 900 more than in 1859.
S91 100000 more than in 1868.
$1,000, 900 more than in 1867.
S61 900, 900 more than in 1866.
S141 900, 900 more than in 1865.
$167, 100000 more than in 1854.
$4S2, 100000 more than in 1868.
S437, 100000 more than in 1862.
S59l 200, 600 more than in 1851.
1856, 900, 900 more than in 1860.
S553, 100000 more than in 1859.
1914, 900, 900 more than in 1858.
1852, ,0O0, 900 more than in 1857.
1914, 000, 600 more than i'll 1856.
$5S3, ,000, 600 more than in 1855.
$685., 700, 900 more than in 1854.
Can anything be more conclusive il
showing the absurdity of the charge tina
contraction is in any manner the cause O
the present depression in businessi
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

TotOl. 49,. lisa 422 s7454g7 o. 57s Isl 2s.s2OO5s
TABLE B.
BANKS ORGANIZED SINCE JANUARY Il 1875, WITH
THEIR CAPITAL AND THE CIRCULATION ISSUED
THEBEoN UP TO SEPTEMBER Is, 1875, BY STATES.
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

IoLaI so, 594 5O4
Equal in o. s. gold coin to $685., 2,OOO, ,OOO.
Population, S1,600,000. Circulation, per
capita, $50 90.
for the twenty-five States comprising the North
German Confederation. Correct returns of the
currency of Germany, since the Frsnco-Prussian
war, are not yet published.
Circulation iH Great BrttGis and ireland, 1879.
Gold ES4, ,s51, 900
Silver coin. 1900 900
Bronze coin. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 1,14s,OO0
Excess Of bank notes over coin reserve. 4O54O, 600
Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-08

LEGAI-TENDEas DEPOSITED FROM JUNE 20, 49,