Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-08-18

oAs So IN ~ AVA DIN ] "a
the panic was that which had been
successfully employed in England for
more than hundred years when q.
nAncial panics came--that 10, moder-
ate increase of the currency ;and ad-
vised the President to pour into circu.
lation the forty.four millions reserve
of greenbacks then In the Treasury =
The increase in the currency which
sought by legislation was by the ex-
tension OF the national banking sys.
tenn, and not by further issue OF
greenbacks. /.
In q speech in the Senate on the l7th
of January, 1874, I said:
~ am not speaking Of increasing the
greenbacks beyond the four hundred
millions of reserve, but I am speaking
OF increasing the national bank circn-
lation forty-four or fifty millions, 10
as to make the States equal, and requf.
ring it to be redeemed in greenbscke.
That would not cheaper the green
backs it would not affect the value Of
our currency at all. The national bank
notes would still have to be redeemed
in greehbacks, and the number of
greenbacks would not be increased -
l submit, therefore, that increasing the
national bank currency to the amount
l speak of, which is little enough,
would not cheapen the value of green
backs, and would not increase the pre-
MUM ON gold, would not interfere
with the gradual return to specie pay
ment, that l hope for"
That the period has gone by when
any increase of the currency would do
good in checking the panic, am free
to say, and believe It must run its
course until the times are relieved by
economy, industry, and the operation
of general causes.
NEITHER CONTRACTION NOR EXPANSION.
The theory of the bill in another re.
spect was that there should be neither
nor expansion Of the cur
rency, that the volume should be main
tanned as nearly 40 possible ct what It
then was. Banking was made free,
that is, the. restriction 40 to the amount
of bank notes that might be issued In
the aggregate, or in any Of the States,
was repealed, and the people left free
to organize new banks in any Of the
States or Territories upon compliance
with the terms and conditions of the
law. To prevent the expansion of the
currency from this source, if was pro-
vided that for every 100000 bank
notes Issued the Secretary of the
Treasury should retire $50, 600 in green.
backs, which, added to the greenback
reserve the new banks would be re-
quired to keep in their vaults, would
maintain the volume of currency in
about the same.
l had something to do with the pre-.
paration of this bill, voted for II in
good faith, and intend to stand by II
until experience has demonstrated
that ia is impracticable or needs
amendment. Its main feature, fixing
= day for resumption and providing
for it, l had proposed to the Senate
six years before, and whether the
time fixed is . proper one or not, and
l should have preferred 1t . year or
two later, it is the method by which l
believe specie payments can and will
be reached. It establishes the policy
of free banking, the slow, gradual, but
certain return to specie payments, and
no contraction nor expansion Of the
currency until that time.
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM
The Columbus Democratic platform
demands immediate abolition of the
national bank notes and Q new issue of
greenbacks. A change 70 great and vi
tai would be attended BY tie most dis
astrous consequences, the extent OF
which no man can now foresee. II
would require the banks at once to
withdraw from the people $3.50, ,O0O.- ;.
COO in loans now outstanding, which
would undoubtedly result In the great
est distress and the almost total sus-
pension of business. The greenbAck
would be suddenly In
creased from 1876, ,O0O,OO to$730, ,OQO,-
600. and would inevitably greatly de-
preciate.
The value Of grcenbacks now is
maintained by the ability of the gov
ernment TO pay them, and by the pros
pcct of such payment at no remote
time, and If the amount was 80 in.
creased that the government could not
pay them. and the prospect of pay
ment passed entirely away, they
would at once lose the principal part
of their value. II. when there are bnt
$375, ,000, 600 In circulation, and we are
within three years and half Of the
time fixed for redemption, they are
worth but IS cents on tho dollar, what
would be their value il the amount
was increased to $SOO,OOO,OOO or ST.
GOO, ,OO0, 600, with no hope, prospect, or
pretense that they would ever be re-
deemed3 Let any man of common
sense answer. But It is said that the
legal-tender quality, the fact that the
debtor can compel the creditor to take
them in payment Of debts, will pre-
serve their value even il they are never
to be redeemed or paid.
The simple answer to this isthat when
the volume of greenbacks 10 largely
increased, and all prospect or pretense
of payment is abandoned, people will
refuse to sell their property or labor
upon credit knowing that they can
be compelled to receive in payment
deprecated paper never to be re-
deemed. {l
AN UNAVAILABLE SECURITY.
But we are told that any amount Of
this paper will float, because the faith,
and credit Of the couatry
are:pledged for It. II there be no way
to convert the resources or credit Of
the government to the payment Of
the notes, what does The security
amount to-? II all the real estate in
the Union were mortgaged for the
payment of these notes, but there ia
NO way to foreclose, to collect, to con-
vert what does the mortgage amount
to? Stripped of all disguises and
pretenses, the substitution of green
backs for National Bank notes viii be
understood by the country 90 decls-
ration that these notes will never be
redeemed.
THE DEocRATIc PARTY THE ENEMY OF
GREENBACKS.
But l must here unmssk this whole
fraud and imposture. The advocates
Of more greenbscks in the place Ol
national bank notes are the enemies ol
the ur00nhArka "a thnv havA nwmv