The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-07-31


y arigeabte power OF paper dollar, IS as ~,
ertain as 70 take any other permanent. pr
duct Of human labor, such as ousne. y,
wheat or pound Of cotton. Nor can an!
standard be fixed for the value OF q cusieney,
because the uses and demand OF curIenes ar
a fuctuating want itseli. vow, AZ NO,
chapgcable value Of anything depends u is",
its conyertibiity into sometn,oR e asu;d .
has value, at the option OF the ino's'u .ar
This rule applies TO paper money % ~ a at,
thing else. But how shail GoVernlpens sm,
an exchapgeable value 10 q paper SuileuSs
Can II do so by q standard "nich - oesonu
its control and which naturally nuc,uMes,
while The sign Of exchange lnoicatea oy' .ne
naner remains the samef Lois IL tue uh-
sound state which possesses the mlnns 9.
onr people and Of our politicians. we must
come out of this unreasonable eonditiop, or
we shall be subject, for all time, to those Pc
riodic disturbances Of our money ana cur
rency which bring such widespread RUIN
and distress on our commercial industries.
and work on the part of the Government
positive and cruel injustice. The remedy
seems to me to be very plain.
First. We must put this whole power OF
coming money, or issuing currency, as
Thomas Jefferson says, :" where, BY the Con-
stitutjop. it properly belongs "-entire!y in
the hands of our Government. That Gov
eminent Is republic; hence ills under the
control of the people. Corporations ana
states have hitherto, in some form or other,
divided this power with the Government.
Hence come the embarrassments ana tne
fluctuations, as may be easily shown. But
now We trust our Government With the "hole
function of providing the standards and mea.
sures OF exchange, as we trust IL Wild tue
weights and measures of all trade. 90 iar
| from putting the people In the power OF our
Government and at the caprice OF parties Ia
mower. I contend it will bring the Govern
ment more under the control OF the people
and give check to mere purity rule; LOT tne
more stake the people have 10 the wisdom ana
honesty of the administration OF the dov.
eminent the more Watchful and hrm they Will
be u its control.
Secondly, We must require the Govern.
ment 10 make this currency, at all times, ana
at fbr option of the individual, convertible.
Rut the currency must be conycrtloic INTO
something over which the Government mas
entire control, and to which 1t can give
definite as we'll as permanent Value. Inns
ia its own Understanding bonds. Ihese
are. IN fSct, a mortgage upon the embodieo
wealth of the whole country. The reality OF
their value is as sound and as permanent az
the Government itself, and the degree OF
their value can be determined exactly by the
amouot OF interest the Government may
thirk proper to fiX.
This convertibilty will always keep
check both in the amount OF currency ana
the amount of bonds that may be called for at
any time; for the bonds are property, Great
| ing 40 income, and the currency Is merely the
measure of property and the means OF ex.
change. If currency swells IN the hanos OF
the people. 1t will show that business IS &C.
tive, exchanges Humorous anu prohtaole. IL
currency sbrinks and bonds Increase, II VIII
only he to the extent of those natural fuctu-
,i ons which seasons and lime bring upon
the productive energies Of man. But at no
| time will either the bonds or the currency
| he mere drug upon the market, for they
will be mutually convertible.
When we look iutO the history of the past
for the real cause Of those periodical panics
that have brought financial ruin on so many
Of on. people, we find that on all these occa-
sions, Us In the present paraly zed condition
of the trade and commerce of tue country,
the main difficulty has originated in the I'm.
fortunate fnancial policy adopted by the Gen
eral Government policy that is producing
for our people what the policy Of the British
Government has brought about for the peo-
pIe of that country, where the real estate o.,
the whole of England has, in comparatively
short period, been transferred from 10000
of the past to 80, GOO landowners Of the pre-
sent. And this, where the most rapid in
crease of wealth, perhaps, in the world, is
also attended with the worst and most un-
equal distribution; and where, instead of a
ditfused happiness and universal prosperity,
the rich grow richer, and the poor poorer.
by constant yaclllatiOns in the measures OF
value.
Orr own Government, instead of taking
che whole subject Of money and currency en-
tirely in it's hands, as provided for by the
Constitution, allowed for time local banks
to multiply and continue until their notes,
which were promises TO pay specie on de-
mapd, became mere decisions, and the best
informed and most prudent merchant found
it impossible to distinguish those that were
redeenlsble, or convertible into gold, from
tt ose that were not. The chartered BANK OF
the United S :ates in the first four years OF lis
operation issued $40,000,00O Of paper with
only $500. 900 in specie to redeem its notes.
Ranks eyaded the law by issuing paper that
thew were unable to redeem when it was not
wanted, The reason Of this lay in the fact
that the demand for currency at times was
far in excess Of the quantity that could he re-
absorbed into gold when the currency was
no longer needed.
Gold was not its proper agent of CONVEX.
sion. because it is uncertain in volume, and
is itself subject to the magnetic attraction OF
foreign trade shat needs it to make up its
balances.
Had the currency which should have been
all United States currency been ut once con.
yerLible into United States bonds, which, IN
stead of locking it up, as would be the case
now, should have given small interest until
the currency was wanted again, when the
bonds should immediately be convertible
into currency, we should have escaped the
panics and stagnatien Of trade and stoppsge
of industry which has now affected the com
merce Of the world.
The local banks were allowed to continue
until the war OF the rebellion compelled the
Goyerpment to issue currency as legal.ten.
der. as the only advisable means Of carrying
on its operations for the safety of the nations
life.
In this extremity our Government was
literally compelled, rs a war measure, to offer
to these local banks nelrly double The ordi-
nary interest Of loans in order TO induce them
to lend their money to the Government, and
base their banking on the bonds Of the Go.
yernmeut and exchange their own currency
for that of the United States. This great
advantage given to capital invested in the
the war was over, as it was only war mea.
\ oC 81, ,,,,