The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1875-08-06
PETER COOPERsS LETTER.
The Venerable PhiIOsO-
piers Financial View
Eze EB IieVcS in
GreenbaCkS. and
Plenty OF .
them.
Money the Sinews of War, the Tools
Of Trade, Should be Left to the
People to Deal with as Ne
cessity may Require.

70 the Editors and Legislators Of my
nattre city and country:
An inextinguishabIe desire to do what
| can, in this, the eighty>ffth year OF my
age, impels me to call and fix the ptten-
ton of the American people on the -ap>
Mailing causes that have SO effectuaily
paralyZed the various Industries of our
country. This destructive cause has all
ready shrunk the value of property in
less than three years to a condition
where real state cannot be sold or morris
cages ob.ained on it for more than one
half the amount it would have brought
tn "a wears ago. There is nothing that
be more important than to find out
ana remove a cause that is bringing
bankruptcy and ruin on millions Of the
most industrious and enterprising men
of the American people. The national
DOlicv that has brought the frightful
! calamity to our country should receive
| the most thorough investigation and the
most decided action Of our CIV rnment
| | propose to show the true public policy
! that underlies this whole question, and
| TO ind cate what appears to me as the
| D principles aud the just methods that
| ought to actuate the people in their ex
ercIse Of power through the govern ment
| and the remedies which that govern
! ment ought to devise, for 1t must ever
| be borne in mind that the government
| aad its policy in this country is just
! what we, the people, make 1t, 1t Is our
| duty, therefore, at all times and in every
waV TO euliuhten and exhort the people
and to trust to such appeals rather than
anv immediate criticism or appeal to the
10 hr,la (
the currency and money arises from the
necessity of trade or exchanges among
men in the products of Their industry,
and the causes and methods that make
these exchanges fair, just aud beneficial
to all concerned, or means of tyranny
and Injustice, and for the exercise of
greed or seli>hness- To fix upon an al =
bitrary and auctuating standard, such as
the worth or exchangeable value of a
| gold dollar, to indicate the excLangeable
power of paper dollar is as uncertain rs
to Ike any other permanent product Of
human labor, such as 4 bushel of VIII eat
or a pound of cotton. Nor can any
standard be fixed for the value Of a cur
reucy, because the uses and demand OF
currency 10 a huctuating want itself
Now the the eZchangeaOle value of any
thing depends upon its cOnvertibity
into something else that has value, al
the ontion of the individual The III G
applies to paper money as to anything
! else We must require the government
to make its currency at all times and
at the option of the individual convert
IDLE. But the currency must be con,
vertible into something over which th5
government has entire control and t
which 1t can give a definite "a well as
permanent value. This Is its own inter
est bearing bonds Instead of this, what d
We hnd the government dOing7 ResplV,
; ing that at a certain future time, il
1879, the currency shall be convertible
INTO gold Why did not our cosgress
men proceed to resolve that by that tim,
there should be gold enough in tn
country to absorb all the currency tina
> foreigners might wish to be convertet
into gold Even Ricardo, the high prizes
Of buliio nists, the father Of the presen
, British system says:
"A re Culated paper currency is s
great an i'm prOvement in commerce tina
/ should greatly regret if preiudic
should induce Us to retu to a systeI
less utility. The introduction Of tn
e precious metals for the purposes {
! money may with truth be considered q
one Of the most important steps towar
the improvement Of commerce and I'll
E arts OF civiliz life. But it Is no lie,
true that, with the advancement
knowledge and science, we discover tht
it would be another i'm prUyement
banish them again from the employmei
e to which, during the less enlighfent
period, they had been so advantageous
{ applied
believe have shown that the poll,