New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-10-15
RITZ FR'S EICTTONS

Gen. Butler appeared in this city last night
and delivered an address in favor Of cur
rency of nOn-expOrtabe assignats, which would
fill a page of THE TRIBUNE. and of which
we find room for fair presentation of the
salient points in the report elsewhere given.
The whole document, however, we have read
through from beginning to end, and have not
found in it a trace of sense or sincerity. No
good purpose would be accomplished by any
elaborate chemical analysis of the contents
of each of the thousand scOws full of
garbage which are taken from our streets
during the Summer All the knowledge re-
quired by casual spectator can he obtained
from a glance and Whit. In like manner we
shall bestow no further time and space on Gen.
Buffers compost heap than is necessary to
show that it is made up of ignorance and
falsehood thoroughly mixed.
1t is well known historical truth that Great
Britain, during the wars with Napoleon, was
forced to use incOnvertible bank notes, and
that more recently France descended to such
a currency in her war with Germany, and that
we have used like currency since 1861.
Gen. Butler represents the paper currency as
assumed on account of its warlike qualities
ard inherent superiority over true money-a
view of the matter which is disprOved by all
history, and which will be instinctively re-
iected by men of ordinary common sense. He
also represents that convertible currency is
an impoSsibity-a bubble which is inva-
riably pricked when a nation becomes involved
in war. This view also is false. All the great
wars of the eighteenth century were carried on
by England without a moments interruption
of specie payments MarlborOugh's victories
were won on coin basis. The Russian war
was prosecuted by France and England with
out suspension, and so was the Franco
Prussian war on the side of the Germans
This shows, we think, that coin is quite IA
effective for war purposes as paper.
The great Napoleon had experience of
both and 1t is well known that he
fought and died hard money man. The
resort to paper money by nations IN times of
war is the consequence of their financial weak
ness and nothing else. Were the United States
to be plunged into a great war on July 4,
1876, none but the most insane of initiation
lists would look upon currency of $4,000
OOO 600 of greenbacks and 3.65 bonds aspire
saying aught but total bankruptcy, such as
France experienced under like circumstances
with her assgnats aud the South with her Con-
federate notes.
For several years Gen. Butler has taken de-
light in charging the Bank of England with
having suspended specie payments in 1887,
1S47 1857, and 1866. These ridiculous false
hoods he repeated last night. During the last
175 years the Bank of England has never but
once suspended payment Of her notes in coin,
that being in 1897. 1t is also bold contra
dction of the truth of history to say that En-
gland suffered nothing from financial cOnvul-
sions between 797 and 1915, the fact being that
the disasters of 1S10-12 have never been sur
passed in their deplOrable consequences by any
succeeding panics. 1t is third fiction to say
that in 1857 and 1866 the Bank of England
refused all discount to her customers, the
truth being that the discounts of the Bank on
those occasions were unprecedented for their
magnitude But let us refrain from examin-
ing further this compound of ignorance and
sophistry. We cannot say that the hero of
the Salary Grab knows nothing of the nature
and properties of true money, for we cannot
on the principles of pure chance account for
the existence of such a mass of heterogeneous
trash on the subject of currency without
glmmer of instruction or a grain of truth.