Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-02-16
THE CURRENCY CONFLICT.
deer. GaraeiA,s views
Boston Journal

i,oston journal.
One OF thr best and most timely
contributions to the pending CURRENCY
discussion is Gen. James A. Garfield's
article i'm the February number Of tho
.itla,,ti~ Month";. The writer has
long been known as among the oblest
and most cstimable of our nublic men.
and his experience has been such as
10 give peculiar value to his financial
views. The object of his present M.
ticle is to show how far we as n ma
ton have drifted from the sound
principles held almost unanimously
ilp to the close of the war, and TO on
force the reasons for returning TO
those principlcs as soon as nossihjr.
Gen, Garfield shows that the father
of our present financial policy. Secrc-
tarv Chase. knew perfcctly well the
dangers To which he was exnosino
the country hy the adoption of the
system Of irrcdccn,able paper currcn-
CIV 10 which he was driven by over
whclming necessity. In 1862. when
some one in conversation had defined
motion ms ",bc spirit of God made
manifest in matter" the Secretary
said: "Ifthat is n rood definition,
then legal-tcnder notes must be the
devil made manifest in papcr. for no
man can forscc what mischief thcy
nav do when thcy arc once lct loose =
Quotations arc made from tho con-
ercssional speeches of Thaddcus
Stevens. Senators Fcssendcn and sum.
4 ner. and others. to prove that the To-
gal-tender system was only regarded
as an absolutely necessary war meas
ure, to be rclinuuishcd as soon MS the
! danger should be over. Even i'm lS65
/ the House of Representatives reiter-
atcd the same position: but since
then there has grown M a soft money
party which. without much consis-
tcncy in the views Of lis several sub
| divisions. will concentrate its forces
+, for the final battle of 1876. Gen. GAR
i field then quotes from the soft money
champions, like Judge Kelley, Gen
/ Butler. and others. showing those fall.
lacies and cxtravagances which are
I sufficiently familiar to the public
I He shows, too. that every one of these
absurtlitics is not ncw-ihcy have all
been pnt forth by English theorists in
4 former times, and nearly all have
/ been practically exploded as thor
ougl,ly AS John Laws schemes.
! Against them all stands the i'm
/ pregnable doctrine of hard money,
which General Garfield elucidateS
! with such admirable dircctncss and
force. The functions of coin in
general are well understood: but tho
~ -, 30 a.
where the danger of excessive paper
issues take their risc--arc rarely SO
well stated as in this article. 1t i,
! pointed out that credit is not capital
but the permission given 10 one maj
TO Use the capital of another. Gcncr
al Garfield said:
7. "Fregucntly. however. the capita
loaned is not actually transferred Il
the borrower. but a written cvidcnc,
of his title to it is given instead. Il
the title is transferable il may b,
used as Il substitute for money fol
within certain limits. ii has the sam,
purchasing power. When these cvi
dences Of credit are in the form o.
checks and drafts. bills Of exchange
and promissory notes. they arc large
ly used. rs substitutes for money, an6
very greatly facilitate exchanges
But all are based upon confidence
upon the belief that they roprcscn
truly what they profess 10 renrcsen.
actual capital. measured biz ron
money to be delivered on demand
"Thcse evidences of credit have he.
come. In modern times. tl,c chief in
stru,nents of aychauuc. The haul
has become as INDISPENSABLE 10 IN,
exchange of values rs The railroad !,
to tho TRANSFORMATION Of. mcrchanIisc
II is The institution of credit h,
means of which these yarious snb.
! stitutcs for money are made oya;lo,
bic. II has been shown thai moi les.
than ninety per cent. of an tbe cy.
chanu cs in the Tinted States nrc oc.
complished by means of hank credits
The nor cent. in England is NOT los.
I than ninetv.tiye. Money is NOW ~.
small change Of commerce. II i nor.
hans owing To this fact that many arc
so tazzled by the brilliant achieve.
ments Of credit as 10 FORGET thai n /.
( the shadow of canital. not its snb.
stance; that il is the sion. tho bril.
! liant sigu. hut moi the thing sipnified
LET il be constantly borne In mind
that the check. the draft. The Dromis.
sorry nole. are all evidences of debt.
of money to he paid. Ii not, they
are fictitious and fraudulent, If the
real capital on which they are based
he destroyed, they fall with il and be-
come utterly worthless. lfconfidcncc
i'm their prompt payment be impair
ed. they Immediately dcprcciaic in
proportion to the dislruSt.
or that character is our grecmback.
Ii is an evidence of debt, Il promise
to pay, ii is nnt money, and no pow
er on earth can make il money. II
is title to money, but ran only he
made equal to money when the debit
or performs his promise. " When
that is done" says Mr.. Garfield. land
when the community knows, by actli-
al test, that ii will continue 10 be
done, then. and not until then, this
credit money will In fact he the hpn-
est equivalent OF money. When that
point Is attained reasons of CONVENE
ence will ordinarily make paper pre-
fcrred 10 coin. and will give ID its
llIg Oh
this complete convcrtibilitv depro.
ciates the paper currency. drives
away gold. introduces constant tluct-
uaiions of prices. cuts down the for
eign trade on both its export and inn
par, sides, gives q stimulus to the Wild
est speculation. rpins The laborIng
man. There has not been a financial
war that has not been due To this
cause OF an irredcemahla CURRENCY.
though other influences have some
times co-opcratea with it.
General Garfield closes his Dapcr--
of (which we have given mere sketch
with a powerful statement of the
duty now resting upon The govern
ment to restore the ronveriability of
paper and coin. to redeem its promise
to give the people sound money. The
hardships of the process he believes.
has bceh grossly oycrestimated. He
saws: IL am moi able To see WHY The
approach 10 specie NAV moi be aradu-
al that the iluclua,ion In any one
month will be less than thai which
we have suffered from month 10