Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-03-24
Financial Lunacy.

Mn. Hurry CAREY BAIRD hns nm arti.
Gle In the March number of the atlantic
Monthly on the currency question, In
which he informs the public that green
backs are not and never have been do
prcciatcd. 40 tthe equesiioii Nhelhm
:" the groenbsck today ia a QeprechicQ
money" he plhWfly says; 'sNo; not ~
ALL" How does ME Bairl sllsnin this
positionf "a ushear him, Ssfsllowa'
As soon ns the eroenback was Issued in 1882 and
made non convertible with gold, ! I ceased 70
nuctuatc in value with gold and became, the
standard Of payment. uf which the money Of act
count dating from that time IL the expression IL
Is oday the standard aud In " money OF account
are expressed the prices of gold ~ wen rs silver
coins. s.nnd bullion, ~ every dealer knows and ns
hls Vcpks Of account completclI icmonstIaIe.
How r1n thing be deprcciated in comparlton
p NOT Il ',s Bstssie es We Il L BE sisidsfd
MhBaird here deccives hImselfwiili q
mere single q yords zlIere + a piece OF
whioh tfelaw calls Hoildr and declares
10 be n legal tender In payment of debt
amounting to dollar. Hero Is piece
of paper, which, NJ. Baird oallsa green;
back, !" but which the law calls " note OF
the United Stqtes, 2 pledging the faith ptr
the United States 70 pay a dollar 70 lhe
bearer, ard whichilic law still further
says shall he 4 legalF tender at its face
value in payment of all debts, public and
private, with certain exceptions. Mr..
Baird holds a promissory note against
John Smith, in which the latter stipulates
10 nv the Former q dollar. This debt Of
dollar, under the law as IL now stands,
may be paid either with the " groenback' =
or the coined dollar Either is a. legal
tender and wiH discharge the debt.
John Smith says TO Mr.. Baird "1 owe
YOU n dollar, and am ready TO pay 1t.
Here is n greenback' in Which the Gov
ernmcnt promises to pay a dollar, and
here is the gold dollar promised. Take
which you please and deliver me up my
note" Which will Mr.. Baird take? II
he studies his own interest, he will take
the gold dollar and let John Smith keep
thes% gFeenback.p Why1 Simply..be-
cause ne knows That he can 90 into the
market with the gold dollar and there buy
more with 4 than he couldif be took the
grccnbael'' and attempted 10 make tho
same use Of it. AS he rcasnns, SO every
other man would reason in like circum-
stances. Hc knows and everybody knows
that the gold dollar and the "grccnback'
dollar are unequal in their purchasing
power that they will not exchange for
each other rs equivalents; and that the
gold do lar passes at a higher value, rcla.
lively to, other things, tlans the green
hacR' dollar.& lie ought 70 Know that the
UnIy treason why tLo bitter clrculates at
anysaltic Is the expectation that Il will
ultimately he paitl by the former or Its
equivalont These nre Che facts in thecase.
Now. whether Mr.. Baird chooses TO say
that gold brings aprcmium, or greenbacks
arc or are not at discount, does not make
pin's difference with the facts This is
mere matter of financial rhetoric. The
appropriate statement Is that greenbacks
are at adj count; not as compared with
themselves, but as compared with
gold money. They are depreciatcd bylthc
full amount of the discount; and, as this
discountvaIies at different times, theuo-
prcciaton Wii6ctuatfng one. Both kinds
of money are. u legal tender for the pay
ment debts; but one kind happens to be
the money Of pdJiie and the money Of the
commercial world, while the other is the
money of credit absolutely worthless in
the event that the ti0yerpment should de-
termine never toredeem It. a
Mr.. Baird tumbles himself headlong in
10 the common fallacy of all the inila.
tionists, that money is purely and abso-
lutely the creature of law, and that one
article may just as well be employed for
monetary use as another, provided the law
so Ordains. This excludes the commodity
value Of the article itself as an element OF
money, and thereby wiihdraws from it
the most vital and important idea. One
who commits this mistake may be expect
cd to reason about money just as lunatics
reason about other things; and this ex-
peclauOn Mr.. Baird certainly has not dis
appointed.-N, 7. INDEPENDENT.
H3E.i7LT -~t-7-