Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-08-10
More Currency.


shown by recent bank statement, some
seventy-three millions of currency living
idle in the banks of this city for want of
borrowers who could give fair security for
Its repayment. The nominal rate was
seven PEI cent, but much good paper was
discounted at five per cent. per annum,
and even at that there was and is no ade
quate demand. Of what use to the coun
try would hundred millions more cur
rency be if the existing supply is in ex-
cess of its legitimate business wants?
Though Government were to manufact-
ure any amount of greenbacks it would
not give them out for nothing, but only in
paying for services or supplies; and it
has enough for these purposes now. If,
indeed, another civil war were to occur,
that would increase its expenses hundred
feld 1t could in that case keep the stamp
ing mills going and flood the country with
greenbacks till the dollar bill would be
only worth forty cents in gold, as it was at
one time Of the war But who wants a
repetition of such dreadful and ruinous
way OF making currency plenty?
Anyone who has anything to sell now
can get as good price for it in cash as the
state of the market will permit, and he
could not and should not get more if there
were twice as much currency.
Ii the currency were to be so inflated.
indeed, that what is called a dollar in pa
per should be really worth only half a
dollar in gold, every one might think he
was getting big prices or big wages, but it
would amount to precisely the same result
upon the average as if each received and
paid half as many gold dollars for the
same produce and labor There would be
this difference, indeed, that the gold
dollar would be a permanent measure of
value, whilst the paper dollar might not
retain its value Of fifty cents for month.
The only class which would gain by such
an ubiquitous depreciation of the currency
would be debtors who could pay bonds
and mortgages with fifty cents on the dol
lar. But the gains of this class would be
set off by the losses of the creditors, who
would be defrauded to an equal extent
What advantage would it be to the
country If the Witness were enf bled to
pay its bondholders in a currency worth
thirty or forty per cent. less than the cur
rency now paid for the bonds. The in
justice would be obvious and great Yet
this IS just what Western infatiOnists, if
they understand their own policy, are
aiming at. We are thankful to be in a
position where we can, without any i'm
putatlOn on our motives, advocate with all
earnestness the earliest possible resump-
ton OF specie paymentS-not deprecated
silver worth eighty-two cents on the dol
lar, but actual gold dollars worth 100
cents, or bills payable on demand in gold
dollars.
One other fallacy should be exposed;
Namely, the assumption that any govern
mcnt could regulate its issues of ire
deemable paper called legal-tenders, so
as just TO supply the business wants of
the country. These wants vary greatly
in different years and in different months
of the same year, and how is Congress
or the Treasury Department to decide
that now we must call in fifty millions,
and now we must let out a hundred mill
ionss Such power would be ruinous to
the business interests of the country, all
of which would be sitting on mine ready
to explode at any moment Politicians
are able to do vast deal of damage now
in a petty larceny way, but then they
would be able in order to promote party
or personal interests to damage the Nation
by wholesale.
We do not forget that the advocates Of
a never to be paid paper currency have
double action, selfregulating safety-valve
for a redundancy of currency on the one
hand, or deficiency on the other, name
ly, the convertibility of currency into
365 interest bearing bonds and bonds into
currency. That is changing about pieces
of paper, neither of which is ever to be
paid except in the other. But in the first
place the interest on these bonds would
be constantly requiring fresh manufac-
ture of currency, thus doubling the por-
ton of the National debt held in bonds
five times in a century, and of course de-
preciating the currency just in proportion
as it increased in value beyond the wants
of the country. The expenditures of the
Government would increase just in pro-
portion as the value of its currency dimin-
ished, and it would have to issue
more and more legal-tender, thus still
farther depreciating its currency. ALI
transactions with foreign countries would
become difficult A bank might have
millions of legal tender notes and 3.65
bonds in its chest without being able to
pay for bill of exchange, except by buy
ing gold at 100 or 200 per cent premium.
1t might, indeed, buy and ship wheat and
cotton at two or three times the price they
were worth in gold, but il would only be
able to draw bills in gold for half
or one-third of the prices it had paid.
The times of Continental money, which
was the scourge of this country hundred
years ago, and which made the founders
of the Republic require in the Constitu-
ton that no currency should be legalized
Il