The Leavenworth weekly times., 1876-04-06
The Currency Question-Unfair Statements.


LEAvENwoKrH, April 3, 1876.
EDITOR TIMES: have hitherto Grained
from giving any public expression either in
defense OF or in opposition to any financial
theory but upon reading the letter signed
"R. E." which appeared in The TINES Of
Sunday morning, / could not but feel that
if he had the boldness to assume what l
conceive to be fallacious theory, founded
upon unsupported deductions, there could
be no particular harm in my attempting,
good-naturedly, logical refutation of the
hypothesis. Like Senator Sherman and
great many other so-called resumptionists
of the present day, ar. E." falls into the
error Of asserting that there is more curren-
cy in C rculation now than there was in
1865 when business was generally lively.
In substantiation Of this ''facl" he quotes
the Ohio Senator, whom he accepts As good
authority, who says that at the time Of The
financial panic Of 1873 "the total circula-
tion was S740,OOr 900, against . little over
S7O4, ,OOO,O 700 in October, 1865"
The statement that the amount of legal
tenders and national bank notes in circula-
tion in 1873 was greater than that OF 1865
may be correct. Senator Sherman has sc-
cess to the Treasury records, and probably
knows and states the fact in reference TO
this particular matter. But there we're also
many millions Of other media Of circula-
tion in 1865, in relation to which Mr.. Sher-
man and other cOntractiOnists studiously
avoid making any allusion. refer 10 the
Certificates Of Indebtedness" for the heavi-
er business transactions, compound inter-
est bearing notes" IS per cent. notes" &c
amounting la the aggregate 10 hundreds Of
millions, which have been converted into
bonds bearing 6 per cent. interest, and al
though they ans,nered the place Of money We
are curtly informed that We have more cur
rency nov than We had before the CONVEX
sion above alluded to. The plain truth is
we haven't so much by many millions.
But admitting that there is $4,000, 600
in currency in circulation now, against
S704, 600, O0O in 1865, it furnishes no proof
that we are so we'll of. Ga the contrary, it
is fact beyond cavil that the compare
tive contraction which has gone on since
1865, by reason of the great increase of me-
chanics, laborers and tradesmen, can scarce
ly be computed at this time without
doubling the pockets of that period. At
that time our population could not have
reached $1,000, 600; the war had but re-
Gently closed; the Southern States had been
devastated, and the people there, neither
white or black-except the lev more favor
ed ones-had as yet been able to obtain our
currency, for the very excellent reason that
they had nothing to give in exchange for
it. How does the matter stand to-day
Instead Of 2, ,000, 900 Of people (the ppn-
lation of HE non-secs ding State-) with Q
circulation of S7O4 OOO, coo, as in 1865. We
now have a population of 42,0OO, COZ with
a circulation OF S7iO,OOO,OOO. l wish also,
in this connection, to call attention to the
fact that the blacks Of the South need and
obtain currency nov the came As the whites
for emancipation brought with it the neces-
sity of self maintenance, and where the
occasional dime served the outside wants
of the slave, the dollar must supply Its
place in the freedman. The South has by
degrees almost rgained her former con-
dition Of agricultural prnductiveness, and =
q consequence our currency has found ito
way among her people. 1t can easily be
proven, therefore, that even if We grant the
proposition of the conlractionists, name
", that there must be more money in the
country nov than in 1865 because the fig
ures are few millions bigger, there is UNI
mistsk able evidence of an enormous COM
parative contraction in consequence of the
great augmentation of money usen since
that period. NJ. W. R.