The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1876-06-16
THE FINANcIAL QUESTION.
Reply to ResumptiOn's Article OF
june ed.

truths, and my friend Resumption
seems no exception to this general
rule. His article of June I'd, part
of which was replied TO last week,
is composed of facts and fancles,
correct statements and mistakes.
so we'll mixed together that
the only way to detect the correct
from the incorrect portions is to
quote his language, and comment
on it in detail. 1 shall do this as
briefly as possible, not stopping to
enlarge upon any of the fruitful
subjects he offers, but simply to
point out where he is right aud
where he is wrong, in his conclu-
stone.
He says:
With Mr.. Graham's position, that
the decrease in the value of the
greenbacks is the result of the re-
sumption law, L most emphatically
disagree. / think we have far
more sensible and likely reasons
than a simple resolution of Congress
that in four years a greenback
dollar" shall be exchanged for a
gold one.
This being merely a counter-op-
inion, we cites this to support it:
We have been borrowing too
much. people have borrowed as
they never borrowed before. Cred
it has been piled on credit and OBJ
legation on obligation till all the
floating capital in the country and
all that could be borrowed in for
eign countries has been absorbed
and expended. Enormous sums
have been wasted in immature and
unfinished enterprises, and hum
dreds of millions of dollars sunk
the great fires of Chicago and Bos-
ton sunk hundreds of millions
more these with the vast municip-
al Indebtedness, much of which rep
resents stolen property, have de-
creased the resources of the coun-
try"
These are facts, but they dis
prove the very point that Resump-
ton cites them 10 support. Had
these enornousdebts and losses been
incurred since, or a short time be-
fore, the passage of the resumption
law, it would be reasonable to hold
them responsible for the decline in
the gold valne of our currency since
that law was passed. But the great
bulk of all our debts and losses had
been Incurred, and their burdens
had come to be sensibly and severe
Iy felt, years before the passage of
the resumption act. Yet under
these burdens, gold came gradually
down, and greenbacks stood in 1874
at nearly 90 cents on the dollar,
whereas since the resumption act
they have stood, and now stand uu-
der 80 cents. The account stands
thus: with our debts and losses, and
no resumption law, greenbacks were
worth % cents in gold per dollar !;
with our debts and losses aud the
resumption law, greenbacks are
worth only 80 cents. Difference,
loss of B cents per dollar, and there
fore the resumption law has proved
to be an injury, instead of a benefit,
to the gold value of the currency.
We do not lack money, we lack
capital.
This is distinction without any
difference, if the words money and
capital are used in their ordinary
sense.
We must borrow less and produce
more.
Facts agsin, but very unfavora-
bly, for the resumption law, specie
payment side of the question. 1t ia
the specie payment men who are
asking that the government borrow
more, and who charge that oyer
production is enc great cause of the
stagnation in business. 1t is the So
called "infiationists," who object to
the government bOrro wing more,
and who ask that our productive
industries be encouraged by liber-
al supply. of "irredeemable" paper
money. Resumption knows tat we
are now producing considerably less
in the way of manufactured arti-
cles, and that there is less sale aud
less prices for them, than before
the resumption law was passed. He
also knows that farm products gen.
orally are lower now than then,
making it the more difficult for
farmers to pay their debts. If he
is earnest about producing more,
he must abandon his hard money
platform, and go in for the kind
of money which statistics prove to
result in increasing production.
Does the resumption law result in
opening the factories, setting labor
ers at work, getting good prices for
crops? Does it, can it, result in in
creasing the productive industry
of this country? 1t has increased
the number of business failures to
nearly ], 900 per month, and increas-
ed the value of gold from 100 to lib.
If these are the increased proauc-
tions that Resumption means, he
should certainly stick to that law
but if he desires to increase the
production of calico, and cloth, and |
iron, and manufactures generally,
and agricultural products, he must |
provide some way of enabling the
producers to market them at better
prices then they get now, or can get
on specie payment basis. The fact
is simply this, that irredeema-
BILE" paper money has developed |
our productive industry far beyond |
the capacity of t'hard moAey" to
and the effort to get back
to hard money basis inevitably
prod uction. Yet here
ia this hard money theorist. urg-
ing us to produce more, as a RENE.
DIV for what he will in HE ,,o--t -.