The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-07-15

tried 10 make law take the place Of weight
or conyertibili.y, but in all cases the
right would come uppermost,
"And ever was JuStIcodohe."
All this is very elementary in It's char
acser; but it seems as II in discussing this
subject Of finance it is necessary to
"recdr to FIRST principles" This day
Of ours has become confused in its
notions as to the proper character Of mo.
ney. There are those who really look
upon greenbacks as money instead of
mere promise TO pay money. They do not
fulfill their own obligation and no man
can give the value OF fulfillment to a
mere promise, save as the promisee can
at once make that promise available. A
promise to pay gold is available a4 a full
iillment Of the promise when the pub
lie know that they can at once and with
out inconvenience and expense convert
the promise into the performance. The
reason, why u paper money is depret
ciated is because Il discredited prom
ise-that is to say, It promises to pay
gold on the demanded the holder, but the
holder cannot realize that promise, and
therefore the paper, good as 1t is, backed
as it is by the great government, Of this
country, with oil It's resources, only cir
culates at q discount Of IL per cent. Just
incorporation as evidence comes to light
that thia paper is approaching pay day
does it's value increase. During tho war
pay day seemed far of indeed. AS some
one then said Of our greenbacks, "they
are the seed Of Abraham and they know
not that their redeemer liyeth.p Hence
they would only purchase half as much
as theY will purchase to-day. They
were in danger Of losing their pur-
chasing power altogether. But now that
We are again on the high road
to prosperity, and again accumulating
wealth aud not destroying it, and now
thpt there is almost an absolute certainty
that they will be redeemed before many
years, they are gaining in purchasing
power.
As We understand it, this is the whole
theory Of finance when stripped of its
technicalities and reduced otis elements.
II is simply that the world will always
discredit u promise that cannot be full
filed, and the more Of such promises that
either an individual or nation puts out
the greater the discredit attaching to
them. Wchave over seven hundred mil
lion OF such promises aaoat to-day. The
people Of the country have faith in them.
Aud Why's Because they sec satisfactory
evidence OF both the ability and the will.
ingness Of the promisor to redeem these
promises at no distant day. Were it not
Tor this faith we should not see prices
falling and business inactive. We should
sec tho scenes Of the war repeating them.
selvcs-people trying to get rid Of money
il-trying to accumulate the values Of
which paper moneyis the merelShadowy
representatiye-and hence We should see
lively times, just as we did during the war.
According to Mr.. Laidley, the thing to
do is to initiate the currency once more.
He contends that it is the contraction Of
the currency that has produced the pres
emit stagnation and distress. We have be-
fore quoted to him the fact that there was
more currency (greenbacks and National
notes. afloat on the day Of Jay
Cooks failure than for several years be-
fore. We have before us table that shows
/. the aggregate circulation from Nov. 1st,
1866 up to January 18th, 1875. At the
former date II was $710,74S,427 and al
the latter it was s779,249,265. But says
Mr.. Laidley, the seven-T hirties had been
redeemed, and also the government Ger.
tifcates OF Indebtedness. This Is true,
!. and 80 is it true that q Large amount Of
six per cent gold bonds had been called
in and cancelled. II the interest Bearing
, debt Of the government is 10 be counted,
why not count it all |! 10 the nature Of
, things it could not be that this interest
} debt should stand as currency. 1t was
payable in paper and the government
either paid 1t in paper or funded it into
other bonds. The essential fact remains
however that each year from 1865 up
to the panic there was a rising
I volume Of currency proper that is Green
backs and National notes, and that this
volume was largerin the year OF the panic
than in the year previous, and larger in
that year than the year before, and SO on
back to 1905.
But this is not all. The government
statistics show that the loans and discounts
Of the National banks had risen from
sis7,l 7O,lSG in 1865 up to 1914, 9lO,l1s in
1873, and that in the same years individ.
ual deposits had risen from S549, 0Sl, 254
up to sSD2GS5,56S. 1tthese figures prove
anything they show that the. panic was
not the result Of contraction but Of an
enormous expansion Of bank credits. The
purchasing power of the volume Of circu.
latiOn in 1878 was immensely greater than
in 1866. For instance, in 1885 It's pur.
chasing power was only equivalent to
1885,, 100000 in gold, while in 1873 1t
was equal TO s72l, 100000 In gold. And
yet says Mr.. Laidley and others, we had
NOT S-ouph money! with which IN do ibe