, 1876-01-29


in which he labora arduousy to lnaintain his
contradiction Of tho assertion 1naao by The
TRIBUNE, TINT no Government had cycr been
nb1e to furnish q country with paper cur
rency and maintain it redeemabla On demand.
Flo raslly dcuied this, and cited Austria from
somo time after tho fall OF NAPOLEON nntil tho
revolt Of tho Hupgarians in 1878, and Russia
from 1910 to 1853, whom the Crinoan War
began. III his second letter lo incontinently
dropped Austria, but CLING to tho "Russan
bear" and in his last communication, after
su1nmaging through nil the old magazines lo
cnn find in the City Library, still sticks to
Russia. He inaistH that Russia began to re.
deem it, 1910 MI issuo Of Government paper
money Of 311, ,0o0,0 GOO roublos (his first as
,;ertion was nearly twico TINT yoiumc), which
it continued to do for fourteen years, ending
with the Crin1can War in 1853, md during
nil that time redeemed it's notes in coin on
demand! And to this lie added tl,at "whnt
.sustria and K1ssia hnye done successfully
under given circumstances, the Uuited States
may 10 in like circumstances" The citation
Of 1;ussia as Ill example OF extraordinary
tlnancial credit was unfortunate, TINT Gov
ernment being notorious for the constant def
. icits In its receipts of revenue, and co,lso-
.luent excess of expenditures, which excess
ia represented by an annual addition to the
debt lsussia, like ltaiy, does not feel called
IN to reduce expenditures SO M 10 bring
them within the income. The policy of tho
Government is something like that Of slr.
BourwEL1,-to wait until the country ''grows
up" to the point Of paying its way. Tho
consequence is Tint slero is Il considerable
nnnunl addition to tho public debt, aud
The accumulation l,ns now become enor-
NOUS. It would hare boon remark
nblc, indeed, it liussia had been sue
ccssful in an experiment in which
I'll other nations, including Tho wcaltAiost,
llad failcd, and whoss credit Ind been do.
Etroyel by tho issue Of paper money GEN.
tury previous. In 1915, Russian paper money
stood iu relation to silver in ynlue OF 4 to |,
--tllat Is, ono silver roublo was worth moro
than four paper ones. Ten years later, by
withdrawing n large portion OF the notes, tho
remainder advanced to three paper to ono
Kilver ronble. Tho trouble continued, md in
1st3 the Government Withdrew III its paper
;,r,- rn4,s ,,,,o-optool mil ,,,ot3, lo,,, .,,J.
g. 49,. .1':'
ny lto Ho'eiat1tAl. p"s tt'S casseuty "tls
iss,el by tho banks and borrowed by the
Government just Us France during the last
| five years has authorized tho hunk Of
Franco to issuo legnl.tcnder notes, tho
Government borrowing the same. Tho
/ currency, however, was not national cur
| rency, my moro tl,an IL that OF the Bank Of
| England or tho Uank OF franco. Nor wns
| il ut par with coin, though it had an im,-
proved value as compared with the Govern
,neMt currency which had preceded 1t. sinco
| lilo Crneau Nar, tho banking and other
credit Institutions hnvo been n,at1o constitr.
enta Of mn Imperial nank, organized In 1850,
and tho paper money issned BY this general
bank is, like thht begun in 1873, the paper
money OF Russia. 1t il practically tho only
money IN circulation, and il at discount.
This money il called Bills OF Credit, anl
10000, o0O Of roubles are in circulation.
The nrtish 6latc1unuH yenr Hook for 1875
aayH distinctly, speaking Of the derreciated
"greenbacks" Of tle 1sussian Government !:
After ten years Of improved financial management.
th.'e fe'aa!nsa. ho":ses. s1 sav'ooo troafts} u
n .,x.r 11"ie Az an, ,snsd~ ~, ,nnert.,
uosern,ntnt Withdrew II, ls4s, tlo r,,ou of .ho old
rares mousy. lntsoductus n it, stpad. fe1a OF
tas'"os,', with tn1esd currency tleaal'endefl. 1s
ana ,a o',is, m.n eans .ss estan.1sas
Ut .s ,.cr money. called L!ls Of Credit waa con,,,