Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-02-18

10 maintain its paper money ut par With coin. Sir,
reject the suggestion with scorn, aud " seems 70
me, could We persuaded OF lis Wuth, tnou,1
proclaim t. Here Is California, one Of our young
est states (thiry members OF the Union being
senior to herr. with vast territory and sparse
population able 20 maintain coin payment, aud
maintaining Il through financial storm OF terrihc
force mud, by reason OF H. regaining position OF
eovency aud safety with rapdity and certainty
to which the paper basis affords no parallel, but
only contrast Here, TO the north Of us, Hes the
Dominion OF Canada stretching from Newfound-
land 10 the borders Of Alaska with an inhospitablo
climate soil In great part inferior TO ours, com
mcrcc checked and suspended half tho year ny
frozen rivers manufactures scant, crude and un.
developed with population throughout the whole
Territory not so large as Tint OF New Holk, ana
with wealth greatly inferior to that Of the Empire
State; with debt ~ large, in proportion TO peo.
pie, and product, aud property as our own and
yet Canada finds no difficulty In maintaining specie
payment. And at Toronto, Montreal and Halifax
| the American toWlst IL Knocked aud made ashamed
by the sigh Of coin dollars md gold e0g cs from
our own mint circulating freely az currency among
people whose wealth and resources are but nm in
considerable fraction OF our own magnificent IN
hefitnnce aud possessions.
When the National Government was organized
in i1S1 the most liberal estimate of the property OF
the entire thi teen States placed IL at 5000 0WOO
less than the wealth Of Boston or OF Chicago
to-day. The population was four millions show.
ing property Of 30 10 each inhobiant BY the
census OF 1870 our population had Increased to
thrty-Cight Millions and Our wealth to thirty thou
sand millions. showing 500 per capita for the
whole people our population had Increased in
the eighty Intervening years not quite ten fold but
our wealth had increased fifty fold. The patriots
OF 11Q0 with their slender resources did not hes-
tato TO assume n national debt Of ninety millions
Of dollars being more than one seventh Of their en-
tire possessions; nnd 1t never occurred to them
that mn abandonment OF the specie basis would
make their burden lighter They knew. from their
terrible experience with Continental currency,
that all their evils would be painfully increased
by resort TO paper money. And in their poverty,
with no accumulated capital, with manufactures
In fceblest Infancy, with. commerce undeyclopcd'
with low prices fDr their agricultural products,
they maintained the gold and silver standard they
paid their grcnt debit they grew rich in the property
which we Inherited. hut fur richer in that bright,
unsulhed honor which they also bc1ucathed TO US.
To-day, the total debts OF the American people,
National, State and Municipal, Nre not 40 large in
proportion TO already acquired property ns was the
national debt alone in 1870. And, when we take
Into the account the relative pro luctivo power or
the two periods our present burdens are Rbsoute-
| ly inconsidorabc. When we reflect what the rail-
way, the telegraph, the cotton gin and our endless
mechanical inventions nnd agencies have done for
! us in the way Of incI easing our capacity Tor pr1.
! ducnY wealth. we should be ashamed TO pretend
| that we cannot bear larger burdens than our mi
| ocstors Aud remember Mr.. Chairman, that our
wealth from lIv0 TO 1870 increased moro than hve
times rs rapidly Us our population. and that the
| same development Is even now progressing with a
continually y-accelcrnting ratio Remember, also,
that the annual income and earnings Of our people
hre larger than those OF any European country
larger than those OF England France, or Russia,
| or the German Empire. The English people stand
next to us, but we are largely in adyanc, Of them.
| The annual income NJ our entire people exceeds
| Fix thousand millions in gold md. despite hn1n-
cal reycrscs and rcyusiOnS, Is steadily increasing.
In view Of these facts, II would be nm unpnrdOn-
! able moral wcakuess in our peope-alwnyS heroic
! when hcrolsm Is demanded-to doubt their own
| capacity to maintain specie payment. am not
| willing myself. to acknOWipdn that, as people,
! we less horOrable less courageous, or less
! competent than were our ancestors in i7o0;
still less am ready to that the people OF the
| entire Union have not the pluck aud No capgCIy
| of our friends and kinsmcn In California; aud last
| of all would ! confess that the United States OF
America, with dl,0OO00l Of Inhabitants with ter.
ritory surprising all Europe In area, and might
almost say all the world IN fertility o. resources
| arc not nbe to- do what handful Of u itish sub
jecis scattered from Cape Race to NanCouvcr's Isl
aud, can do 80 easily so steadily, and 30 success
fully ..
But whether we shall succeed or shall fail in
restoring to the United States note' the funding
| privilege with which they were originally euduwo I,
! must here record nyeaneSt protest again the
| policy OF repeating The lrsal-tcndcr Clause which
has y en- to these notes their great strength as cir
culnting medium. | cannot how the Govern
ment can, consistently deprive these notcs o. o.
their lcgal-tendcr quality until 1t Is ready
! to redeem them in coin on presentation
and when It is so ready to redeem thnm
ing the question? And l have never heard any
argument at all satisfactory to my mind that the
repeal Of the legal-teudCr clause would tend tt
make resumption easier. On the contrary, II
seems to me that It would render resumption far
more difficult than II will otherwise prove; that II
would throw an undue share OF the burden on tho
rigid contraction, and necdlesslS cripple THEFT
power of discount; thus plunging the whdle coun
| try into confusion, disturbing credits cmbaTass
| ing payments, fatally dcranging business, and
creating widespread distress among the peOp q
1t would be peculiarly severe blow to the debtor
| class; and would make resumption TO them thC
! signal of bankruptcy and ruin. All wise le"sla
| tiOn toward resumption will take care that nt
needless burden be thrown on thosc who have
debts to pay and that in the tran, ition the bank
shall be kept in such condition as will make
| them rs helpful as possible tn the business com
munity. But this policy would driye the bank
into struggle for sef-preservation, In whcl
debtors would necessarily be sacrificed.
II | correctly apprehend the sound public judg
ment on this question there is no desire to destroy
| the lcgal-tendcr CharaIter of the note. hui ret
tied determination to bring it to pIr with coin
and by this means bring every bank note to thu
same standard. This policy will restore the coil
of the country, of which we are producing owe
eighty millions per annum, to active circulation II
the channels OF trade and will result not only il
plentiful among the people 1t is humililtius
| inct that producing as we do far larger amour
of precious metal than all the world beside
va drive it into export because we will not Great
demand for II at home. And the miners OF th'
Pacific slope are furnishing the circulating medium
for every country of the civilized world eXcep
thci ir own whose financial policy to day ontlaw
and expatrintes the product of their labor.
In any event, Mr.. Chairman, whatever we ma,
do or whatever we may leave undone, on thi
whole financial question, let us not delude our
selves with the belief that we can escape III,
! Sp 'Clc-stnndATu. ~ rules us to-day ana ma
ruled us throughout the whole legal-tendc
period, Just as absolutely as though W.
were puying and receiving coin daily
Our work our fabrics our commodities, are III
measured by it, and, SO long aS we cling TO ire
deemable paper. we have all the burdens and dis
advantages Of the gold standard, with none of it
aids, and gains. and profits The thing whcl
hath been is that which shall be- The great law
Giver of antiquity records, in the very opvnin.
chapter of Genesis, that "1ho gold OF the land o
Iavilah Is good" And, with another preciou
metal il has maintained its rank to this day N
nation has ever succeeded in establishing an!
other standard of value; no nation has eyer mad
the experiment except at great cost and sorrow
and the advocates of irfedeemabe monty tu-da
are but asking MS TO travel the worn and wear
road Travelled many times bcfore=a road tina
has always ended in disaster and often in dis
grace.