Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1876-03-23
i. \. HARDWOOD, Editor & Proprietor
FINANCIAL.

We are gratiiicd by the recent action OF
the lower House O; Congress in repeating
the act which provides for resumption OF
specie payment IN 1879. The great ma
torlty Of people in the United States ARE in
savor Of bringing all values TO the gold
Standard, and that as soon as prac-
,ic:,Llc, but, it is evident that the indus
tries Of the country cannot bear a sudden
transition from currency to coin. The
distance between gold and grccnbacks is
too great TO be tlavcrscd by a single stride.
1t can be overcome gradually without do.
ing serious injury 10 business, but an ef
1;'rt to compass it, IN the l:ict period OF
two years will result, not in failure, alone,
but III disaster to all departments of indus.
try. The present return to a specie bases
would involve q loss, absolutely Of one
seventh part Of MI the wealth Of the ma.
lion. This would be practically to dc.
rrlvc the whole country Of the profits re.
sultins from the business Of III entire
year. No ordinary vocation yields ret
return Of more than fourteen per cent. and
If every man should be compelled 10 suf:
fer diininution Of value equal to that
amount, it wo;;:d be equivalent to his do
ing nothing for year. and drawing his
living from stores already accumulated.
speedy resumption means that the people
Of Minnesota and Of all the States shall
work, for the year to come, as they have
IN the year just gonc,--that they shall dis
charge their old dcbt$,-pay in advance
for thciI present living, for the material
anal the implements which they need to
employ, anil when the season is ended to
have not - dollar to show for their labor,
the transition from currency to gold
having cost the entire surplus Of the years
operations. How many Of the farmers,
mechanics and merchants Of Minnesota
can stand such . strain as that upon their
resources? If driven to TIC Test 1T least
two thirds of them would be ruined IT,
re,revably. Ifprosress toward resump-
,,on DC gradual, the work may be accom-.
rlisied ultimately, by the appreciation Of
grccnbacks. In the hands Of the govern
mcnt = gold dollar is worth no more as
money than a paper do!lar,-hcncc it is
the plain duty Of the administration by
its policy and by its legislation to cquili.
brate the money scalc,-to give to the cur
rency rs great paying value as is pos
scsscd by the coin. The trouble i; that
the country looks at this matter from the
standpoint Of the money owners. They
possessing gold, declare that the national
currency is inferior to 1t in purchasing
powc or, and hence is less valuable as mon.
cy. BY not having made grcenbacks
legal tender the government admits this
assertion and consents to the burden which
i. imnna"s This * wrong Cold. rim
into coin is money, and only money of
the value designated upon its face. 1t DO
r!ves its value from the authority by which
lhc grccnbacks were issued and Put into
To us it seems clear that one
Kind Of money made under the direction
OK congress, IS just as good as another,
and no better, unless somc discrimination
exists in favor Of the one and against the
other. Let Congress honor the green
backs by making them acceptable for all
government dues <cn we shall be able
TO get along without the gold held by the
Wall street brokers, and when we are no
longer compelled to buy it, We shall be
able to get along without it. If issued for
the same purpose by the same authority
currency must 0e equally valuable, and
the greater convenience of its use will al
ways make it the more popular medium
of exchange. We think that with reas.
enable delay and proper legislation the
country may come out of this financial
ordeal without suffering additional loss
or having its business facilities very scri-
ously impaired.