The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1876-06-01

of the president, congress has continued
to tax the people and contract the Ma
tional currency in vain effort to arrive
at specie payments.
Our government should have lett that
amount ofcurrency in the hands OF the
people which the necessities OF war had
compelled them to put in circulation as
the only means Of national salvation.
Every dollar of currency paid out ;
whether gold, silver, OF paper, was CIV
en- for the '.value received" and thus
became, by the act of the government
as valid for dollars worth OF the whole
property of the country Hence, not a
dollar OF it should ever have been With
drawn
It is now almost universally believed
that had the treasury notes continued, as
at first issued, to be received for all forms
of taxes, duties, and debts they would
have circulated to this day, as they did
then, as so much gold, precisely as the
government paper did circulate in France
when put upon the same footing.
This would have saved our country
more than one-half OF the amount OF the
| whole expenses Of the war in the pres
ent shrinkage OF values and the Interrupt
ton to honest industry. If would have
saved US also from the perpetual drainage
! of gold to pay interest Oh our foreign
indebtedness.
Gentlemen ofthe Convention, I have
| heretofore enlarged upon what seemed
to me the true financial policy of this
country in pamphlets and writings that l
have had the honor to lay before the
country, so that it would be a vain repi~
tition to go much into that subject now.
The paper currency, commonly called
illegal tenders,,' or s'greenbacks," was
actually paid out for value received as
so much gold when gold could rot be
obtained
This being an interconvertible fact, it
follows that every treasury note, de-
mand note, or legal-tender given out as
money in payment Ter any form of labor
and property received by the govern
ment, became in the possession of its
owners, dollars that could not be taken
eonstitutionally from the people. except
by uniform taxes, as on other property.
But whether our currency will be al
ways on par with gold or not have
shown from history, and interconverti-
bic facts prove it, that the commercial
and industrial prosperity OF a country, do
not depend upon the amount of gold and
silver there is no circulation. Our pros
perity must continually depend upon the
industry, the enterprise, and the busy
internal trade and true independence of
foreign nations. which paper circula-
ton, well based on sound credit, has al
ways been found to promote.
But believe prosperity can never
again bless our glorious country until
justice is established, by giving back to
the people the exact amount OF currency
found in circulation at the close of the
war. That was the price of the nation
! life. Il ought to be restored and made
the permanent and unhuctuatiag measure
OF all values through all coming time
never to be increased or diminished,
only as per capita, with the increase of
the inhabitants OF the country.
This currency must be made receivable
! for all forms OF taxes, duties and debts,
and convertible into Understanding
bonds. at some equitable rate of interest,
and recoverable into currency at the
will OF the holder. This, we believe.
will secure uniformity of value to z de :
gree that gold has never attained. Pres
dent Steele. Of Lawrence University.
has well said on that subject:
In liking standard. il is essential to
select something that is as nearly as pos
sible i1variable. The conventional unit
. Of iiDaa- or of l,o
| which averages a foot, though it NAV be
fourteen inches to-day and nine to-mor-
row. The bushel measure should not
conta;u two or three quarts more or less
at one time than az another For the
same reason IT is desirable that the Uni,
Of value should have the same PURCHASING
power next week that it has now
.Amasa Walker in his work on the
Science OF Wealth. (p. 438), gives the
comparative prices on LIST of seventeen
articles Tor the four successive years Of
! lo62 TO 1866, inclusive. in the Boston
market for the month OF October These
articles. as ne says, are Of domestic
produce. not directly affected by custom
OF excise charge Taking those as rep
resentatives of general values. we learn
that the advance in the whole four rear.
amounted TO l4l per cent, while the
premium on gold in the same time ad
vacced 10 /, ~ per cent Peducinp
everything to a gold standard. We fine
that the valce OF gold nad failed nearly
/ IS per cent. in four years. In other
words. whatever you might have pur-
| chased for dollar IN gold i 1862. you
would have been obliged TO par s2.ls
| for tie same article il 1868. b. the same
table We learn that, from October. 1864
to OCTOBER. 1865. while the premium on
gold fell - per cent. general prices rose
| 10 IA per cent. Reducing all the values
TO gold standard. / find taat gold huc-
tuated il single year nearly 50 per
cent. while the fluctuations in the value
of greenbacks tested by the same stand
ard of general prices. was onlya l-2 per
cent. or less tha1 one sixth of that OF