The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1876-05-03
SPECIE PAYMENTS.


astonishing with what little sense
the world is governed" We copy
the following. says the Albermarle
Times. from the editorial head oil
the Mobile Register. one of the most
influential papers of the country.
Congress has the power and inclina.
tion to put the currency on the same
road to resumption which England pur
sued after her NapoleOnic' wars. The
plan pursued by that nation was
1. That resumption of specie pay
ments must be surely determined.
2. That the time for resumption must
be fixed at day not unreasonably dis
tant, and,
3. That the approach to it should be
by regular steps, upon which all bust
ness interests could calculate.
England, O5seToing her Dledges to cOna-
| gnerce, resumed specie payments on tie dag
appointed, soittOut a ripple upon the face q
trade" s L@.E
The italics are ours. You see,
gentle reader. that we have only to
do as England did and we shall sue
ceed without ripple upon the
/ face of trade" Take up any His
tory of England within your reach
and see whether there was a ripple
or not. We quote Allison's History
of Europe as follows:
Upon the recurrence to metallic cur
rency in 1919 the distress and suffering
among the industrious classes long ex-
ceeded anything ever before witnessed
in our history" 1 vol. p. 448.
Again:
Experience has now cast broad and
steady light on this subject. 1t is known
| that the adoption of cash payments in
| 1919 enforced and carried out as it was
| by the suppression of small notes in 1926
changed prices at least 33 per cent. that
the holders of commodities and proper.
ty of all descriptions found their capital
diminished to that amount in the course
of a few years; that debts augmented in
the same proportion speedily proved ia
tai to all the labOring fortunes whether
in land or money over the country, and
that bankruptcies to an unparalleled eX=
tent diffused ruin and misery through
the Industrious classes" 3 vol. p. 383.
And yet again. Commenting Mr..
Huskinson who aided in forcing spe-
Gle payments in England, the same
author says:
''He, Mr Huskinson, strenuously ad-
vocated the return to a metallic currency
in 1919 before any serious progress had
been made in the reduction of the debt
contracted during the paper one; and the
result has been that the nation has been
permanently disabled from paying it off !,
and the fall in the money price of all
property to the extent of third pro-
duced such a storm of discomfort as
overthrow the old Constitution of the
Empire" vol. p. 3S5.
Here we have three extracts from
the ablest history of modern times
written by an Englishman who stood
on the spot and saw with his own
eyes what he puts down. The man
in the food who said there was not
much of a shower after all, must
have been a lineal ancestor of the
editor of the Mobile Register. The
only change is that the family have
improved as they have come on down.
Not ripple on the face OF trade
The fact is reader, that old men now
alive in England will tell you that it
makes their blood run cold when
they remember the awful, universal
ruin of specie resumption there in
1919. We quote also from Lawson's
History of Banking. Referring to
the same occasion he says: -.-~
''It is beyond the power of words tc
describe the general CONSERVATION of the
Metropolis at this period. No event
ever gave so great blow to trade and
public credit. A universal bankruptcy
was expected; the stoppage of almost
every banking house in London was
looked for, and the whole city was panic
struck One of the largest Northern
Country Banks was the first to give
away to the general pressure; and the
alarm once excited soon became general
all over the country. In the short space
of six weeks above seventy banking es
Establishments were destroyed, notwith
standing the large advances made by the
Bank of England; and the run upon the
Bank for cash TO supply the wants of the
country banks was so heavy that to save
itself from absolute failure it had re
course to an issue of one pound notes.
See page 66. TA lEk-
The people of the United State:
have sense enough to know
/. That a return to specie com
pels every man in debt to pay hi'
creditor one-sixth more than the
debt.
2. That the whole people if speci;
is restored, will pay in taxes one
sixth more than they now pay.