Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-10-31


furnaces and factories are closed and
thousands from those shops join the
hundreds of thousands dismissed
from railway construction.
From these hints each one of YOU
may calculate for himself how much
the volume of business has diminish
ed. Not money enough ! Since
the 1st of January, 1876, national
banks have voluntarily retired from
circulation more than thirty six mil
lions of their own notes, because it is
not profitable employment for them.
Not money enough Why don't
you make money yourselves Any
half dozen Of you can organize and
issue your own notes for money if
you will give security to exchange
coin or greenbacks for them on de-
mand. But you protest against
bank notes convertible into green
backs. You insist upon circula-
tion composed of greenbacks exclu-
sively, and convertible into nothing
except United States bonds Well,
make your United States notes and
your bonds interconvertible, and do
you not certainly know that the i'm
mediate effect of that scheme will be
/ TO CONTRACT AND NOT TO EXPAND
/ the form of legal tenders Capital
could then contract the circulation
at pleasure, and would contract it
largely. The greenback party, if
permitted, would rush into the very
jaws they profess SO much o dread
But contraction is far from the
worst peril to which the inter-
convertible scheme would expose us
| Capital under that scheme could al
/ telnat6ly contract and expand the
circulation at its own arbitrary will
1 The agriculture Of this country which
is the foundation of all prosperity
goes to market hut once a year. Seed
time and harvest are promised to US.
But only one seed time and one har-
vest in each year Three times dur
ing the last decade, we have seen
capital combine to make currency
scarce, just at the time our harv SIS
were going to market That end is
effected by the simple process of
LOCKING UP CURRENCY
making special deposits of it. But
currency cannot now be locked up,
except at the loss of interest. Fit
teen millions were at one time so
locked up, but the interest of fifteen
millions at 6 per cent is over S2,4OO
per day that is heavy penalty for
locking ny. How convenient to such
operators, and bow disastrous to the
farmer, it would be to have the
Treasury vaults opened where the
, spectators could deposit their mi.
| lions, and take interest bearing bonds
in exchange You may say that the
| United States notes so eXchang, d
are not locked up, but Treasury may
at once issue them again. Issue
them for what? To pay appropria-
tons Taxes have provided tie
fund to meet appropriations To
pay other bonds bearing higher
rate of interest! But what if no
such bonds are payable! And even
if such bonds are payable the hold
ers cannot be compelled to surrender
them and take the notes.
Wei, the Treasury may stop the
interest on their bonds, but thai does
not put the notes in circulation.
Still, you may reasonably assume
| that he'holder Of the bond should
take the notes il he could get no in
teiest upon it and nothing else in
exchange for It. But the difficulty
/ is, he could get something else for it
He conld get the very bonds into
which your new law makes tie notes
convertible.
The commercial and manufacture
ing interests always want to buy
/ your c.ops as cheap as possible.
4 When those great interests shall
combine with the regular Bear party
to lock up money, ard the Treasury
shall say to them, as we are told 1t
should say put your money into
'these vaults here it will be out of
"thc reach of produce buyers, and
''here you can have -four Fer cent
"Gor having it kept out of circula-
'tion.'
( Who doas not see how easy it will
be not merely to withdraw fifteen
millions from use, but to withdraw
fifty or a hundred millions. And
when fifty millions are withdrawn