Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-10-25

repudiated. The coin required for
that purpose, if not obtainable in re-
demption of your paper currency,
must be purchased by the government
or by those who pay taxes to the
government. So far as the capabil-
ity of paper or the value Of coin is
concerned, it is all the same whether
the government or the taxpayer
makes the purchase. There is still
OTHER WORK WHICH COIN CAN PER-
FORM,
and notes cannot. If our citizens had
no trade except with each other IT
all our commerce was interstate and
none was international, then all bal
ances could be settled with whatever
Congress might lawfully declare to
be legal tender. But our citizens sell
from six to eight hundred millions
annually in foreign markets. They
purchase as much and often more in
those markets. States, cities and
corporations have borrowed largely
abroad, the interest and principal as
it falls due must be paid in coin or IN
commodities at their coin value. The
commercial world has clearing
house as we'll as the banks of New
York. At the latter, indeed, bal.
ances may be paid in greeubacks, but
ot tho fnrrnar fhnv
MUST BE PAID IN COIN.
Paper, therefore, never can be as
good as coin, unless those who issue
the paper are required to redeem it in
coin. When it is not so redeemed,
coin is a commodity, as it has been IN
this country for the last fifteen years.
It's value in currency fiuctuates. like
the value of other commodities. What
will be the relative value between the
printed and the coin dollar, from time
TO time, will depend upon many cir
cumstanccs, but chiefly upon tho ma
nipulations of those spectators, who,
at the different gold boards in the
country, buy and sell millions of gold
daily, without seeing dollar of it.
Operating alternately upon the fears
| and hopes of spectators, at one time
during the war, they raised gold up
to two hundred and eighty-fve in
currency, and on the celebrated Black
Friday, the oath of September 1869.
gold in two days went from 1873 to
1872, and in two minutes dropped
from 1872 to 1873.
We are rather scornfully told that il
is not of the slightest consequence
what may be
| THE RELATIONS BETWEEN PAPER AND
COIN
at any particular time. 1t would, in
deed, be Of less consequence if the re-
lation once established was perma'
nent; but a flexible standard of val.
ne is as dangerous to handle as fiex'
ible standard of measure. The dollar
should be as definite and fixed as the
! yard or the bushel For twelve years
you have been handling dollars which
have almost constantly appreciated
You say, property has been constant
ly shrinking; it would be quite az
correct to say, money has constantly
sweled. The fact is, every man who
has given bis note for six months fol
any number of dollars has been called
to pay in dollars, worth more thar
they were when he gave his note
The average premium on gold during
the year 1868 was thirty-nine and
fifty-four hundredths for 1869 it was
thirty-two and fifty.six hundredths
for 1870 it was fourteen and eighty
three hundredths for 1871 it was
about twelve cents, and during the
present year it will probably aver
age less than four cents. On Mon
day last it was quoted in New YORK
at %, and now when your currency
has almost reached the par OF coin
Won are entreated to sever all the
cnrds which have drawn it up and
let it sink back into the black abyss
of depreciation, to commit the vol
ume of it to the arbitrary domina'
ton of capital and the value oft tt
the capricious Juggling of speculat
ton. l cannot go with that party
| cannot persuade myself to shut
my eyes to the experience of the
venerable past, and to
| THE TEACHINGS OF SOUND REASON.
] believe these new political coon
omists to be honest of purpose and
sincere of conviction, but / believe
they know not what they would do
Ny profound belief is that no party
has arisen in our time whose instruc'
tions tend SO directly and so surely
to universal ruin, as that have been
considering.