The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1877-07-12

commodity we might produce, there
! fore, the quantity of coin we may have
in the country, except gold, is Of but
little consequence. 1t is to gold we
must look, under our present laws, for
our power to accomplish this result,
and the amount Of gold in the country
is not 1925 millions or anything like it.
The report of the Treasurer of the u.
S. informs us that we had Of gold coin
and bullion in the country June so,
1875, about $3.50 millions. In June
1876 in round numbers 1851 millions
On the thirtieth day Of June, we had
| Of not over $l71 millions gold and
silver in the e. S.; in gold about the
same amount as last year. There
were at that time in the Treasury
15,122,473 against which there was
held certificates for $41,572, 600, and
ACQUIRED interest $4O,S92,791, leaving a
balance on which to resume specie
payments, of only So, 667,6 against
which there would be a possible de-
mand for $449 ,4SO,286, and which the
banks willing or unwilling, would in
all probability be obliged to enforce in
self defence. There is but little in
this, it seems to me to encourage the
Sentineps hope that resumption will
happen before the date fixed in the act
for that purpose. But suppose it were
to happen tomorrow are we any
nearer the solution Of our difficulty?
Resumption, in the minds Of ''hard
money" men, means the appreciation
Of our paper money to gold value.
To this "soft money men offer no
objection. There is no disagreement be-
tween them respecting the desirability
of our paper money being Of equal
value with our gold money. The
question is, how is this to be assured?
Soft money men point to the past as
an evidence that specie basis and a
promise to pay on demand will not
secure this, that in our own country
for forty one years, from 1920 to 1851,
as stated last week, there was Of
bank notes in circulation an average
of 1921, O74,374 and Of specie held by
the banks to redeem this only 81, 1852,
684, or three dollars Of paper to one Of
gold, besides this there were an aver
age Of deposits amounting to Silt, 160,-
1855. Is it any wonder that we had a
crisis and panic seven times during
that period, in each of which there
were lost by the poor and gained by
the rich untold millions Of dollars
And is it any wonder that, every day,
as these facts impress themselves more
and more ON our business men that
soft money gains advocates and Sc
cures supporters =? England, by giving to
her bank note full legal tender power,
making it as money equal to gold, and
issuing these bank notes in quantities
equal to the demands of trade in
times Of panic and crisis, save TO her
people much that is lost to ours under
similar circumstances. France, by
making her paper a full legal tender,
has gone through her troubles-troub-
les that, if political economists were
right, must have been much more
productive Of distress and poverty
than ours-on a high tide Of prosperi-
ty, and have, since 1870, received in
loans from her own people $1,382,OOO,-
900; paid to Germany $1,1OO,O0O, 900,
has spent on it's armies, defences and
materials Of war $80O,OO0,0OO, and
accumulated in it's bank $45O,OOO, 900
of gold besides it's ordinary expendi-
ture in war and peace and all this time
has been using an irredeemable paper
money which in 1870 before the war
was $275,0OO.OO0 in 1871, $3.50, 900,
and by October 1878 had been expand
ed to 1914, 100000, and last April, 1877,
had been contracted only 100000, 900.
The National debt Of France is held by
100000, if her own people of whom,
all told, there are but 36.0O000O. But
France works out her own destiny in
her own way, "does much for civiliza-
ton and makes many great gifts to
mankind" as Mr.. Gladstone said in.
1876, whilst we toady to England, and
honor ourselves in degrading our peo-
ple, and breeding DauperS and thieves