New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-11-30

brief, he demands that Government shall
stamp certain pieces OF paper, and pro.
claim them absolute money! that il shall
pay of all bonded and current indebtedness
principal and interest, with this compound ~
rags and ink, that it shall buy up the railgavs
and telegraph lines, pay off all State CITY
county, and township debts, allowing ony
three per cent interest, and regulate taxation
so Gas to secure a tax on all incomes over tho
sum of $500 per annum." To these pcopla
even silver is an abomination. They want
medium of exchange which can be created
with the least possible labor or cost, and il.
sued in amounts absolutely unlimited. the
purchasing power of which shall rest exclu.
sively upon the declaration of the Govern.
ment that it is "absoute" money, and shall
be legal tender for the payment of all debit.
public or private
After all, the greenback theory does not at
tain its full growth in these crowded Eastern
States. The vast, illimitable West produces
theory OF finance which is as expansive and
free as the air. The advocate of unlimited
silver legal -tcnders-at present worth about
90 cents on the dollar-and men like Mr.
Kelley, who want unlimited lcgal-tenders ex.
changeabIe for bonds bearing 3.65 per cent
interest, have much yet to learn. They look
upon the proposer of absolute money! az
lunatlc I; but is he not wiser than theyi II
money can be made by printing, what nom
sense it is to dig in the earth for silver IL
any lcgal-tender paper is a good thing, what
absurdity it is not to have as much Of il "a
we can. The man who wants paper dollars
because they are worth only 81 cents, or sill
yer dollars because they are worth only 90
cents each, has not half the sense of the un-
limited greenbackers he wants cheap money.
but they courageousy and logically demand
money that is worth nothing.
The universal adoption of this currency
would be very useful in some respects. It
would greatly stimulate the rag business. Il
would put an end to all debts, and debt is
great curse. But nobody would trust anybody
else, knowing that the debt could not be le-
gally extinguished by payment of "absolute
money" Especially, we should thus exter-
inmate all capitalists and usurcrs at one
swOOp. Three per cent interest in gold is
something, but three per cent payable in I'M
limited and absolute" paper is a tIihe less
than no interest at all. We have seen the
paper promise to pay gold sink to 40 cents on
the dollar, but the paper token, not promising
TO pay anything, and issued without limit, wOnld
fall below OnefOrtieth Of a cent on the dollar.
Everybody could get all he could use of it, and
if prices should rise so that it should require
more than CARLOAD of bills to pay for a break
fast, the Government could easily remedy the
difficulty by calling in all the smaller notes,
and issuing bills of $1O,O00,OOO each.
One modification may be suggested, in the
interests of economy. 1t is quite unnecessary
to spoil good rags, and put anybody to the toll
of printing notes. Let Government merely de-
clare that common air sh,dl be absolute money,
and that a pint Of it shall be a legal-tender for
the payment of one dollar. Everybody can get
enough of it. No one can artlcially increase
the quantity in circulation. If any I'M
patriotic wretch should refuse to work all day
for certain pnts of common air, the standard
money of the United States, he could be locked
I'D as a public enemy. Legislation might be
necessary to prevent cOntumaciOus refusal to
sell property for absolute money" But no.
body would care to hoard earnings paid in
such money, and savings banks would cease
to break. 1t is little unfortunate that the
monetary science. as developed at the West,
is disproportonately far advanced and that
other sciences are so backward. But the time
will come. no doubt, when some genius from
the illimitablc West will devise the system Ivy
which. at the fiat of the Government, pieces of
papermay be turned into beefsteaks, dress-coats,
and marble palaces Then we may all be
happy.