Ellsworth American., 1877-11-22
"D "o JsE Nov. l6.
Against the Repea' ., NJ,

tiie Etuti al luuSutut oi MI VINO observed
to be called iesdeis Of American thought
ought Ia be considered worth sosueshiur
in the Ameficaa House of Representatives
10 the discussion of great topic like this.
What had happened to produce the change
from the general level Of public opinion in
lS6li Every man knew the history OF the
war. The over-msstering necessities oi
that war led the men OF 1861 to depar,
from the doctrine OF the fathers. but they
had not departed from IL as a matter oil
sentiment, but as matter OF overw helm
ing necessity. All who voted for the green
back law in the House aud Senate did 50
under protest, and with declarat ion th at
at the earliest possible moment the conn
try shsuld be brought back TO the old safe
established doctrine OF the fathers. Like
the companion OF Ulysses, they had lsshed
themselves TO the mast of public credi,
when they embarked ou stormy aud
hazardous sea OF paper money. so that
they might not be beguiled hy the syreu
songs which might be sung 70 them when
they were on the wild waves. But tunes
were changed. New men were on deck
Only twelve years has pzsSed since the
House with only six dissaDeing votes re
solved Ia stand again by the old ways TO
brlng the country to sound money. and
now what was found: gr0lp Of SCHOOL
men and doctrinaires. The latter, ,un now n
twelve years ago. was tound In favor OF
what they called absolute money. de
clzring that piece of paper stamped" onc
dollar was n dollar, aud that gold and
SILVER were a part of the barbarism Of the
past, which ought forever to be abandoned :
that resumption should never take place,
ahd thai the eras OF prosperity were the
proper .eras" Coming back TO the pros
porous era OF 1850 be asserted that although
banking WAS free, but 10a 600 600 OF paper
money was la circulation and about e2Oo =
OoO, 600 In coin. How much MAS IN circu-
ton to-day. Seven hundred and twenty
seven millions Ia greenbacks. fractional
currency and silver and about O., 900 oUO
Ia coppers; la all s13G. .Oc0. 90. exclusive
oi the gold circulation on the Pacific coast
lie put II 10 the Judgment of the House
how II was that Shile 10 1870, under free
banking with no restriction. s4O7 900 GO
Was the Limit OF currency 10 circulation.
almost twice that amount was needed aud
hardly enough in 1871. He proceeded TO
criticize that part of Mr.. Kelley's speech OF
yesterday which CONNIE nded the financial
policy OF France, and expressed a wish
that that gentleman be Instructed by IL
he admitted that France had always more
currency than England or the United
states, but said the modes OF bssiuess In
France are quite dIderent- All their husi-
ness ID done In cash or drzix. while In
England IS per cent OF all the ercsi com
merciai raasaesioes VIE done by checks
and drafs and only per cent. by cash.
An experiment he had made ten years ago
showed that In fny-two banks. ne-thlrd
IN the grea, cities, one-third In the second :
airy cities aud one third in the rural dis
tricts, the business done over their com
tiers was IS per cent. In checks aud drsft-
aud IL per cent. In cash. France, like the
United States, Issued paper money durin.
The war, but as soon ss The war was over
she began 10 reduce the paper circulation
and decrease the metallic currency. and
France was now within dny DAYS of re-
sumption. He, therefore commended the
example OF France to the gentleman of
Pennsylvania He proceeded 10 criticize
the authority OF Sir Archibald Alison aud
Mr.. doubleday (sho h1d been quoted by
Mr.. Kelley on financial subjects) and said
the former bad no credit whatever 10 Eng
land Was . writer on finance. and that the
latter had writteu nothing bot the yeriest
twaddle on that subject
Referring TO the English troubles OF 1919
he declared that the overwhelming and
AA-N oRsSSh Va iAuo WAS al the ca- ~
resumption act OF 1919 was . blessing and
not curse aud that the evils which had
surrounded England did not arise from the
resumption OF coiu payment. but from
causes entirely distinct. IL WAS the coin
law OF Englsnd which produced the great
evils from which England suffered In
lo22 aud 1923 committee of Parliament
Was appointed 10 inquire into all causes of
distress and In its report there was not a
word which attributed particle OF distress
10 The resumption act Of 1910. He put him
self In the same category iu which the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (kelley) had
placed the late Secretary OF the Treasury
Hugh McCulloch. He (keiley) had read
yesterday three lines from an article writ
ten by that gentleman, and declared thar
the statement made in those lines showed
either unexsGpled ignorance or unexsm-
pied mandscity. What was that state
mentI IL was that every great financial
crisis In this country had been preceded by
an enormous enlargement OF paper circu.
lation. He (Garfield) affirmed that /, was
true and he challenged any one 10 prove
the contrary. II had been assumed that
specie payments would injure the debtor
class and therefore help the rich. He de-
MED that propo in toto. He affirmed
N--ss VI lhc OI
country were poor men and that a vast
majority OF the debtors belonged 10 the
rich classes. Ii was the laborioy man
who placed his surplus money In savings
banks. aud II was the rich man who bor-
rowed from the savings banks Thus did
the poor lend To the rich. In the name of
the Iaooring man therefore he denounced
the attempt to repeal the resumption law.
There were three reasons why the resump-
ten act should be retained; first. public
faith demanded IL second, all the great
public Interests demanded IL; third the fu.
tnre prosperity Of the government required
solid permanent basis, one on which con-
fidence could again be established and
business revived. The elements were xlI
now in favor Of resumption. The report
Of the Secretary OF the Treasury yesterday
showed that he had e65 600 600 IN coin on.
pledged for any other purpose. watt Ing as
. reserve for the day OF resumption. and
that he was adding to that stock at the
rate Of eS,OOo 900 . month. The balance
OF trade was In favor Of this couRtry 10 he
extent Of nearly o200 900 900 q year, tx
change was flowing the way. The harvest
had been bounteous. The nation was
awakening to new enterprises. business
everywhere reviving. There was no dan
ger except from the Congress Of the United
States.
In conclusion he said: The moment
your greenback is equal to gold. IL is bet
ter than gold, for II IL more convenient.
and as long as the people desire 1t to be 10
circulation SO long It will be, until the
business Of the country demands its re-
moval. II any OF the amendments pro.
p"ses to make the resumption act more
safe. more certain, more careful of the In.