The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1877-04-25
Wednesday. April %. 1877.
Let the National Banks be Abolished
and the Business of the Country
Transacted by US. Treasury
votes .

Transacted by US. Treasury
Votes.
To the Editors OF The Argu-
Not to mention the national debt when
burdens the producing classes, the CITY,
town, county and private Indebtedness is so
enormous as to make the currency a
question of vital importance. The vexed
question of who should be president Is
settled by an unconstitutional vote OF
Eight 10 seven" and the successful party
is determined TO hurry the resumption OF
specie payments regardless of the ruin
which must result to the debtor class oil
the people. Public opinion is divided on
the currency question, and it Is important
to decide which of the several views OF
this question will best subserve public
and private interests.
The motto Of the most ultra state rights
and Tilden journal in the union is free
trade and hard money currency; and ye'
the editor advocates wild cat" state
hanks of circulation, whose notes he calls
''the equivalent of the coin IN their
vaults, How any one can expect these
banks to pay three dollars OF their notes
with one dollar Of coin seems to me to be
an insane halluclnation-a credulous be-
lief in lmpossibilities. A return to this
fraudulent system is, in my view, a tai
lacy.
To continue the national banks of the
Republican party is to rob the tax payel
of $25, 100000 annually paid by the gov
eminent as interest on the bonds deposited
in the treasury. This, according to Bas
tiat's Political Economy" is "spoliatioI
BY law" He says, Monopoly is a spe
cies of the genus of spoliation. 1t ha
many varieties, among them-sinecures
privileges, and restrictions upon trade
Forcible spoliation is exercised thus: Wal
till man has produced something, theI
take it from him by violence. Whel
practiced by one man it is called robbe1
and leads to prison; when among nation
it takes the name of conquest, and lead
to glory. The robber acts alone and ha
public opinion against him. The warrlo
lives 10 a different atmosphere, To tn
most daring, to those who have enlarge
the frontiers aud gathered the spoils q
victory are given honors, reputation
glory. Poets sing their exploits Fla
women weave garlands for them, Fore
BILE spoliation takes another form.
takes possession of the man himself, d.
prives him of freedom and forces him
work" | wish every American woul
read aud study the views of this alb
Frenchman. 1t would open his eyes an
lead him, by the ballot, to resist the lega
lied robbery of the producers by th
Federal government
Let me return to the currency
the vital question of the day. Yc
may call me IAN old fogy' fl
my currency views. Be it So 1t is N
candid conviction, however unpopular
may be, that there is an ample supply
gold and silver TO transact the trade of Il
world. Let a supposed case prove Il
truth of the fact In nation where 60
and silver is the only currency, we W
suppose the capitalists to own and 10;
100000. With this sum, for the tran
action of trade, wheat would sell for, sa
33B cents a bushel. These capitals
loan their coin at ten p
cent, and receive annually 500
in interest These "shrewd capitals
say to the farmers, wheat is too chea
There is not money enough to transa
trade. Sign petition and get us cha
ter and we will make money plenty a
raise the price of wheat" The capitai
procure bank charter which authoril
them, on their 100000 10 coin, to iss
100000 of bank notes payable 10 coin
demand. The result is to treble the CT
rency, and wheat sells for 5 90 per busi
instead of 334 cents. Now, if the proc
GERS of wheat think that they are enrich
by the rise in the price of wheat it i
mistake, for all they purchase rises in
same ratio. Let NE ask, did not
in affa
the business of the supposed nation as
100000 In the notes OF the bankT
me there seems to be no possible adv
tage in this system of banks Of circulate
to any one but the bankers. If Their
any public benefit in the system it is to
hoped that some of its advocates
enlighten the public by proving the Fl
As before stated, these capitalists
their 800, 900 at ten per cent, and rect
$4,000 year interest. By ioaning Il
100000 of bank notes, at the same r
they receive $4,000 of interest per ann
from the borrowers. Any one can see
pockets this extra $4,000 of inter
Next let us see its effect on those who :
row. Under the coin system tradesu
hired $500 to start in business.
this sum he paid the capitalist ten
cent, interest, or $40 a year. Under
bank note system he had to pay interest
$1,000 to start the same business,
which be pays ten per cent or $500 y,
eighty dollars more than it cost under
coin system to effect the same result. /
one can see who pays and who recei
this extra eighty dollars of interest
In former article | quoted from JEFF
sons letter (lSl4) that: Between two
three hundred millions of dollars of b
notes" were lost to the producers.
bank failures from 1887 to l843 were
hundred and fifty, with a capital of
hundred millions of dollars. On this
ital these banks could loan three hund
millions of dollars in bank notes T
much on the dollar these banks paid |
no exact data from which to Judge,
it was estimated, at the time, that
loss to the public would be over one b
dred and fifty millions of dollars.
Granting that banks have been of 81
service to the public ESPECIALLY bank
discount and deposit to which no b
Objectsl it seems to me that our past
perience will forever prevent the es
lishment of banks of circulation, at /
while greenbacks can be made to SUI
the deficiency of coin-if such deficit
really exists GREENBACI