Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-10-25
The Currency.

The following we clip 1rem the Mad
ison Democrat, being points made BY
Mr.. Nichol, Of Iowa, on the financial
question, and comments by the Demo-
craf. The whole is 50 clear an expo
sition of certain points Of the fnan-
cial problem that we make no apology
for giving it entire to our readers. and
we ask every greenback reader of the
REPORTER to give it careful perusal.
There are few points in Mr.. Mich
OILS speech to which we wish to call
attention. 1t is common statement
repeatedly made by greenback advo-
coates, thst the government has de
stroyed by burning, thirteen hundred
millions OF dollars since the war. We
can do no better than repeat Mr.. Mich
,0i S words on this subject. His state
2ment is SO entirely sensible and is 50
thoroughly based on facts that it com
pletely refutes one of Sam Cary's main
arguments Mr.. Nichol said:
This charge is the essence of stu
ni.lit1 fallanu nnd falenhnnA 0ur
currency at the close Of the war con
sisted of grcenbacks, fractional curren-
cy, national bank notes and small
amount of coin The maximum limit
Of greenbacks had been fixed by law
at four hundred million dollars of
fractional currency at fifty million, and
the national bank currency has never
yet reached three hundred and fifty
millions, so that the total maximum
amount or sum of all three never
could have been over eight hundred
millions Plainly. therefore, thirteen
millions could not have been contracted
or DESTROYED The greenback gentle
men persist in rating large amount
of interest bearing notes and certifi-
Gates of the government, as currency,
which is as absurd as it would be to
count as currency a 30 bond, cOun-
ty warrant, city order, or your neigh
boris ninety day note or due bill. At
the beginning Of the war. we only had
three hundred and sixteen millions of
money in the country two hundred
and two millions of coin and one hun
bred and fourteen millions of state
bank bills Now we have nearly three
times as much. As the business and
population of the country is not more
than one fourth more than it was then,
we cannot see the necessity for seven
or ten times the former amount Of cur
rency.
1t is said this immense contraction
is the cause of our ''hard times. .
But this contraction,if ever made. was
made between 1865 and 1S69-this
was the period, during which the float
Ing debt, certificates of Indebtedness,
ETC., were funded into regular bonds.
I ct this is the very period, We are
told, during which we had unprece-
denied prosperity. Why was not our
interest affected at the time by this
mighty and sudden contraction. The
panic did not come till 1868. It re-
wires great stretch Of the magma
tion to attribute the panic of '76 and
following depression to the "contrac-
ton CD of 81 and '66.
Another falaeious theory inculcat-
ed by the grcenbackers consists in de-
nying that the $40 and 1910 bonds
were intended to be paid in coin. This
idea was first conceived by Pendleton,
and is now a hobby with the paper
money men. 1t would seem almost
needless to discuss question that has
already been decided in favor Of the
governments credit. But we again
quote Mr.. Nichoi:
Bonds are said to have been origin
ally payable in greenbaeks; ard that
this provision of the law was repealed
1867 Neither of these statements
i s true. This whole question received
f he most exhaustive discussion in the
campaign of 1868, and the people re-
] ected the idea as an indirect attempt
TO reputation, and elected president
and congress on platform explicitly
opposed to this theory. Congress, the
president and the supreme court, have
all decided that the intent was, and
only could be under the constitution