New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1878-10-19

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swer has been. BY Congress. Voice in
the crowd, ssBy the Constitution. u Let
it be by the Constitution. Congress Is the
body which carries out the Constitution.
[Appleuse. Now, have q very high re-
spect for the American Congress, and for
the members Of both branches; speak in
no other terms than those of respect, yet
I should regard it as q wiser and safer
measure for fixing the amount of the cur
rency to leave it to the aldermen of the
city Of Boston than to leave it to the Con-
gress of the United States [applause1, be-
cause Congress is necessarily q political
body-made mp Of psrtisans on both sides,
and properly SO. It is SO in the constitu-
ton of republic, and you have better
government when you have two parties
watching each other. So it is an impera-
tive necessity that Congress is and always
will be made up of Two great parties.
These parties are controlled in deciding
measures by their caucuses in Washing
ton. Therefore, to leave the question to
Congress is to leave it to q Republican
caucus or the action of some other assem-
bly, in Washington to determine what
shall be the amount of currency in the
country. You might leave it to Congress
to say how much cotton cloth shall be
used in the country. [Voice-"Or postage
stamps" The idea Is simply absurd
have watched and waited for the adYo-
Gates Of paper money to give another So
luton Mr.. Thurman made a recent
speech in Ohio in which he took ground
in favor Of the governments issuing paper
money. 1 read that speech very carefully,
and found that when he came to that par
ticular point as to how the amount of cur
rency should be regulated, he skipped it.
He had nothing to say. Their answer,
gentlemen, is that Congress has exercised
that power, and it may be trusted to exer-
else it again. All, my friends, that is
tremendous mistake. Congress never de-
termined the amount by the demands of
trade. 1t was called upon in terrible
war to determine what was needed by the
demands of the government in violation of
the demands of trade,-a very different
matter. There is no merchant who does
not remember that all prices were dislo-
Gated by the issue of paper money in def
ance of the demands of trade, creating an
abnormal rise in prices and giving an un-
usual opportunity for speculation. So
that case does not sustain the regulation
by Congress, but is of exactly the opposite
character. IF Congress again have to con-
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being trade must step aside; commerce
must halt; manufactures must wait, for
the government is in q life and death
struggle.
Another way / have heard suggested
was that you have constitutional amend
ment, to determine how much currency
there shall be in the country. That will
be very handy way. 1t takes two-thirds
of the Senate and two-thirds of the House
of Representatives to even so much as
propose constitutional amendment, and
and then it takes three-fourths of all the
State Legislatures, or of conventions called
in the States, to agree to that amendment.
Now, if every time you are going to in
crease the currency in this country, or de-
crease it, you are going to have eonstitu-
tional amendment submitted to the people
to determine, judging by the average
time it has taken for the adoption of con-
stitutional amendments, it will take four
years and over. That will be handy
way of regulating the currency. And yet
/ see it solemnly proposed in some of the
modern Greenback conventions that the
amount of currency should be determined
by constitutional amendment. The
whole idea is so absurd that no man at all
conyersant with the manner in which our
government is administered would think
OF it a moment. The idea of issuing q
certain amount of currency per capita is
equally absurd. All communities do not
require the same amount of currency.
WHAT would you say TO distributing agri-
cultural implements according to popula-
ton, and giving State street its quota.
Laughter I You want currency in all
the great centres of trade. The idea Of
distributing it per capita Is absurd and
ridiculous.
Now, Mr.. Chairman, there may be in
vented such currency as will be flexible
in its nature and adapted to the wants of
trade, which will adjust itself to the va
ried conditions of the country in the diff
ferent seasons of the year. The Republi-
party takes the responsibility for the
financial Legislation OF the country for
the last sixteen years, and have never in
its platforms or public utterances seen the
claim that it is responsible for the Nation
al bank system. But have always, for
myself, having been in Congress and
having voted for the system, though do
not know enough on finance to declare
positively that it is the wisest system
possible, 1 have always thought and do
declare that there has never been IN this
country, with any other system, bank
which gave such absolute security to the
innocent third party,-the bill holder
as the national banking system. ZAP
plause.1 Yet three bills are now pending
in the national Congress to-day for liberty
! to restore the old State banks. [Cries of
"No, no." They are very good if the
men behind the counters are good, honest
men. The Suffolk system of banking was
justly regarded as the best system of State
banking in the United States. 1t gave to
the people of New England very sub
stancial currency, with very small Vari-
alton, compared with that in other States.
With all the safeguard which surrounded
the Suffolk system, the banking system
which prevailed in Massachusetts, LA ne,
New Hampshire, and the other New En-
gland States was good, if the men who
ran the bank were good. Ii the men
happened to be dishonest, the innocent
bill holder must suffer the loss. In Maine,
twenty-five years ago, bank in a small
town failed. 1t had issued three hundred
and forty-fve thousand dollars in bills;
two hundred and seventy-five thousand
dollars were out when the bank failed.
1t is out to this day, every dollar of it.
Laughter.1 They talk about the nation
al bank system being oppressive. The loss
to the American people from the failures
and the detaulters of the State bonds,