River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-02-14
sateHts
THE CURRENCY QUESTION.

WHICH CIdIdCboIlZco Jul pcSt otu0So-
men we may be pardoned for intimat-
ing our capacity to disseminate infor-
nation relating thereto which is entit-
led to at least as much credence as the
original matter served up by some of
our rural greenback contemporaries who
have arrogated TO themselves such an
excess of wisdom upon this subject.
Those who advocate what is popu-
larly known as the .'greenback' cause
differ somewhat in their views but all
are agreed upon one point, and that is
that they want more greenbacks. The
leaders of the party as a rule, howev-
Ell, want the government to issue
greenbacks for the redemption of out
standing bonds, desire that they may
he made legal tender forsal debts
public and private, and receivable for
duties on imports, backed by its prom
Uses to pay--only this and nothing
moreno time for their redemption
specified, and in fact they do not pro-
pose to ever ask for their redemption.
Surely this WOutd. be cheap money with
vengeance. We have it upon what
we deem as reliable authority that mo
example of successful irredeemable
paper money can be found in the histo-
ry of the world; no expression in ia
Of hn aHn
eminent political economist, financier
or statesman" On the contrary it is
an established fact that one of the
strongest motives prompting the men
who adopted our Constitution was that
of securing sound currency, for want
of which the commercial interests of
the colonies suffered greatly. Though
our revolutionary fathers were success
full in their resort to arms and suS-
tanned the assertion of their indepen-
dence, the favorable termination of
the contest, combined with the most
arbitrary enactmentS, could do moth
ing to sustain the continental and state
issues of paper currency which at last
became utterly worthless and the cause
of much suffering to the people. With
this sad example before them it is not
strange that the trainers of our Con-
stitution were hard money men and
that the government in it's inception
was committed to hard money on a
specie basis; and our best men in Con-
gress. as we'll as President Lincoln and
Secretary Chase, at the time of the
passage of the act authorizing the is
sue Of greenbacks. in sentiment with
their illustriouS forefathers, persis-
tently affirmed their opposition to such
issue as a policy, recording their as
sent to the same as being a temporary
measure of grave necessity afterward
pronounced unconstitutional by the
United States Supreme Court, but JUS
titled as such. We submit, then, that
in this day and age of our country S
existence, in the face of past expert
ence and actual facts, it would be I'M
| fortunate for the people should the
government now adopt the schemes OF
greenbackers as a settled financial pol
icy.
As our greenback friends are also
loud in their demands for the remone-
tization of silver we would venture a
few suggestions upon this mooted
question. We incline to the belief
that hard money men, as rule, do not
seriously object to the double standard
or reconciliation of silver, if gold
dollar worth of silver be coined into
silver dollar, as with such silver
dollar silver and gold would circulate
concurrently together, both being OF
the same value but, if silver dollars
worth less than gold dollars are to be
recognized as legal tender dollar and
| gold is compelled by law to pass, II
passed at all as coin, at the same val
ne as such silver, worth less, will nat
-urally seek field where its full value
will be recognized--be exported. - anu
hence would result a contraction OF
gold coin as circulating medium fol-
| it is stated upon competent authority
| that we now have nearly four times as
| much gold coin and bullion in this
country us silver coin and bullion and
that our annual production OF gold is
| greater than our annual production OF
| silver. Thus the adoption of coin OF
| the standard demanded by greenback-
ers, of which the United States con.
tains but one-fourth as much as of a
more valuable one, would drive from
the country the larger amount of oul
| coin circulating medium.
We will close this article by inquir.
ing why the masses of the greenback
party demand silver dollar worth less
| than gold dollar when no one would
be wronged and the people benefited
by the RECOMMENDATION of silver upon
| the basis of silver dollar containing
a sufficient amount of silver to make ii
equal in value to gold dollar
GENERAL BELKNAP has been under a
cloud of late secluded from the news.
| paper correspondent, but anitem is now
| in circulation to the effect that he is
in Washington, jolly as ever.
THE death of Charles d. Atwood