The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-09-28
fesasNss.1lurtihass.8
] MuaYarsa RxnIe 0f Venice.


HueSsssa Hank OF Vsntce.
! Tnsfis indianapolis sEeech on Friday lost
RntIer rey5fdducsd the old and now tclerns
bly afaIe isnectre OF the Bunk Of Venice.
when for four htndred years issued lib
notes, which were irfedeernable at any thine,
and wfiien not only commanded a-premfum,
but as Butler says, & premium OF l28-fer
rent. fin roId-that il to soy, "a note Tor 100
lircats was 81 orth; go dncats In gold. We
have, read this. story OF ) the extraordinary
character OF this extraord binary paper-Yoney
az Venice as told hy various Greenback and
Fiat orators and newspapers, and while
they have put the paper mp to pretty high
value, none OF them has bad the face TO
claim premium Of 100 per cent. In gold.
That discovery Is Buffers own. Here Is
what he said:
uIn the course OF this resume he declared
the teaching OF history In this country and
Of European countries was that frredeema-
Bile currency is more easily kept at par Valae
than u currency redcemabie In coin. de
attempted to establish this assertion by go,
ing back to the days of ancient Venice. ana
said six hundred years ago she issued
currency. not redeemable in anything,
which remained at par value for more than
four centuries-not only at par, but as nlgh
as 100 per cent. above gold.
This is pure fabrication wholly una'lthor-
ICED. The Bank Of Venice was, except on
one, or perhaps two, occasions, specie
having institution. One Of these occasions
was during the war with the Turks, when
the bank loaned all its coin to the state !;
and during this interval the cash-room
was closed and specie-paymentss suspended,
and the credits of the bank were at q
discount of from ten to fifteen per
cent. below coin. When the Republic
was in. condition to resume coinage
the Ioan was repaid and specie-pay-
nents resumed. The business proceed
inc was to deposit money at the bank and
receive a 3" credit" therefor, and these
credits were assignable on the books Of the
bank 10 the credit OF the assignee, or paid
in coin, at his option. Money accounts
were kept in that day in ducats. The legal
standard weight and value Of the ducat was
fixed BY law. There were gold ducats and
silver ducats; and these were again divided
into ducats OF full value, called "ducdtS
efectifs," while ducats Of impaired weight
and value in general use were called
"ducats courant." In public transactions
the reckoning was in the ducat etectif, AND
in trade in the current ducat. The bank
received the coin by its weight and not by
count, and it gave credit on its books fol
the number OF ducats according to their
full legal standard value. The difference
represented the depreciation Of the current
coin. which was debased. One hundred
ducats of The current coin, when received
at the bank and computed by its weigh,
and purity. would entitle the depositor to
credit at the bank OF say seyenty-fve OF
eighty standard ducats. In this way q
bank credit was always worth high pre-.
MUM over the current coin. In Darius
History of Venice, after describing the ope-
ratious Of the banks, lie says;
"There were in Venice many sorts OF
money. They chose the best for the bank.
It was the rule to reckon and pay only in
ducQts etectifs, Of which the standard was
purer and the alteration less common than
that of other coins. 1t resulted that the
bearer OF an order upon individuals had to
run the risk OF being paid in debased
money, while the owner Of check upon
the bank was certain to receive the higher
values. This system secured for the money
of the bank a preference over current
money. and increased the credit OF the es-
Enlistment" '. '...
The explanation OF the premium on bank
drafts is exactly the same. These drafts Of
the Bank OF Venice had credit every
where. They were payable not only in
coin on demand, but were also payable in
coin of the standard weight and purity, and
never in the deprecated, clipped, or de-
based coin which constituted the "cur-
rency" OF that day, and which was "legal
tender" The legal tender OF fiat ducats
were not worth more than 10 to 80 per cent.
OF the ducats of legal standard weight and
purity; and as the bank-credits and drafts
or bills OF exchange were redeemable on
demand in the coin Of the higher standard,
the bank.paper and credit was always at a
premium, greater OF less, according to cir
cumstances, than the debaSed current coin,
which, it should be always remembered,
was by law legal tender.
The great financial glory Of the Bank OF
Venice, and the worldwide value Of its
credits and Of its drafts, was not, therefore,
due to the inconvertibiity OF It's paper, but
to the fact chat all its transactions were
based on coin OF the highest and purest
and because all dues and demands
on the bank were payable on demand in
coin of the same high quality,-that it was
literally and essentially q specie-paying in
sttution, and gained its great credit be-
cause it refused to recognize in its transac-
tons the legaLtendero fiat coin, which was
debased and below the superior standard
coin which the bank paid out to all its de-
positors and in payment Of all its paper.
In the light OF these facts, we submit that
Buffers euIogy Of the fat paper-money
which endured 400 years and commanded
1920 per cent. premium over gold =" in Ven
ice, was little loose in it's veracity, and
hardly iustites the United States in trying
the experiment OF printing paper ire
deemable in anything and calling it money.