The daily gazette., 1878-09-06

The question, then, is narrowed down to
this: Shall our paper mo ney be national
bank notes or or greenbacks For seve-
raj reasons, that l will briefly state,
think that the latter are preferable.
First. In the first place, national
bank currency means the indefinite per-
petuation of the national debt. The ma
tional banks, so far as their circulation is
concerned, are founded on that debt. 1t
is the security for their notes; and when
ever the debt be paid the banks must re-
tire their circulation and cease to issue
notes. In order, therefore, to perpetuate
their privilege of issuing notes they must
strive to perpetuate the national debt.
Aud you may rest assured that they will
do so; and the influence of more than
two thousand such institutions, spread
al over the country, will be very power
Now, / am not one of those who be-
lieve that national debt is a national
blessing. l believe that the reverse of
this is true, and that such a debt is q ma
tional curse. To say nothing OF Its cor
rupting influences, its drain of the re-
sources of the people to paw interest is
fearfully oppressive, especially when a
large portion of the debt is held abroad.
In comparatively brief period the
vi lH1clcSb oACttuo tho
principal of the debt, while the drain
continues in undiminished force. Heavy
taxation is the necessary result, and
every one who has studied the subject
knows that oppressive taxation is one of
the worst foes TO the industry and pros
perity of country. 1t is true thai the
! national debt cannot be speedily paid,
| but we ought not to put unnecessary OBJ
| stacles in the way Of its payment. The
| national bank notes are such an obstacle,
and for that reason are Objectionable.
Your platform advocates "the gradual
extnc ion of the public debt" 1t thus
favors its honest payment, and opposes
its indefinite perpetuation. And in
strict harmony with this principle it con-
demns bank note system that tends to
perpetuate it.
Second. A second objection to the
national bank system is that 1T tends to
combine, concentrate and intensity the
money power. I shall indulge in no de-
clamatiOn against the money power.
seek to excite no passion, no prejudice
/ wish to # ason fairly and 1 wish you to
Judge fairly. And L do reason fairly
when say that, in view of the undoubt
ed fact that during the whole period OF
the unlimited sway of the Republican
party, the legislation of Congress stead
! lily favored The moneyed interest aaC
thereby greatly added to the burdens o
the people; that the purchasing power Of
money has immensely increased while
the exchangeable or purchasing power
of everything else has remained station
ary or has diminished and in view of the
further fact that the national bank sys
TEN confers special privileges upon the
banks that no other institutions and ne
other individuals enjoy; that it comb bines
thousand institutions now, and, If per
petuated, may combine thousands more
in a common purpose and with com
mon interest to maintain their powel
and prolong their privileges; that thes'
institutions are scattered all over the Re
public and, acting openly or in secret
are able to influence Legislature, Con
crosses and thousand of voters; it is no
injustice, but, on the contrary, it is th'
depression of wise anxiety to sugges
that such system is fraught with dan
ger 10 the prosp rity of the people and Il
the purity OF their Government. If, IL
the time of Andrew Jackson, the exis
ltence of national bank with a capital o
only S35 ,000, 900, and few branches her'
and there, was considered dangerous Il
the welfare and the institutions of thu
country, what shall we say of wide
spread combination of two thousand ma
tional banks, now welding nearly fiv,
hundred millions of capital and destined
!, if perpetuated, to vastly multiply II
number, and to control thousands
millions?
Third. A third objection to the ma
tional bank circulation is that it is spe
cial privilege that puts millions of do
lars annually into the pockets of TIL
shareholders and takes many millions al
nually out of the pockets OF the people.
The general rule is that a.person pay
interest upon what he owes; but, In til
case of bank note, this rule is reversed
The note is a debt due by the bank, bu
instead of paying interest upon 1t, til
bank is authorized to loan it as money
and take interest upon the loan. IL thu
enjoys a privilege that no one else Ell
lows 1t draws interest upon its own IL
debtsdness, and this privilege of the nj
tionai banks brings them an annual IL
come of probably twenty millions of do
lars. Their aggregate circulation is, l
round numbers, three hundred and twei
ty-two millions. / think 1t may be rei
: sonably assumed that three hundred mi
lions of these notes are loaned at an ave
age rate of interest of at least seven pc
cent. If so, the annual interest they IT
eeive from the loan, not of money, not {
capital, but of their own indebt dness,
twenly-one million of dollars. And th
sum Is raken out of the annual product
the country, before that product is dlvi'
ed between labor and capital The gel
eral rule is that the product of human il
J dustry is ultimately divided between Ii
Dor and capital but when a bank moi
: circulation is used the banks first step il
. and, by virtue of their special privilee
= take a large slice in the shape of iDtere
, unon their own indebtedness. In til
! ! case of orr national banks, this slice, {
1 we have seen, amounts to twenty-on
, millions every year. Now, if there ca
be no sound paper currency but ban
notes, then there is nothing left for l
:. but to bear this burthen or try to redut
!. the amount of the exaction. But if tt
! | greenback is as good as the bank NOT
, and nobody denies that it Is, why shou
it not be substituted for the bank not
. and an end put to the exaction?
!. And, consider further, that for ever
|, ereenback it has issued the Governmei
4 has received value. That greenback hi
) paid for services rendered or materla
l furnished, or it has discharged porto
$ of the interest bearing public debt. The
& is thus saving to the Government or
Il the people of an amount equal to inte
est upon the outstanding greenback n
n been issued, the Government wou
d have had to raise the money by loan
h taxation to meet its expenditures. Ii
il raised it by loan it would of course hay
n to nav interest upon the loan. 1T 1t raj