Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1878-09-25
Proposed Remedies for Hard Times.

bring good times by legislation, for more
greenbacks. The amount OF greenoaeks
necessary to bring in this financially good
era varies, Gas they say in bulletins oil
certain expenses at schooD with the char
acter and habits of the individual pro-
posing the remedy. One person, like MIR.
Barlow, in his letters recently brought to
public notice after sleep of ten years,
thinks n thousand millions about the lg-
ure; though why that limit was fixed, ex-
cept that it was good round number, is
not entirely apparent. Otner hnanclers
think two thousand millions none too
many; some would not stop the printing
until an edition" of ten thou
sand millions was worked off" and still
others. believing in the wonderful efficacy
and restorative power Of this greenback,
would not stop the presses at all, but keep
them ut work night and day until every
man, woman and child in the republic
WAS supplied every morning with all the
greenbacks necessary for the days expen-
SEES, and there was no such thing rs
boated bondholder or leecherous y
money-lender in all this broad land, and
the curse of labor was abolished, and
every working man became an employer,
and there was no slave of toll " from
one ocean to the other.
Several methods are proposed of getting
this money into circulation. The more
moderate innationists seem to be content
to pay the national debt with it, and thus
save the hundred millions or so paid in
interest annually. Others think great
works of what are called internal inn
provements should be undertaken, canals
and railroads built across the continent,
the levees OF the Mississippi reconstructed,
the present lines of railroad and telegraph
taken by the government and rates reduce
ed to nominal figure, taxes and tariffs
abolished and the expenses of the govern
ment paid in greenbacks. Others still
propose that the government shall pay the
expense of transportation of any one who
will 60 and settle on quarter section of
government land, build him house, stock
his farm and give him five hundred dollars
to start business with. And yet others
propose that greenbacks without limit
shall be issued and loaned to the states at
two per cent interest, to be reloaned by
the states to counties, by counties to towns
and by towns to individuals, until every
body has all the greenbacks necessary to
make times easy, and relieve the present
disagreeable necessity of working for a
living or paying debts with good money.
These projects are here classed together,
because they all rest upon the idea that
the government not only has the right to
issue paper dollars to any amount and
make them legal tenders for the payment
Of all debts, public and private, but that it
has the power to give piece of paper the
value of one dollar by printing This is
dollar " across the ftce of it; and if the
latter proposition were true the widest in
hationist is the wisest political economist,
us government that can make everybody
rich and happy by so cheap "a process as
printing paper dollars, and doesinot do so.
ought to be abolished, and Kearney and
Butler and the rest of them put at once in
charge of the national printing presses.
What right has the national government
to issue any more legal tenders9
There is not space here to discuss the
constitutional right, but it is enough for
the present purpose to say, that consider
alton of the arguments on both sides
leaves little reason to doubt that, if con-
gress in time of peace should declare
new issue of paper money to be u legal
tender in payment of pre-exsting debts as
between individuals, the supreme court
would hold the law unconstitutional.
But if further issue of legal tenders
were constitutionally right it would be
economically wrong. What is called pa
per money (but is really only represent
tative of value and not of itself valuable),
serves a useful purpose, us it is more
convenient than gold and silver in the ex-
changes of trade. But the check of n
business man on the bank where he keeps
his deposits serves exactly the same pur-
pose where he is known and his credit es-
tablished The old state bank notes,
though not legal tender, served the same
purpose when the bank was good; and the
national bank notes are to-day Just as
good rs greenbacks, because it is known
that they represent value. 1t is repu,ation
which gives them currency. Everybody
knows the national bank note is good the
people of town know that the private
check of a sound man of business is good:
and wherever this reputation goes there
the paper has value. And it is the same
with the greenback. 1t is issued by the
government, and people have not yet lost
faith in the idea that it is something more
than piece of paper. that the legend it
bears means something, that it promises
to pay and the promise will be redeemed,
In addition TO this there is demand for n
certain amount of paper money in the
transaction of business, not only because
of its convenience. but because of its
greater reputation. The national bank
notes and greenbacks now supply that de-
mand' and sufficiently supply it as is evil
denced by the fact that there is no increase
of national bank circulation, although the
notes are at par with greenbacks and the
banks can get them of the government by
paying one per cent year for their use.
If these bank notes should be forcibly re-.
tired, there would doubtless be lack of
currency, which would make a demand
for more government notes of some kind
but treasury note, not legal tender but
redeemable in gold or in bond worth
par in the market would answer every
purpose as currency better than if made a
legal tender with no provision for its re-
demption, and bearing on its face, "This