The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-08-01
!: y. { y; Y 4 q. e

srHr1asr,A ]. !. Au IL ~ j, 1s7s !
The Currency II France
The inflationists md green hackers cannot %,
produce one single Tact TO support Their tteo-
RES. Whenever they pretend 70 90 SO they
either wilrui.y or ignorsntly deceive the
rn,eonfe There are. statements constantly
being nut forth is to the amount Of currenss
] - 1pef capita lin france, which are .ealcu-
,sted. i, not intended, TO misleal those per-
sons who accept them as true. We propose
TO look into this question fora few mo
Iments. M ISL ... So
The irst thing to which we call attention
/ Is The following recent letter from the reiia-
4 BILE correspondent Of the New York Times.
II any body wishes to have the ayerments OF
this correspondent corroborated, he can
question several gentlemen living In Rich
I Inond who have Just returned from France.
!, Read 3. +. ,s .'
P4gis. june 1, 1s7s.-Nothing strikes an
American visiting Trance more quickly
fban the almost entire absence OF paper
& money II, active circulation. have been
& In Paris now six weeks, and have only re-
ceiyed one bank.note,. which was OF the
value OF 500 francs, and was given me at
nv bankers as part payment OF draft LOT
II LOO francs. / have occasionally seen o
note OF the same amount pass over the
counter OF q large retail store, but BOT, I'D
an. more than three or four times. 1T may
! he said, practically, that for purposes OF or
binary Transactions the bank-note Is IN
known. The money in actual use consist
/. OF pieces OF gold Of 20 francs, 10 francs,
and 5 francs, and silver coins OF francs,
/ 2 francs, franc. and I franc, or 81 cen,
times, and OF copper coins OF the Vatue OF
times respectively. OF. these the silver
pieces are used for payments OF Is francs OF
under, and occasionally as high rs 10 or 10
francs, but rarely. AS % rule. all payments
above 8 francs are made in gold. .,, 81
II Was there ever a better currency? That
r Is the kind OF currency which we 'deman d
forthe people offhe United States-a cur
rency as good as coin. We have said re-
: peatedly that we are willing to have as
much money OF that sort as the Government
& can provide for. We prefer paper to coin,
= but we want paper that may be converted
7 into coin at the will OF the holder without
ruinous sacrifice upon his part. Ihe
facts stated 40 the above extract are full
b md complete answer to all the nonsense
B. that is put forth by the Greenbackers on
I the subject. Whatever may be the amount
OF the currency in France, 1t is not paper
money "redeemable in nothing" but gen.
uine Benton mint-drops. We would gladly
take France as an exemplar for the United
States. Not only is the common currency
OF the, people OF France gold and silver,
but all their bank-notes are convertible into
< coin of the will OF the holder. The same
2 correspondent says Of the banks OF France:
t !. For a long time their notes have been
at par, and they are anxious to reduce the
volume of the notes, and OF their dangerous
specie THAT Is, siiver] as well. But so far
their efforts have been almost completely In
: vain. You have already taken notice OF the
failure OF the efforts to pass silver at Boz
deaux and LyOus. Similar efforts, with
I like failures, have been made at Dion, Mar.
< settles, and Rouen. We thus see that the
I experiment has met the same fate in every
part OF France, equally in the agricultural
regious and in the manufacturing towns;
The simple fact is that everywhere the
French people are welded to gold the
Z more ignorant by tradition, the more intel
I Iigent from clear perception OF its actual
present superiority rs the material for
money! They do not like silver because it
is bulky and inconyenient in use, and be-
f4cause they are afraid of its depreciation;
and they feel, perhaps without fully know
ling il, the pressure OF German and English
Sentiment in favor OF gold @
~ How would it do to offer to such a people
Z" fiat money" .ssirredeemable groenbacks,"
tl"absolute money!" or whatever you choose
! to. call the trash with which the Greenback-
sers would, il they had the power, flood this
]. country, impoverish the rich, beggar the
mechanic, and starye the common Ia
borer? Says the New York Times OF the
{ 29th instant, in an editorial, France keeps
20 OF gold and silver to IS Of paper
in her currency, and England 40 to 10.
So all the foolish differences OF the Green
hackers are based upon their own ig-
norance. The French people have an
abundant and good currency. They have
no such paper money as the Greehbackers
would print for our use in this country.
They have currency that is good the world
over. ~
There is another thing to be remembered.
France and England have the accumulated
wealth OF thousand years. The United
/, States have only the wealth Of hundred
sor so years. Controller KNOX in an annual
]. report stated few years ago the ratio OF
circulation to wealth-in France and Great
q Britain in 1868 and in this country in 1870.
I Here are the figures 4, - ~ 10, r.@ i
Great Britain. 10 10 500 Of property
Franco. ."...........S2.38 10 S10o of property.
United States.........S2.62 to 500 OF properly.
In word, the United States has always
had more currency In proportion to wealth
than either France or England; and as to
paper money she has vastly more in proper
ton to either population or wealth than
either OF those countries. All that the
friends Of sound currency need present
to the people are the facts Of the case. IL
these will not convince them, their case is
hopeless.
Primary Elections.
The best way OF ascertaining the wishes
Of the voters as to candidates is to hold
primary elections. They give much more
satisfaction than any other mode Of ap-
pointing delegates to, district conventions.