Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-10-24


The value OF every piece OF property, OF every
article Of merchandise, Of every private for
tune, OF every chance the contractor has in his
contract, OF every dollar the laboring man
has in the savings bank, or the merchant on
deposit, will be at the mercy OF the Congress
OF the Caited States No man can make an
investment no merchant can sell or buy a lot OF
goods on time no manufacturer can accept an
order no contractor can MAKE a con.Tacs sor
a railroad or building, without Congress
having i in its power TO determine their profit
y .hei- loss by regulating .he vol-nse, and
consequently the value, OF the currency up or
down. Can Congress, can any body Of legis-
lators, be depended upon to exercise so ire
mendous power with wisdom Why, gen.
tlemen, no assemblage of human beings, even
II you get together the shrewdest fnanciers in
the worio, mas ever peen louna wise enough to
determine how much money the business of a
great country needs in its multifarious huctua-
tons. But if so awful a power should fall
into the hands of such inanciers as made the
Ohio platform, then let us devoutly pray that
the Lord preserve us
But il is not the only question, whether such
power Is likely TO be exercised Or not. re
question is whether any Government should be
intrusted with SO tremendous, so far-reaching.
SO tyrannical an authority at all Oh, nv
Democratic friends, who pretend to be so jeal
Gus of the power of the general government,
how are you fallen form the high estate OF
your ancient principles that you should now
be willing TO give to that general government
the power to dispose Of every citizens private
fortune oh, shades of Jefferson and Jack
son, where are you2
repeat, it is not only question OF con-
gresslonal wisdom. The very fact that Con
gress is to dispose Of so tremendous an interest
by mere legislative act, cannot fail to have a
most disquleting and enervating influence upon
the business of the country. Are we not all
witnesses to the fact that for years, during
every session OF Congress, the whole business
community stood CT .:p..oe with fear and
trepidation, lest some tnkering genius in Con
gress get up and push through some meas
ure interfering with all their business
calculations and arrangements Have you
not all heard the heartfelt prayer of
business men at the beginning of
every session that Congress might do its
necessary work quickly and then adjourn
Have you not time and again heard the gen.
eral sigh OF relief when congress at last did
really wind up and go home And now mag
me congress with majority composed of
such financial geniuses as advocate the "Ohio
dea,o every one whom has his unfailing 6nan
cial nostrum in his pocket, and that congress
intrusted with the power to determine the value
OF every mans property, and the chances for
profit or loss OF every mans enterprise. viii
the business community ever get out of state
OF feverish uncertainty and apprehension Are
hts 10 be the normal condition of our economi-
cal system Z Are we not at last to have that re-
pose which is SO necessary for safe business cal
culation, for quiet rebuilding Of our fortunes,
and new period OF prosperity? II so, then in
the name of common sense let us get rid Of a
system of irredeemable paper currency which
puts into the hands of congress the power to
determine how much money we snail have and
what that money is to be worth. Let US at
last reduce the government again to its proper
functions, and return to that condition OF things
in which the currency regulates itself. No
congress k,iozos hoa0 much money tie business
of lie country needs, bit business Itself feels
and determines IL 70,fh certainty.
HOW THE CURRENCY WILL REGULATE ITSELF
WHEN SPECIE PAYMENTS PREVAIL.
When specie payments prevail, and there is
more coin in circulation than business needs. i,
will flow out and 90 where it finds more pro
fitable employmei.l. When there is less coin in
circulation than business requires, it will be-
come dear and flow in from countries where il
has less profitable employment. The same
rule applies to well regulated system of bank
issues based upon specie. When the quantity
of notes out are in excess of the requirement.
of business, they will flow back to the bank fol
redemption. When the quantity of bank
notes is insufficient for the wants of trade
the bankers will find it profitable to increase
their issues, and thus the gap will be filed
Local and temporary disturbances, occasional
panics or speculative periods, which under nc
money system can be entirely prevented, may
sometimes interfere with this self adjusting
machinery, but on the whole the rule hold:
| good. The government has nothing to dc
with it. but to see to it that the coin struck in it.
minis be of the prescribed standard value il
prevents and Furnishes counterfeiting it regu
lates the banking system SO as TO make it safe
and then it lets currency and trade in their re
ations take care of themselves, without assum
ing any arbitrary control over volume anc
value. These are the simple principles of {
| sound money system under which business car
regain confidence in itself, and prosperity will
revive. That Is the end which we should &C
complish, and which is now within our reach
CONCLUSION.
The paper money men have contrved tc
befog the public mind with certain supersti
tlouS impressions, 10 the prejudice OF the cause
| advocate. Let us look some of them in the
| face One is sort of dark terror with which
the word contraction has been invested |
would almost seem as if contraction were some
dabolical power bringing forth all the i'll.
human flesh is heir to. Thus we are told tha
contraction, with all OF its concomitant evils
was one of the Internal effects of the resump
ton act. 1t is true that, under the resumpuor
act, since 1875, the currency has been con
tracted; but II is also true that this contraction
mas not mao Inc least depressing eaec. upon
| the business of the country, and | can easily
prove it, If contraction had cramped bushes,
that is to say, if business had wanted more
currency than was out, it could easily have
had it. Banking was made free by that very
resumption act. Amy FIVE persons, procuring
the necessary capital, can start a bank unoel
the national system, and issue bank notes
Had business required more currency than was
out. the issuing of more bank notes would
have become profitable. There is plenty oil
money lying idle and waiting for chance.
That cham e would certainly have been taken
hold of by enterprsing persons had business
-sa'.y 1eeceo more currency. pu. not only
has the volume of bank notes not been in
creased but it has been voluntarily reduced by
the banks. This is conclusive proof not only
that business does not want more currency
than is out, but that it has even more than it
can probably employ. The contraction was,
fherat - la