The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-10-24
ieI,nseld ispaIt
oJTDB ER "a. 1878.
s,.,,,.ra, IT Z, On Fiat Money.

I3bask IS. as .o.
svsucras ITawley ON Fiat Money.
Ia J snaec,1 delivered at Hartford on !, fss-
,.aan 1ast fseney.li JOSEPH, r. Haw ley saia
4. is mi strange that errors hourssn lot or
-,;n,a Not since 1870 has q national Ilolils-
ssas "a r,naien been conducted upon hnaR-
s,sa, ;ssness it is seventeen years since we
s speeie-payments. Ali native
-Sntsrs tl,frty.cight wears OF age. anu unueIs
/ ss,i the adopted citizens admitted since 1851,
the four millions OF emancipated slaves, sh
shese have seen the nation wage gtganttc
war successfully. negotiate q vast nsAon q,
dehf. proceed through several years OF Drii.
siant and apparently real prosperity, redn-
eng the debt by nearly a thousand millions,
and all with an irreaeemable aud very album
s,ant paper.nloney. Some OF them have
made great mistake. Seeing the nation
carry burdens easily, they thoughs u was
the burdens that gave as strength.
The eternal laws OF truth have yiadscated
themselves in prolonged period OF national
depression, aud multitudes Of impatient
peopIe. though healthy future Is at our
very doors waiting for us, are eager TO
make permanent diet OF that which We
unwiliingiy began to eat in the day OF trou-
BILE. and which largely caused TIVE Illness.
The shores OF time are lined with the
wrecks OF an infinite variety OF attempts to
escape from natural laws. Inere Is no ne"
money under the sun.
srh;s was the Judgment Of our fathers in
founding the Constitution. Most OF the
colonies had made all the costly experiments
In the issue Of paper.noney. They always
promised TO paw something in silver and
gold. They always did pay percentage,
nj least. until the Revolutionary war. The
ntter collapse of continental money, based
on the faith and feehly organized con-
federation, was the last lesson needed after
"A whole century OF suffering. The conven-
lion that formed the Constitution was thor
onghly devoted 10 hard money. Danlei
Webster said:
t.The establishment OF sound and uni
form currency was one OF the greatest enos
contemplated in the adoption OF the Constr
tuition. II we could explore all the motives
of those who framed and those who sup
ported the Constitution, we should herdiy
find n more powerful one than this"
can devise no condemnation OF paper
money more vigorous than those uttered by
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Oil
yer Ellsworth, James Madison, John adj
ans, and other members OF that most noble
and able body OF Den. The states were
positively forbidden TO emit bills OF cream
or make anything but gold and silver
legal tender. The powers OF the National
Government were left less restricted, but
proposition to authorize Congress to 'emlt
bills OF credit" was emphatically voted
down. Oliver Ellsworth said it was ga
favorable moment to shut out and bar the
door against paper-money." Mr.. wilson
said Kit would have 4 salutary influence on
the credit OF the United States to remove
the possibility Of paper-money." Mr.. Mad
..ison said that striking out the words "' to
emit bills OF credit would not disable the
Government from the use OF public notes
as far as they could be safe and proper, and
would cut off the pretcXt for paper-money."
You propose to make this new absolute
money, or this irredeemable greenback, a
full legal tender for all debts. Never failing
to protest in passing against the infamy OF
the proposition, let us see where you would
make any profit by it. IL you are debtor
and could be the first man to get liberal
supply Of the paper, you might be able to
discharge your debt by paying it in money
actually worth less than what you borrowed.
Would it comfort your soul to reflect that
you had paid up thousand dollars due
your employees, or your church, or your
grocer, or the savings bank that helped you
to build a house, with money that cost you
but nine hundred dollars!
But are you sure that you could be first
to get supply OF the cheap money! IL
you destroy the national-bank system and
pay up the national bonds. the national
banks would get over three hundred mil
lions of this new paper, and the bloated
bondholders at large would get over seven
teen hundred millions Of it. They would
have the first chance to pay it out.
What monstrous and cruel delusion it
= tl.ff bo cham
blessing to the workingmen, the labor
ing classes! The vast majority OF us are
really workingmen, getting weekly or
monthly our wages or salaries. II you
should be working for anybody for pay,
the first you would see OF the fiat money
would be its tender to you for your wages.
You are creditor. The laboring people
of the country are the largest and most
important creditor class. 1t is estimated
that on any given day there are at least one
hundred md twenty millions due to the Ia
borers and mechanics. You cannotreruse to
take the money offered to you Saturday, for
the law says you must take that OF nothing.
And il you owe the grocer and butcher, you
can pass it over to them, and they must take
that or nothing. But that is only the first
payment. You must go on working. The
moment you begin you again become Gre
ditor, and the debtor employer can offer
you the new, cheap legal tender. But per-
haps the grocer and butcher have had some
difficulty in making purchases with the
money you gave them the previous week,
and when you come again to buy you find
that they have raised their prices. That
means that your new money has depre-
ciated. 1t is the same as to say to you, 81
will sell you potatoes ut 81 bushel, as
/ have done, and take your dollar
at 80 cents" Or, If he words it thus,
rs will be more likely, Il shall have
to charge you $1.10 q bushel for potatoes
hereafter" it will amount to about the same
thing. The first effect Of the new money
on you will be in the advanced prices OF the
things you buy. Why did the grocer ask q
higher price? Because, on depositirg a few
hundred dollars at the bank to meet New
York debts, he found that the new money,
mot being redeemable in gold or silver un-
der any circumstances, and being unable to
perform so fully the functions OF money,
was worth little less Therefore the gro
Ger must have little more OF it than he
would have needed Of gold ser silver in or
der to make his New York purchases
Your next is to agitate for an increase in
your wages. Perhaps you get it, il your
employer is able to sell his manufactured
goods at higher price. II he is not, be
fights against higher wages or manufactures
less or stops. In little time the operation
is repeated. It appears truly to the work
man that the times are hard. Everybody is
asking :hits higher prices for the necessaries
as we'll las Injuries of life. and it is yesy
hard 70 ,sref wages raised prODortionatelV