The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1878-07-25


process cannot be called an expensive
4 ONE American Architect.
Wendell Phillips --latest on Finance.
Wendell Phillips has addressed this
following letter to the editor OF the Bos'
| ton Standard:
sfMen doubt the greenback theory or
account of it's supposed novelty. In
finance, they say, we prefer to stand in
| the old waye, and trust to methods that
have stood the test of long trial. This il
exactly the claim we greenbac kers make
ours is the old way, and one which has
stood thetest of years of trial.
"We propose to let the national cur
rency rest on the national debt. We
propose to let the greenback represent,
and rest on the national wealth. Old
fashioned men, hood -winked by Journals
which capital owns and edits, start back
aghast. They say they diatrust new
tricks
1.-The fact is, our is not q new trick,
We are only borrowing the plan of the
venerable old lady of Threadneedle
street, that is, wettake for our model the
bank of England, We greenbackersare
fossil, old fashioned, conservative party.
."What we mean lis this: We, the
national party, only ask congress to
model our currency on thesound half of
the method of the bank of England--a
bank that money mongers hold in especial
reverence. What is that method?
when Sir Robert Peel remodeled the
bank of England in 1884, this was his
plan: Heallowed the bank to issue bills
to the extent of fifteen millionpounds
sterling e IS, 000,000) without one ounce
of gold in its vault That sum land
now wei believe it is 9l6,000, 000) the
government of Great Britain owes the
bank. On q government debt rest the
FIRST 500, 000, 900 of British paperI And
it has proved the most trustworthy basis
in the known world. ANY paper cur
rency after that hundred million the
bank must have gold for. This second
plank in the foundation has proved so
unstable that thrice since 1854, the
government has been Obliged to step in
and give it illegal relief.
E" But the strong corner stone of the
bank of England is the government
credit. This is what we propose as the
corner stone of our currency--govern-
ment credit, England has tried the
experiment for us and shown its perfect
safety.
"Bagehot, former editor of the Econo-
mist, in his book on the bank { Lombard
street }, explains how its paper is good
always and all the world over. He
shows it lis not because the world knows
or cares whether there is gold in the
lbank-vaulLs OR not. He tells us that
every business man knows that a bank
of England five>pound note represents
the government of Great Britain; that
government has shown on score of
occasions that it will never let the bank
fail. Practically speaking, therefore,
that fiveTpount note is guaranteed by
the government, and represents all its
wealth. This ia the reason, as BagehOt
shows, why it is current wherever trade
exists.
'tNow this isexactly our plan. Our
gfeenback shall represent all our national
wealth. 1T shall be current because
every business man ahall know the
government will never let it be dis
credited. \
''fDoes any man reply, it has stood dis
credited the last fifteen years! So Eng
lands paper did from 1877 to 1890. |
But that never really shook her credit.
Neither will our mistake shake ours.
Does any man say Englad's debt may
be a sure basis for currency, but ours
would not be9' To that / reply, lie. all
such lovers Of kings and tdisMusters of
democratic institutions go where they
belong, and nestle in coward safety at
the foot OF the GEAR. j shall never allow
that the debts of Tories and kings are
any more sure tofbe paid than the debts
Of the people. The stock lists show that
Just in proportion that governments be
come popular and rest on the whole
people, just in that proportion do their
bonds rate high in the market. A.
''WsENDELL PHILLIPs.p
III