The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-09-05

place might be filed with national hanl
notes.
In his speech at Hamilton Senator Thur
man openly advocates increasing the amour
of United States notes outstanding from
$346, 100000 to $6S8. 100000 by issuin!
United States notes in place of the ma
tional bank notes outstanding. He declares
that the principal feature of the democratic
platform is the proposed substitution o.
greenbacks for national bank notes. I'll
would thus render specie payments i'm
| possible during this and perhaps the next
generation, and this at time when specie
resumption, which be has so strongly ia
vored, is on the eve of success.
THE REPUBLICAN POSITION.
The position OF the Republican party is ir
favor of greenbacks restored to their nomi-
nal condition of paper money, equal to coir
and redeemable in coin on the demand Of
the holder, while the position of the Demo
cratic party. as stated by Judge Thurman, is
In favor of the issue and maintenance in cir
culation of S66S, 900 of United States
notes without any provision whatever for
| their redemption or their conversion into
coin. This issue is distinctly made, and for
one distinctly accept it. We favor paper
money redeemable in coin, and the largest
amount that can be maintained at par with
coin, while he favors an amount Of paper is
| sued directly by the government, not con-
vertible into coin, with no provision for its
redemption, and to an amount that no one
| has claimed can be maintained at par with
coin,
He says it is just as easy to maintain $66S,
600, 900 grcenbacks at par with coin as it is
| to maintain 100000 greenbacks and
! 1922, 600, 600 national bank notes at par will
coin.
But he forgets to state that the bank notes
are payablein greenbacks and not in coin,
and that they are to be redeemed by the
banks at their risk and expense, and not by
the United States. No coin reserve is need
ed by them for such redemption. The is
sue of these notes aids in maintaining the
United States notes at par with coin instead
of obstructing it.
The banks are required to keep in their
values and in the Treasury OF the United
States an ample reserve OF United States
notes to redeem their notes, and thus give
to the United States notes a use which tends
to maintain them at par with coin. The
whole burden now resting upon the govern
ment is to maintain resumption upon the
amount of United States notes, and this con-
fessedly can be done by a coin reserve OF
from thirty to forty per cent, which we
have on hand while, it the whole amount OF
circulation was in United States notes no
coin reserve that could be reasonably Sc
cured and maintained would be sufficient for
the purpose of redemption. The bank notes
are not in any sense the notes OF The govern
ment They are the notes of private cor
porations amply secured, redeemed by them,
maintained by them, or, if they fail to re :
deem them, the security can at once be ap-
piled to their redemption. This expedient
of allowing portion of the circulation to
be issued by private corporations enables us
to maintain in circulation nearly twice as
much paper money as could be maintained
at par in coin if issued directly by the gov
eminent.
WHY THURMAN's PLAN is WRONG.
| His plan would directly violate the pro-
visions of the loan laws, under which: both
| United States bonds and notes are issued.
and which limit expressly the amount OF
United States notes to $4,000 600. This
would be violation of the public faith, and
would impair at once the public credit and
do inconceivably more harm than 1t could
give profit to the government.
| This scheme Of his encounters directly the
decision of the Supreme Court OF the United
States, and would, no doubt, be held un-
constitutional because it provides for very
large increase of United States notes in a
time of profound peace, where no such exl-
gency as is contemplated by the constitution
or decision of the Supreme Court exists to
Justify such an issue.
| It would at once drive out of existence the
| whole system of national banks, which have
been the means alone by which State banks
have been prevented from issuing circulate
| ing notes. The only franchise the national
banks receive from the government Which
| induces them to maintain their corporate eX-
istence is the right, under limits fixed by
law, to issue circulating notes. Take this
| from them and they would at once cease.
without exemption, to be national banks,
and would be organized again, as before the
war, into State banks, with such powers as
| any State might give them. The inevitable
/ effect of this policy would be to revive again
1 the system of State banks without any com
mon organization, without any security for
| their notes, upon such terms as any State
might prescribe, and thus all the evells OF
| State bank money which the people cXper-
| fenced before the war will recur again.
| Nearly a generation has passed since the
| incongruous system Of PAPER money which
existed before the war was swept away oy
the national banking act. 1t is safe to say
| that the injury done to the people OF the
| United States by the failure OF these banks,
1
by its unlimited local circulation and by sue
cessfully counterfuiting, was annually great
er than the interest of the entire nationa
bank circulation of the United States.
GREENBACKs AND BONDS.
| Judge Thurman computes how much the
| United States would save it it issued S322,,
100000 more If greenbacks and redeemed
| that amount of bonds. L do not stop to ex
anime this computation, but only wonder
by he stopped at 1922 100000. Why no
save the entire interest of the public deb
by issuing greenbacks for the whole OF it:
Why not repudiate it at once? That would
/ according to his computation, save the en-
tire interest OF the public debt, or $93, OOO,-
600, with no other loss than the loss OF ma
tional honor. What assurance has he tina
1922, OOO, 900 will salty the more advanced
lights of reputation? How will he pay on
the 1922, 900, 900? will he claim the righ
to pay the bonds at par with them? Doe
he deny the moral and legal obligation D.
which they are to be paid in coin! Does n
propose to repudiate the act of 1869? IN
Immediate effect of the commencement O
such an issue would depreclate the note'
lower and lower. would widen more an
more the gap between the notes and coin
i would revive again the distinction be
tween the bonaholder and the noteholder-
: gold or the 5ondholer and deprecated pa
per money for the people. It would at one
stop the funding operations under which W.
save one-third of the interest OF the nation
debt. No man would buy either four or
five or ten per cent. bond in the face Of a.
act of repudiation. Again, as the notes de
preciate it becomes more difficult to provid
coin for the payment of the interest, o
would he repudiate the obligation to pay tn
; interest in coin? He says he is in favor 0
receiving greenbacks for custom duties
Will he, then, buy coin II so his polio
will already have advanced the value OF cor
These are questions that SO astute reason
er as Judge Thurman ought fairly to an
swer before he persuades the people to en-
bark in his scheme. He proposes to lssu
more notes, without any provision for thel
payment, when our revenues are ample t
meet our expenditure, in time OF profoun
peace, when there is no motive OF patrlotIsI
: or duty or safety to impel such course, an
!, this merely to save the interest OF four pc
! cent. on 1922, 900, 900. But this very act
adopted would prevent our selling a thous
:, and million of four per cent. bonds wit
i which to pay an equal amount of six pc