Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-09-05

clare that imitation wss one of the leading Of
that panic. On this point / fortify myself by the
great authority of Senator Thurman ON the 24th
of March, 1874 newspaper extract was read IN the
Senate stating that Senator Thurman, IN ms cam
paign speeches had characterized the panic as the
result of effort to force the resumption OF specie
payments In reply the Senator denounced thus
statement rs untrue declared that he never uttered
such an idea. and he then set forth with master
fui clearness the real causes OF the panic
namely, overtrading: running 100 mucn IN
prSes and notably in the Nerth Pacific Railroad en-
terprse These were.t the causes which the senator
assigned for the panic II is tar 100 late IN the ohy
for the Democracy charge the business depression
! of this country upon the resumption law. 1hey
speak of ''merciless contraction" and would have
inc people believe that even now the pressure OF the
hard times is caused by insufficient circulating
medium deny in toto the truth OF this allegation
and challenge them TO make 1t good FROM the
official reports Of the 30th OF June last It appears
| that there now outstanding In TINS country
S6sS 100000 of paper currency worth ~ IL cents on
the dollar. Its real purchasing power ls therefore,
S6S4, 600 900. There has been but one year IN our
history when the purchasing power OF our paper
money greater than II is to-day, and that was IN
1874 when the Secretary of the Treasury relSsneu
600 of greenbacks in the vain attempt 10 stay
| the progress of the panic. The decrease IN lace
\ value of our paper currency has been more than
compensated by heincreaSe of its purchasing power
In reply to all assailants, We base the pocy oil re-
| sumption these impregnable grounds:
First-The public faith demands it. BY all the
solemn pledges which Nation can give the restora-
| ton of specie payment was promised when the
| greenback was issued That promise ought TO have
been kept long ago. and il is as unpatrotc as II Is
dishonest attempt prevent its fulnllment now.
| Second-The highest interests both of labor and
of capital demand resumption. Uncertainty is the
element that can enter into the business cal
culatiOns of men, and the uncertainty which ieGis-
laton brings is the worst form of uncertainty 1he
government must get out of the way ana let pros
perty return II can do this best by putting it out
of the power OF Congress to change our standard OF
ThirdIihe chief hardships of resumption have
already been endured. When the law was passed III
1875 our paper money at discount OF IL per
cent Since then it has slowly and steadily become
better, month by month, until now it is but hall
below par The short step to stability and GER
tanty Will hurt far less than to retrace our steps ana
plunge back again into the evils from which we have
escaped. should We now retreat the unsettled
transactions of the last year would be thrown into
utter confusion. If we now abandon the attempt al
resumption the future will be clouded with an un-
certainty that will destroy confidence and prevent
| the return of prosperity.
Three years ago the Democracy denounced the re.
| sumption law as inefficient Now they denounce II
| for its efficiency They know that its enactment
strengthened the public credit ana increased the coin
| reserve. The balance of trade now largely in our
favor is adding to stock of the precious metals
and the moment that greenbacks are equal TO coin,
whole volume of our coin. The democracy would
prevent this. They denounce US Tor making the
| greenback better. They seek to make 1t worse.
| When resumption comes the laboring man
| dollar will be equal to the best dollar in the
world II the effort Of the Democracy to repeal the
resumption law should succeed, it would make the
| greenback dollar poorer and make the circulation
of gold coin impossible II the farmers and iaoorers
of this country their money to shrvel in their
|
they want it 10 become as good the best and con-
tnue stable and secure, they must hold on to the
law as it Is
The resumption act did not provide for the de-
structiop of the greenbaek currency. As construed
by the administration it left 5000 OF green
backs to be kept in circulation. By an act OF the
present Congress the amount 10 be kept in circula-
ton after resumption is $S46000000. While do not
| believe in the government turning banker and be-
coming permanent issuer of currency, am will
ing. for the present at least, to maintain as many
greenbacks in circulation as can be kept at par with
coin and OrT1nro hn nrOvInpg
that the greenback shall become and remain equal
to coin. This the Ohio Democrats oppose.
GREENBAEKs IN PLACE OF NATIONAL BANK NOTES.
Fearing that even by the repeal of the resumption
act they may not now be able to prevent the restor-
determned TO take such further steps as shall rem
der resumption impossible. They demand the
abolition OF the national banks and the issue OF Si
notes to be destroyed. The objections to this are
First-That it is fiat violation OF the Constitu-
Court has declared that even our present issue of
greenbacks is unconstitutional. The majority of
that court defended them only as war measure
No lawyer believes that the court Will sustain an ad-
dtional issue of greenbacks in time of peace. Gen.
Ewing has virtually admitted this for last winter he
introduced resolution which is now pending be-
fore Congress, SO to amend the Constitution as to
make the issue of Treasury notes lawful in time OF
peace; yet the Democracy demand Just this uncon-
second-The proposed substitution renders re-
sumption impossible. AS the law now stands the
| government must maintain S3i6OUOOOO OF green
backs at par with coin, and the Treasury is amply
able to do it. The national banks are required to
march abreast with the government, and at their
own expense keep their own notes at par. The
Democracy propose TO release the banks from this
duty and throw the whole burden upon the Treasu-
~ and the people. By additional issue of sS2l.
O00 600 of greenbacks they make the Treasury re-
sponsible for maintaining s6lO,OO0,OO0 OF paper.
Every intelligent man knows that the Treasury can
not keep so large volume at par.
ThirdEThis substitution would entail grievous
burdens upon the taxpayers of the country. As the
law now stands greenbacks are exempt from taxa
ton Poor men, who hold but few, gain little ad-
vantage from this exemption; but II is well known
practice of our capitalists to put their surplus means
into greenbacks on the day when the State assess
ment for taxation is to be made, and thus escape a
large share of the public burdens. Both the stock
and of national banks are subject TO heavy tax
alton The government taxes their circulation and
the States tax their stock and outstanding notes.
From 1866 to 1876 inclusive, the States and the
tion received S1S7 600 Of taxes from the national
banks. The Democracy propose to abandon all this
and create in its stead privileged eyed currency oil
Fourth-If this attempt is successful it will result
in the restoration OF the wretched State bank system
| that prevailed before the No man OF intelli-
gence will pretend that the business of this country
| can be carried on without banking facilities Sta
chanSes are carried on by means OF la, checks,
drafts and commercial bills, and only ~ pr cent
by the actual use of money. For the uses OF mod
exchange the bank is as necessary as the rail-
| road is for transportation Now we have uniform
system open to all citizens, carefully guarded by
| national legislation, which makes the bllholder
more secure than any banking system this country
has ever known, and which greatly increases the
security of depostors. The people must choose be-
tween this national system and the old State system,
which, in other years. led the country TO such fatal
results Who does not remember that the old
state bank represented all varieties OF condition
, | and credit. They were solvent, suspended,
closed wound up, broken, as the wisdom folly,
the honesty or rscality of their managers dictated
Their notes had no uniformity of value, and nearly
all of them, especially in the West and South lost
heavily in value when carried beyond the limits OF
| the State in which they were issued. Examine a
Bank Note Reporter for 1860, and consider the mass
of trash that constituted the paper currency OF the
country. In only nine States of the Union did the
law require the circulation to be secured by State
bonds From 1851 to 1868 there were eighty-une
failures of Illinois banks. Within that period the
holders of Illinois currency lost So 0000 600 by
, the failure and depreciation of the notes,
beside the still greater loss to depostors and Gus
TONERS. OF thirtysix broken banks of Wisconsin
] during the same period, only six redeemed their
notes at high rate as eighty cents on the dollar
Even in 1860 the report of eighteen States showed
that out of 1,2Sl banks, 147 were broken 254 we're
closed and Isl were nearly worthless.
Fifth-A fatal objection TO the substitution OF
greenbacks for national bank notes is this that 1t
makes complete divorce between the business OF
the country and the volume Of its circu-