The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1878-11-29

Chicago News.
II Is a question just now between
"hard money" and "soff money men
whether the money issued by the old
Bank Of Venice was forced fiat money.
like our present irredcemable green
backs. or specie basis money. redeem
able IN specie on demand. The hest
history Of the Bank Of Venice is given
| IN a work entitled "Ways and Means Of
PAYMENT" by Stephen Colwcll, citizen
! Of London.
The Bank Of Venice originated in a
forced loan by the Government Of o.
100000 ducats In 1l7i: II existed until
1897, when NapoIcon's capture OF the
city overthrow the Government. To
comprehend the extraordinary history
Of this institution several facts must be
stated. The money OF fhe bank consist
ed Of transferable credits on It's books
still there was no specie I'm its vaults
nor was the bank hound 10 make the
money originally deposited good after
1923. even by the payment Of the inter
est, which was. previous TO that date.
lper cent: still the money Of the bank
| was for 4 o wears mt the high premium
money Of Venice. These credits on the
books Of the bank were the FUNDS in
which Venetian debts were chiefly paid.
The question is: Why were thev nj
such n premium over gold? IL could not
have been because they were convertible
ut will Into the precious metals. II that
were the cause Of The premium-o or
"AGIo." as il was called-on them. the
moment the holders advanced the price
specie would undoubtedly have become
the medium Of payment. ~ the cheaper
Irmrrcncv. according To Cresham's law
II conld not have been because the cir
|cuafion Of these credits was extremely
limited: the circulation was very large
Sic. .OO0OO0 10 100000 people. or $50 per
|rapita- an amount greatly In excess of
ANY paper circulation Of any other coun-
TRY that Is kept ~ par or nearly so. A.
10 the converiibilitv of the notes into the
precious metals. that was literally i'm
nossiblc. as the State took the coin from
the bank for lis loans. giving credit
receipt only therefor
We must conclude. then. that tho rca-
con of the premium which the credits OF
| the hank held over gold must be found
| in the following facts The credits
were made legal tender IN Venice and
| its dependencies this made the money
"fat" or forced" money The money Of
account 0f tho country snccie serving
the purpose that subsidiary coin does
with us. being only used for retail pur-
poses nj home. and as = commodity.
purely. whom exported. The premium
on the credits NJ firsf was % per cent.
from which II never varied as long as
tho hank existed
Tho history Of tho Bank of Enoland
ror three or four vears after the srspcn-
sion of specie payments IN 1897. also
proves that lcgal-fend~r paper money
ran he kent cven ~ premium over gold
| ifcerfain conditions -snrh rs limitation
of issnes. receiving them for All dues "a
the Government. and paving them out
for al debts due BY the Government -
are observed.
The fact IL. the Government establish.
cd legal-tcnder unit of account when
| II created the credits Of the Bank oI
Venice: for this reason. and on account
os its convenience. tho fact that II conld
moi he forged, clipped or otherwise de-
based. that exchange on Venice was al.
wavs IL demand abroad. this unit oI
value was made legally and artiticially
more valuable than gold and silver.
| Napoleon did not find dncat IN the
vaults OF the Bank or Venice whom h
took possession of ". He ccrfainl,
would have taken the gold, IL any were
there.
C"lwcll's work stands nnc"ntradicted
on MI the above points: and he cites a
number Of authorities IN support oI
his history Of the famous institution
which was fourishing nearly $50 wear,
before the Bank Of England lad All cx
istcnce.