The Portland daily press., 1878-04-11
Absolute Money.
To the Editor of the Press:

To the Editor of the Press:
rise for information what are we to
understand by absolute money! A recent
writer, who adopts the phrase as s'nono de
plume" complains in your columns that ipjus.
tice is done to the National party when the
French assignats are compared with the cur
rency by which they propose to restore prosper
ity and make everybody rich and happy
think myself that Injustice is done to somebody
by the comparison.
Those assignats were, like our greenbacks,
unequivocal promises to pay coin. They were
demand notes whose payment was, for the time
being, of necessity suspended, but to whose ul-
innate redemption not only was the good faith
OF the nation-or the ruling powers-pledged,
but definite fund was provided. The Revou-
tionary Government had not learned the lesson,
so hard to learn even now, that the amount of
paper currency Tor demand notes) which any
government may safely Issue has but narrow
limits, and SO in the madness of the hour they
went on multiplying those assignats 1t soon
became evident that they never would be re-
deemed and OF course they became worthless.
So much for the assignats. Now what ia to
be the absolute money, and how is it to be
biased on the fee simple of all the property
public and private held in the country?" Those
words do not describe medium of exchapg e
which circulates by virtue of its own intrinsic
value, SO the s'absolute money" cannet be coin.
Tney 40 describe the greenbacks, but it is evil
dent tbey are not meant, for why then the
National party?" What change is proposed
can only conjecture, but 1 have always sup
posed the plan was that enunciated by Gen.
Butler; which is, if understand him, to issue
mot promise to pay" but promise neyer
70 pay Sfor he explicitly says never to be re-
deemed) stamped on the least valuable mate
rial, said promise not to PAY to be mutually in
terchangeable with bond at low rate of
interest payable in the same currency, neither
bond nor currency ever to be redeemed by coin
or anything else of value.
This, the Essex Statesman tells us, will be
the best currency the world ever saw" but how
il can be said to be biased on all the plopertv
in the country" is too deep a conun-
drum for me. Old actors carry the stage al
ways with them and may generally be recog-
nized by their stage faces. So Butler, Worries
ct ais have been SO long and constantly posing
before the most ignorant portion of their con-
stituencies that l have little doubt they have
got into such thorough training that they can
look each other square in the face and utter
their rawlings without "snckering". 1t may be
that In making Gen. Butler spokesman for the
atonals' l have done them injustice. If SO
would IKE very much to be corrected as am
very anxious to learn exactly what their pro-
posed scheme of finance is Your corresnon-
dent "Absolnte Money closes his communics-
ton by asserting Tin reference to the confiscated
essAtes OF the emigrant nobles) that "when
the revolution was once crushed and the COM
mune overthrown this property, so taken. re-
verted to original owners.
He is certainly mistaken as he will find bv
referring to Theirs Consulate and Emnirs',
or Alison's "History of Europe" s.
Boothbay April Stb, 1873.