Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-10-03
scHURz ANswrRED.
Gen. Eating Briefly Punctures the Falla-
cies of Carl.

sCHURZ ANSWERED.
Gen. Eating Briefly Pnnctures the Falla-
cies of Carl.
Cincinnati Enquirer Sept. 3d.
Gen. Ewing reached Cincinnati on Satur-
day evening, to spend Sunday here, after
speaking at New Vienna in the afternoon.
and arrived just in time to hear Carl Schurz.
He said the speech was ingenious and sophis-
teal. Mr.. Schurz did not deny that an i'm
imense saving could be made by the people
IN substituting greenbacks for bank notes.
He said, however, that if the subsidy of cir
culation were withdrawn from the National
banks, they would all give up their national
charters and organize under State laws, and
thus escape the federal supervision, which
had made them safe repositories of the peo-
PIES money. The argument is unsound, as
shown by the fact that nearly all of the
two Or three hundred National banks which
nave, through fear of their inability to
MAINTAIN resumption, voluntarily surren-
dered their circulation, have kept
right on as National banks. He (Mr. Schurz)
further objected to the substitution chiefly
because 1t would make resumption impossi-
Die, as the government would have to supply
coin to redeem double the amount of paper
Wnlcn, as things now stand, it will have to
take care of. But the fact is tn It, without
such substitution, the government must fur
nlsn all the coin the people want for circula-
ton or export, as the banks have not pro-
vlded themselves with coin. So that the
whole burden of supplying the gold wanted
by the people will fall on the treasury de-
partment, whether greenbacks be substituted
Tor bank notes or not. Hence, by Schurz's
own admission, resumption is impossible in
any event.
His chief argument against the repeal of
the resumption law and the substitution of
greenbacks for bank notes was that it would
certainly be followed by limitless imitation.
SO that men would finally take their green
backs to market in wheelbarrow and bring
home their marketing in their vest pocket.
He 1nstanced the assignats of the French
revolution and the continental and confed-
crate money. This argument and illustra-
ton are both stale and silly. The instances
OF excessive issues of paper were the result
| OF tremendous pressure of war necessity,
and it is absurd to say that all issues in time
of peace, irredeemable in coin, will
De equally excessive. Such issues
OF paper were not extravagantly large
IN France. or Austria, or Italy, or the United
States even under the pressure of her neces-
slty. The argument is at last based on the
theory that the people are not fit to rule on
the question of the volume of currency
which affects most profoundly all their in
dustrlal and property interests, but must sur
render that sovereign power to cliques of
moneyed men incorporated as National
banks And this, too, in face of the fact
that every one of dozen great panics before
the war was brought on by the disastrous
failures of banks in their attempts to supply
| the people with sufficient paper money re-
deemable in coin.
MI SchurZ spoke very complacently of
the tremendous fall of values which has
| been going on increasing ever since the re-
sumption law passed, and never SO much as
alluded to the fact that that fall of prices
| has doubled the burdens of debts and taxes.
and has reduced millions of wage people to
poverty and want. He attempted to show,
however, that the fall of values was the re-
suit of the panic Of 1873-when every body
knows that that panic had subsidized and its
bad effects had nearly passed before the re-
sumption law was enacted; which result was
lar9ely due to the fact that the greenback
currency was increased after the panic at
4
men of the national banks, which
had all collapsed and were refus-
ing to pay even depositors
| When the banks were distressed they got an
expansion of this ssdishonest money! to put
them on their feet; but when they cried out
for resumption the screws were put on the
people, and their cries for relief are answered
only by evasive sophistry.
MIR. SchDrZ eyl1ltp1 Ovar orr favoro hi q
balance of foreign trade which has been
caused largely by decreasing articles of abso-
| lutte necessity which the masses of our people
have grown too poor to buy; and by exports
at starvation prices, of breadstuffs, meats
cotton and WOODEN goods, and other articles
which, from the poverty of wage people, can
not be bought and paid for at home. If all
our wage people were reduced to breech-
clouts for clothing, and corn for fooa, we
could reduce imports and increase exports
| still more largely and make resumption dead
| sure thing, for our gold won't be called fol
to pay our foreign debt and expenditure:
as long as our market for breadstuffs and
manufactures is being broken down, and
wagge-people are kept st pauper wages pro-
| duclng for foreign buyers. That is the
price we are beginning to pay to reach re
sumption, and must continue to nav to
maintain it.
Mr.. Schurz declared himself f1at-footed
against even the half demonstration of sill
yer. which we have already accomplished
and think his reasoning is sound that gold
resumption is impossible under any con-
ditions unless silver coinage be restricted
still more, or its legal tender power be linn
tied. Resumption, therefore, means further
demonstration of silver and continued de-
preston of the price of labor and products.
This won't be tolerated by the people, and
therefore resumption will collapse under the
laws as they stand, even before a new ad-
ministration gets chance to end it by re-
peal.
The whole speech is a tissue of errors OF
fact or fallacies of reasoning.
THE INDIAN COMMISSION.
Continuation of the Inquiry at st. Louis---