Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-08-30

great authority of Senator Thurman. On the 24th
OF March, 1874 newspaper extract was read IN the
Senate stating that Senator Thurman. in his cam
palgn speeches had characterized the panic as the
result OF an effort to force the resumption OF specie
payments In reply the Senator denounced this
statement as untrue, declared that he never uttered
such an idea, and he then set forth with master
iul clearneSs the real causes OF the panic,
namely, overtrading, running too much IN
debt, embarking in unremuneratlVe enter
prses ahq noAnay IN me Nortn Faeine ~ IN
terprse: These were the causes which the senator
assigned for the panic. It is far too late IN the DAY
for the Democracy to charge the business depression
OF this country upon the resumption law. They
speak of ''mercless contraction y and would have
the people believe that the pressure OF the
hard times is caused by an insufficient circulating
medium. deny in toto the truth of this allegation
and challenge them to make it good From the
oheial reports Of the SOth of June last il appears
that there are now outstanding in this country
s6sS 100000 of paper currency worth 80 II cents ON
the dollar It's real purchasing power IS, therefore,
$6S4, 100000, There has been but one year in our
history when the purchasing power OF our paper
money was greater than It is day, and that was in
1873, when the Secretary of the Treasury reissued
S 10000 of greenbacks in the vain attempt 10 stay
the progress Of the panic The decrease in face
value OF our paper currency has been more than
compensated by the increase Of its purchasing power
In reply TO all assailanls. we base the policy OF re-
sumption on these impregnable grounds:
First-The public faith demands it. By all the
solemn pledges which Nation give, the TestOra-
tion of specie payment promised when the
greenback was issued That promise ought to have
been kept long ago; and IL is as unpatrOe as 1t Is
dishonest to attempt to prevent its fulfment now.
Second-The highest interests, both of labor ana
OF capital, demand resumption. Uncertainty is the
worst element that enter into Nhe business cal
culations of men, and the uncertainty which leeis
ntion brings is the worst form of uncertainty The
government must get out of the way and let pros
perity return 1t can do this best by putting It out
of the power Of Congress to change our standard Of
value by its votes
Third-Ihe chief hardships of resumption have
already been endured. When the law was passed in
1875, our paper money was at discount of Is per
cent. Since then it has slowly and steadily become
better, month by month, until now It IS but hall
cent below par The short step to stability and
tainty VIII hurt far less than to retce our steps and
plunge back again into the evils from which have
escaped. should we now retreat, the unsettled
trRnsactions of the last year would be thrown into
utter confusion. If we now abandon the attempt at
resumption, the future viii be clouded with an un-
certainty that viii destroy confidence and prevent
the return of prosperity.
Three years ago the Democracy denounced the re-
sumption law as inefficient. Now they denounee it
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 our stock of the precious metals
and the moment that greenbacks Ire equal to eotn
there win be added TO our effective currency the
prevent this They denounce US for making the
greenback better. They seek to make II worse
When resumption comes the laboring mans
dollar viii be equal to the best dollar in the
world. If the effort of the Democracy to repeal the
resumption law should succeed, it would make the
greenback doliar poorer, and make the circulation
of gold coin impossible. II the farmers and laborers
OF this country want their money shrvel in their
bands let them help to prevent ~ reSuIptioIp; sum I II
hnue stable and secure, they must hold on to the
law as IL is.
The resumption act did not provide for the de-
structioD Of the greenback currency. As construed
BY the administration it left $780, 900 Of green
backs TO be kept in circulation. By an act OF the
present Congress the amount to be kept in eircula
ton after resumption is 900. 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 can be kept at par with
coin, and no more The resumption law provides
that the greenback shall become and remain equal
to coin. This the Ohio Democrats oppose
GREENBACKs IN PLACE OF NATIONAL BANK NOTES
Fearing that even by the repeal of the resumption
they may not now be able to prevent the restor
alton OF specie payments. the Ohio Democracy are
determined TO take such further steps shall rem
der resumption impossible. They demand the
abolition of the national banks and the issue Of S
600 600 of greenbacks in place of the national bank
notes to be destroyed. The objections to this are
First-That it is fat violation of the Constitu-
ton. Every Democratic member OF the Supreme
Court has declared that even our present issue Of
greenbacks Is unconstitutional. The majority of
that court defended them only es a war measure.
No lawyer believes that the court will sustain ad
ditional 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-
stitutionel legislation.
Second-The proposed substitution renders re-
sumption impossible. As the law now stands, the
government must maintain 1000 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 IRON this
duty and throw the whole burden upon the Treasu-
nv and the people By an additional issue of sS2I
100000 of greenbacks, they make the Treasury re-
sponsible for maintaining s670,0O0,0O0 OF paper.
Every intelligent man knows that the Treasury can
not keep SO large volume at par,
Third-This substitution would entail gTievOus
burdens upon the taxpayers of the country. AS the
Tau OraeOhRpka pTpmnt from
tion. Poor men, who hold but few, gain little ad-
vantage from this exemption; but il is well known
into greenbacks on the day when the State assess
ment for taxation is to be made, and thus escape
large share Of the public burdens; Both the stock
and notes onatonal banks are subject TO heavy tax
alton The government taxes their circulation and
the States tax their stock and outstanding notes.
From 1856 TO 1876 inclusive, the States and the ma
ton received S1S7 600 of taxes from the national
banks. The Democracy propose to abandon all this
and create in its stead q privileged currency OF
s2l4 900 OOO which will be exempt from taxation.
Fourth-f this attempt is successful II will result
in the restoration of the wretched State bank system
that prevailed before the war. No man OF intelli
geuce will pretend that the business of this country
can be carried on without banking facilities Sta
tistics show that nearly 80 per cent OF our ex-
changes are carried on by means OF bar checks,
drafts and commercial bills and only 10 pr cent
by the actual use of money. For the uses Of mod
ern 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
Il
has ever known, and which greatly increases the
security of depositors The people must choose be-
tween this national system ana 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 or folly
the honesty rascaity of their managers dictated
Their notes had 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-nne
failures of Illinois banks. Within that period the
holders Of Illinois currency lost S3,0OO0O0 by
the failure and depreciation of the notes,
beside the still greater loss to depostOrs and Gus
TONERS. OF thirty-six broken banks of Wisconsin
during the same period, only six redeemed their
notes at high rate eighty cents the dollar.
Even in 1860 the report Of eighteen States showed
that out of 231 banks, 147 were broken, pa we're
closed, and l31 were nearly worthless
Fifth-A fatal objection to the substitution of
greenbacks for national bank notes is this that it
makes complete divorce between the business Of
the country and the volume of its eircu-
lating medium. Now, under free bank
ing, the volume will increase or dimin-
ish' according to the demands of bust
ness Under the proposed system of issuing all our
paper money directly from the Treasury, the vol
I ~. II