The Portland daily press., 1878-08-10
[For the Press.l
Absolute Money.

Absolute money, in the cant Of the times,
is money, and nothing but money; an article
which is wholly competent in itself to the pur-
poses of exchange, and inca oable of being put
to any other use. Now the greenback dollar,
it is commended by certain party, is precisely
this article. 1t is true that it can be put to no
other use, but how about its competency to
the purposes Of exchange?
The greenback dollar is simply a piece of
paper, stamped and issued by the United States
with q promise to pay certain value, but at
no specified time. Aud the Indebtedness of
the promise is its chief recommendation with
the Greenback party, which they propose to
intensity by converting it into positive mega
ton, and enac.ing that it never shall be paid
but simply renewed by perpetual reissue.
The promise, therefore, is but lying promise,
never to be fulfilled. Why, then have the
dollar contain any promise at all? Why not
have the piece of paper stamped by the Unitsd
States "Good for one dollar, for two dollars"
&C., and issue in this form as money? The
theory being that the promise is never to be
fulfilled, it is no promise at all, and should not
be made. But what is a dollar without refer
ence to an equivalent in value? An empty
sound, wholly unmeaning word. A perpetu-
ally reasonable paper money, therefore. instead
of being absolute money, is bastard money,
lying token, mere pretense, never to be
endured in a sound commercial country. Does
any one believe that our country is to father
such a currency? In trading, men OF sense.
always suppose themselves to pe exchanging
equivalents, not less in exchanging for mon
ey than in other exchanges. The promise
to pay, though indefinite as to time of pay
ment, is what has kept the greenback dollar up
hitherto, and let it be understood, and enacted,
that it never is to be paid, but simply to be re-
issued from time to time, and it becomes
mere piece of paper, no equivalent in any
trade-money made by vOte-"fat money
with a vengeance. Enactng that money ia
never to be paid, is simply Re pu1iat1ou Green
backs, therefore, not redeemabe ia coin, and
even the promise to pay aDnulled BY a vote of
Congress, so far from being absolute money
are no money at ALL So obvious an absurdity
as that the dollar is redeemed by the article
for which il is passed off in exchange, it is pre-
sumed will no longer be asserted, since, if that
is so, q note of hand is paid, when passed to
another person in the way of trade, and paid as
afterwards SO passed, -indeed man giving
his note for an article pays it. Shall our gov
eminent, then, in this last half of the nine-
tenth century. establish such a currency as
This? Is it a fit thing for such a country to
do? And ii established, who is to regulate
and control it? 1t is to be a government cur
rency, and to be controlled of course BY Con-
gress. The government is to become great
banker, and that too in the most worthless
form of paper money positively irredeemable
and at best good for nothing except for the
purposes of exchange. Hence it may be is
sued in excess of the demand for legitimate
exchanges, and become deprecated in proper
tion to the excess. Dollars being too abundant
for the necessary demands of trade, and solicit
ing acceptance from every hand, will inevlta-
bly, be cheap, and purchase less and less of any
valuable article as the excess is increased. Still
as the only medium of exchange, it may be
used TILL 1t becomes so deprecated tn at it takes
busbel TO buy dinner; and there will be
thought to be the same scarcity of money at
every step in the downward progress, since the
Udtde OF the medium decreases with the in
crease of its yolotnae. Can Congress be trusted
to regulate such currency to the wants of
trade? You might as we'll trust them to regu-
late the price of wheat; indeed, in regulating
the amount of the currency, they would be
regulating the price of wheat and other articles
OF value, as this would vary with the amount is
sued. By continually tinkerino the currency, by
alternately contracting and expanding il, accord
ing to their notions of the amount required all
uniformity in prices would be destroyed Spec
ulators would purchase the crops of the farmer
when the price was low, confident of influence
ing the currency SO as to sell him his seed and
flour at a much higher rate. The amount of
currency required for the purposes of trade can
be determined in no other aody than by making
1t redeemable on demand in coin; since then
any excess of it is sure to flow in and be
redeemed, and thus be converted into the gen.
eral currency of the world. This is the only
Absolute Money worthy of the name. Let
the green backs be redeemabe in coin and the
bank currency in greenbacks and our money
system will be complete. JIG.