Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-09-06

and OF all the exchanges Of the country
will be under his exclusive control.
Now is it likely or possible that such
system will not be abused? and is it not
certain that within very short period
it will either be destroyed, or end in the
subversion of the government?
Thus the Republican party has pur-
sued safe, steady and conservative
pathway TO specie payments without a
serious contraction of the volume of the
currency, by utilizing as basis of val
ue both silver and gold, by keeping. in
circulation an amount of government
notes, legal tender, which it can without
great strain keep at par in coin leaving
the national banks to supply the residue,
contracting or expanding their issues
as the wants of trade and the demands
or business may require. 1t has been
a slow process, requiring nearly four
teen years OF peace to accomplish. 1t
has been done in spite of the money
changers on the one hand who insist up
on the single standard of gold, and in
spite of the financial wreckers on the
other, who by their policy, would de-
stroy all values, all property, and all in
centive to acquire it, and turn the count
ry its property and people, over to the
wreck and ruin which always follows an
unlimited issue of irrodeemable paper
money.
FIAT MONEY.
But now that greenbacks have be-
come nearly equal to coin value, the
money reformers at once lose their ad-
miration for them, and insist that they
shall be destroyed, and phantom take
their place. This they call fiat mon
ey " or decree money" viz, the govern
ment shall say this is a dollar and
thercupon it shall be dollar, with
out other value than the paper of which
it is made.
All experience-for this is not new
thing in the history Of finance is
against currency Of this kind All
the arguments in its favor have been
repeated again and again, for two cen
turies past. All experiments in this di-
rection have failed-and in failing have
brought disaster and ruin upon the peo-
pie who were deluded into them. John
Laws South Sea scheme, the French
assignats, the Colonial paper, and Con-
federate currency, are familiar illustra-
tons Of its folly.
THE VARIOUS PLANS
OF these finance reformers for issuing
this fiat money" | have not now
the time to discuss at length Two
leading plans are suggested: One is, to
issue these notes, and with them pay off
the interest bearing debt. The other is,
to loan the paper to the public at rates
OF interest OF from one to three per
cent
GEN. WEAVER S PLAN.
| believe that Gen. Weaver, in this
State, has still another method which,
if | understand it correctly, is to abol-
ish all taxes, and pay the expenses Of
the government by issuing this money.
| know OF nothing equal to this propo-
sltlon in craftsmanship, unless it be
that Of the Vermont farmer, who pro
posed to abolish all taxes, and pay the
government expenses out OF the treas
ury. Though Gen. Viewers plan has
one merit beyond that of the Vermont
farmer-for he does not propose to pay
at all If the government can be car
ried on in this way for two or three
years, as he proposes, why not always2
And why not educate our children by
issuing the fiat promises Of the State of
Iowa? Will not this be good money?
viii it not be based upon the farms,
the stores, the shops, and in short upon
the SSO0,O00,0OO or $500, geo, 000 Of prop
erty in the Statc-thc wealth Of the
State and the good faith of the State?
The Legislature can regulate the vol
ume This is the financial plan of the
fiat reformers.
The leaders in this cry of reform"
OF whatever party, propose no specific,
attainable measure They know how
easy it is to promise, and how far dis
tant is the chance Of fulGllmcnt; how
easy 1t Is to charge all the evils from
which country is suffering upon the
party in power, and how difficult it fire.
quently is to discover and do away with
the real causes of those evils. The
Democrats charge the stagnatlon Of
business, the depression in manufac-
lures, to the currency legislation of the
Republican party in Congress. But
they fail to state that this same stagna-
ton and depression exists in England,
in Germany, in Belgium, in Switzerland.
and in Italy-with currency conditions
in all those countries wholly different
from ours.
DEMOCRATIC RESPONSIBILITY.
But if legislation could cure these
evils, are the Republicans wholly 10
blame and the Democrats blameless?
The latter have held majority in the
House OF Representatives since March
3, 1873. The House has the sole power
and duty of originating revenue bills.
What have the Democrats in that body
been doing during these three years?
They censured our management Of the
public debt, but proposed no new meth
cd. They demanded the destruction of
national banks, but made no effort to
destroy them, until the last days of the
last long session, and then did not even
debate their measure in the House.
They made a loud cutlery against the
tariff and struggled for q session TO re-
form it; but the measure they brought
forward was so unpopular that it was
stranglcd in its birth They denounced
the Republicans for their extravaganza,
and at one Congress reduced appropria-
tons to deceive the country, only to
make up for the postponement of neces-
sary appropriations by heavy deficiency
bills at the last session. When the re-
act seemed certain to bring
the country by easy and natural pro-
cesses to specie payments, they insisted
on its repeal, but passed the repeal bill in
the House too late to accomplish its
avowed purpose They were clamorous
in their demand for the removal of all
restrictions from the use of the green
back, and when a Republican Senate
passed law directing that grcenbaoks
should be received for bonds, and after
the first of October next for customs,
they strangled the bill in the House:
and during the last hours of the session,
when single objection would defeat it
in the Senate, they sent to us partial
still discriminating against the
grecnbacks. They wasted the time of
committees and the House in fruitless
and the discussion Of abb
and finally, under the pre-
tence of investigating INTO alleged
frauds Of the last Presidential election,
they declined to investigate except
one side of the question, and thus
far their investigation has proven fruit
less of results. The country has now
had
THREE YEARS TRIAL