Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-11-15
The Financial Future OF the
Union.
NY. World.

n. Y. World.
IF anything could reconcile US tC
the defeat Of the Democratic candi.
dates in Ohio last month, it would
be the removal of all temptation fol
Democrats to tamper with the shaI.
low heresies of fiat money. The
Democracy has lost enough by that
craze; we do not mean that it has
lost Ohio, for Ohio is a Republican
State anyhow, but it has slaught-
cred one of our best men, Thurman,
who tampeped with and it has peri
lously alarmed New York. 1t is man
ifest that the Democracy can make
no further compromises with it, or
it will lose New York (Which can
be easily recovered), for the sake Of
eonciliating Ohio, which can not be
had at any price.
We have the whole financial prob
lem to reconsider then, and that our
readers may have the whole prob
lem before them, we cut from the
New York World the article below,
not by any means asserting to all
its propositions, but as specimen
of the opposite extreme to the Ohio
idea. We leave the matter at pres
ent without further comment, COM
mending the whole to the serious
consideration of those vino are in
terested, and there is no business
man who is not interested. ED.
CHRONICLE.
In less than a month Congress
will re-assemble. The first business
in order will be a serious considera-
tion of the needs of the country in
the way of financial legislation. The
Warner Silver bill, which was so
hastily pushed through the House
at the "eXtra session." was most
fortunately arrested in the Senate
by the prompt, fearless and decided
interpositiOn of MIR. Bayard. This
gave the prevailing popular passion
time to cool and enabled the sense
of the country to be taken on the
bill and on the issues connected
with it. The general drift of public
opinion respecting all forms of Gov
ernment legal-tender paper curren-
cy, on paper certificates Of gold and
silver coins or gold and silver bull
lion, and on free coinage of silver
in proper coming ratio with our
present gold dollar, has now been
aScertained with sufficient clearness.
The wisdom of the action taken by
the Chairman of the Senate Finance
committee, and supported bya ma
jOrity of his colleagues, has been
amply vindicated all over the land. !
There are conflicting opinions and
conflicting sectional interests i'm our
vast country yet to be reconciled,
and it is the business of Congress to !
formulate this reconciliation in leg
islation which the President cannot |
and will not veto. 1t is to be hoped |
that both Congress and the Presi- |
dent in this great work will rise |
above mere partisanship and think |
only OF the public welfare. Ger
tainly Mr.. Bayard in the past has |
given ample assurance that he at |
least will not fail in the future to act |
in this patriotic spirit. The country |
is rapidly growing rich again, and |
the balance of exchanges has turned |
in our favor by more than thOus-
and millions of dollars. We have |
really almost more gold and silver
than we need. Yet as the war left |
us in respect to our paper currency \
debt so do we stand to-day. We
had 1856, ,000,0 of greenbacks out
standing in 1869, when Grant came
into power, and we have over $780,
600, 900 to-day, while, thanks to Mr..
we have on the statute
book law which forbids any dim
mutton of this amount. One form
of our paper currency, the bank
note, rests upon another form, and
this again upon something else.
Our national fabric, financially
speaking, resembles the globe rest
ing on the elephant and the tor
toise In the Eastern fable. One or
the other of these forms of circula-
ting notes, as Mr.. COe clearly showed
i'm his Saratoga address in August
last, should be superseded. Con-
gress must now decide which Is the
filter to survive. There is no more
reason why the Government should
now emit legal tenders than why il
should issue Government bills of ex-
change on London as a means of
carrying on the foreign trade Of the
Paper currency for the in-
ternal trade and traffic of the coun-
try should be based on merchandise
or on property, just as foreign bills
Of exchange are based on merchan-
disc and tied to bills of lading.
Compare the condition Of our banks
with that of the Government in res
pect to the issue Of paper currency
or promises to pay coin. The ma
tional banks in August last were in
debted to the public:
For circulating notes............. 2s0,0OO0O0
100000
The assets Of those banks were:
Loans and debts due ............sI ,l9i 900 900
United States and other bonds. f20,000OO0
Join due from Treasury. 40,00gOO0
IA 100000
The banks had $I58 of assets for ev-
sry 500 of liabilities.
Now look at the Treasury bank
It had outstanding then, to say
nothing OF one, two or three year
lebts: u
,eQaI tenders ......... s2i8O0g,0O0
fractional notes, I5,o00,OO0i
Total ...... 1852 100000
To meet this Indebtedness the Treas
Iry bank had in coins and in bull
ion only sI4S, ,000,0 900, or a deficit Of
s214, 100000!
such banking, il done by an indi- ,
would be criminal. Mr..
confesses that the Treasury
ought to have merchandise behind
he Treasury notes. Else why did
ne keep then $l4S, ,0O0,0 900 and now
s176, 100000 Of coin and bullion ly- I