New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-08-21
THE A B c OF FINANCE.
Nm.

Take care of the quality, and the quantity VIII
take care of itself As to money, that Is the golden
yule for any people. Keep the money good, and
any lack viii be quickly supplied For then coin
Will come OF 90 It is wanted. and the people can
freely fix BY their acts the amount Of notes OF com
tbev find nest useful. Il they have too many
,o,es some will be redeemed. and this is not
traction but a substitution OF coin for notes in use
IL tbev still have too much money, gold VIII go
abroad but this is only sale of property for which
we have no present use.
So OF good money there can never be too little
pnt of bad money there can never be enough. All
o9r trouble about money springs from ignorance OF
this tact Yet II is as absolute law Of nature as
tbat staenant water viii get foul. Stagnant cur
yencv. that not kept pure by free redemption in
coin, Will inevitably get bad and insufficient for
the work It has to do
p,nor money Is confined to one land gold goes
=, IN lands. and Is the money of the world. If the
,aoer and the gold are freely exchanged, the gold
viii come in OF go out. as more OF less money may
he needed and thus the whole may be kept pure.
Rut if they are not freely EXCHANGED, the gold at
once becomes the better because it travel, and
nay foreigners in ports and on our borders The
nan who has both Will never pay out the gold
when the paper Will serve. The difference may be
small M first but it is fatal. Gold can do ali that
the paper can do, and some things more therefore
men wall not pay out the gold at par FOR paper, lest
tuev may fan to get il back. No one VIII then de-
posi-. OF lend gold, to take pay IN papeT. The gold
masses out of use as money It no longer serve
as reserve nor 20 freely from hand to hand. Men
vbohave it VIII lock it ap in special deposits, OF
private safes OF boards. It becomes merchandise,
aud the amount of current money in the country
sbrinks 10 that extent This causes real scarcity,
hut gold viii not go to that country because
there no use for il there. 1t goes abroad because
elsewhere it is more needed. Whatever stays LiGes
itself and adds no more to the supply of money
than so many pounds of lead OF ounces of diamonds
Would add.
This very thing would result in this country, re-
dempton Of paper money should be stopped. We
should take away from present supply Of cur
rent money all the gold IN the country, which
would vanish from sight into the hiding places and
locked vaults where 1t waited seventeen years, and
at the same time we should close and bar the doors
against the unlimited supply Of gold that the world
has on hand. At this hour. disaster would strike
down reviying trade and industry, were it not
known that $50 OOO, 900 in bullion, not needed In
the Bank Of England, had begun TO come hither
even before the need of il was felt. No man who
holds that more money is needed here should consent
to shut out that full supply. and to take away from
our current money all the gold now in use.
In every land there are times Of special need for
IN enlarged supply of money. Here, such need often
comes with the movement Of the crops. At other
times. in every land. too much money is found in
use and IL the excess is not relieved By outflow,
wild speculation is apt TO come, until bread and
goods are made too dear for consumers In April we
exported = 100000 Of specie, which IN August we
shall take back again. Thus IN times of lack OF
excess gold flows in or out but paper can do
neither. When there is TOO much, or when there Is
too little, there is no help for it without redemp-
ton, save in the slow action Of Government. If
more is issued 70 meet a temporary want there VIII
be too much after that want has passed, and, long
before Government can withdraw any, mischief viii
be done. That Is a stagnant currencyj II can
neither flow in nor out At period il is certain
20 be in excess of changing needs. Then specula-
ton kindles and prices rise. Each dollar viii buy
less so that all the money In scarcely sutces,
though the season is not Of great natural activ
fly But when the season changes, and there Is
more work to be done by money. suddenly there is
q great lack The money IN has lost part of its
buviug power, prices having been pushed too far.
Wild cutlery Is raised at for more money, and
Of such money fifty times as much would not be
enough. Having begun to depreciate, and to get
Insufficient for ITS work because il has deprecated,
1t will grow worse surely as specked apples will
rot.
OF such money, there always seems to be not
enough. IL breeds the galubllng leNtEs anu ulOLo
money is wanted in two days Of wild speculation
than healthy trade would need in a week. 1t breeds
habits OF waste, and when forty millions Of people
are spending quarters as If they were dimes, more
money is always wanted. 1t prompts retail dealers
and mid llemen TO higher charges, in order 90 cover
their risk from sharp changes of price, but their
higher charges make more money wanted. The
trouble is that the stuff Will not buy enough. In
time of temporary excess, it could not get out Of
the country and so pushed prices upward, until 1t
has lost part Of the buying power It pretends to
have. hen in a time when full currency is needed
prices and habits viii not yield quickly enough TO
restore the lost buying power. 1t is short task to
pOuT a gallon of water into gallon Of whiskey, but
it's not easy to get back the pure liquor OF full
strength. So there is painful lack of money, and
al intense demand for larger issue Of notes Never
yer has any Government wholly resisted that pres
sure. Strong appeals made to ignorance and
passion. The poor told that money is only
because some rich men please 10 make it so. But
the real trouble is only to the quality, not 10
the quantity of the money. Like some powder made
by Confederates during the war, there was enough
Of IT, but it woald not throw bullets far 1t did
no good to mix charcoal with it, and 1t does
good to add more paper to a deprecated currency.
The money cannot do the work because il is too
Door; not because there is too little of il.
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