The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-09-02
THE ARGUS.
Some Leaves from it's Record.
It's Past Opinions on the Currency, the
Banks, Silver, Currency Agitation, &c.

It's Past Opinions on the Currency, the
Banks, Silver, Currency Agitation, &c.
| The leaves from the Argus record which
we present below, deserve to be read,
especially by hard-money Democrats. They
show where the Argus and the Democracy
of Maine stood on the currency question not
| long ago. They show that the Argus and
the supporters of the present policy have
completely changed their position. To hon
| est, hard-money Democrats who believe i'll
| the declarations of Jackson and Benton,
| these extracts from a journal that has here
| tofore been regarded by them as the mouth
| piece of party opinion, must be humiliating
| reading. We invite them to look at these
extracts and ascertain for themselves how
that journal has changed, how completely it
has abandoned the principles it professed
| scarcely more than year ago. Have they
| deserted hard-money principles, too, and
| are they in accord with the argus? If
they have not abandoned those principles
| the Argus has abandoned them. If they are
where they were year or two ago, the
| argus is not. If they are Democrats still,
| the argus is not Democratic, and the policy
| it advocates is not Democratic policy
Let Democrats examine the passages we
| have quoted and compare them with the
utterances of that journal since June of this
| year. Let them then ask themselves if
| they can consistently and as honest men,
| follow the argus policy. Do they propose
| by their votes to sustain and encourage the
Argus and that policy of fusion which has
| led the Argus into this sad and shameful
| humiliation and abandonment of principle?
Three years ago Samuel j. Tllden wrote
and the argus approved these words:
ga financial policy which should secure the
| highest credit, wisely availed of, ought gradu-
! ally to obtain a reduction of ore per cent. in
the interest on most of the loans. A saving of
| one per cent. on the average would be seven
teen millions year in gold. That saving reg
| ularly invested at four and half per cent.
would, in less than thirty-eight years, extin-
guish the principal. The whole 1900 millions
of bonded debt might be paid by this saving
alone, without cost to the people,"
The argus sneers at that financial policy
now as it once condemned the demagogues
who are overrunning the State preaching to
laboring men and assuming to teach
finance. To-day it advertises the meet
ings of these demagogues and cheers
them on. 1t has even struck hands
with them and their followers, and
formed on alliance whose object is to secure
offices for the fusion leaders and whose re-
suit is to degrade the Democratic party. Do
the hard-money Democrats of Maine stand
on that declaration of Mr.. Tilden's or do
they follow the Argus in sneering at and
abandoning it? Let them bethink them
selves who the men are that have carried
that Tilden policy into successful execution,
and where the influence and the votes of
hard-money Democrats should go. These
head to-day. Do they propose to themselves
similar feat in gymnastics?
| We ask them to read what the argus has
said previous to this year about the consti-
| stitutionality of the legal-tender greenback,
| about the silver question, about the banks,
about refunding, about agitation of the cur
rency question, about resumption, about the
Greenbackers, about Presidential vetoes,
and compare those opinions with the
professions the Aryus makes and the
course the Argus takes to-day. We in
vite them to compare those past utterances
| with the following extract from the Argus
| leader advocating fusion:
| There is substantial agreement that corpora
| tions ought not to be paid large bonus for is
| suing paper currency, but that the general
! government has the power to do it, and that in
| the interests of the people, in the interests of
industry and of trade it ought to do it. In 9TH
| er words Democrats and Greenbackers are in
substantial agreement upon the following
| points, viz:
sesses the power under the constitution to issue
| a paper currency for the people-that this is
| one of the high prerogatives
We agree that it is the duty of the govern
ment, in the interests of the people to exercise
| this prerogative and issue such currency; and
| that our country can never attain its highest
| condition of solid and enduring prosperity un-
| til the government does issue the currency.
We agree that banking institutions should
| not be allowed to issue currency-but that
| their bills now outstanding should be gradual
| ly Withdrawn and public Indebtedness paid off
| with the greenbacks issued to take their place.
We agree that the free and unlimited coin
| age of silver should be restored
| Has or has not the Argus in these four of
| its nine points, belied its own utterances and
| forsaken the Democratic principles it ad-
| vocated but short time ago? Do you,
| hard-money Democrat, propose to follow it
| in its shameless course? Or do you intend
| to rebuke for its desertion of those doc
| trines you hold and it once held?
| In some of the extracts below, the signature
of an Argus correspondent, "Ante-Bellum." !"
appears. He was arguing against the banking
and currency system, and the Argus was
combating his arguments.
WHAT THE ARGUS THOUGHT OF NATIONAL
BANKS.
There is no question whatever that the
present system of national paper currency is
the safest we have ever had. The payment Of
the bills of the National banks is absolutely
secured, and if now the reserves in the banks
were coin instead OF greenbacks they would at
once answer all the requirements of currency;
for when gold should be needed for particu-
lar purpose it would be forthcoming on demand.
The system at present is theoretically that of
free banking, but practically it is not so, be-
cause the bonds required to be deposited as Sc
curity for the bills issued are at SO high pre-
MUM that new banks are placed at decided
disadvantage as compared with those early es-
tablished Let this be remedied and some
other notifications made with the bills con-
vertible into coin on demand and better
banking system or better currency need not
be asked for They would stand all the tests
of Theory and practice for good currency. And
an adoption of the free banking feature would
subject them to the same self-adjusting laws as
to volume &C., which regulate the trade of
the world Establish practically
Tree ba king on a specie basis and the law of
supply and demand will without strain or dis
turbance settle it 1.-THE question as to whether
our currency it redundant or not] so that nc
body will question its correctness Argus,
Jan. 4, 1876.
And it IN. Y. Commercial Bulletin] asserts
what it will be very difficult to controvert,
that provided United States notes are ade-
ouately covered with coin, the banks can use
them as the representatives of coin just as well
as they could use the coin ITSELF
Then he [Ante-Bellum says we have cur
rency the most costly,-our people paying for
it S122, 900, ,OC0 year, or some sixteen per cent.
on the amount. How this is figured out we do
not see The greenbacks and fractional cur
rency costs only the printing and the bank
notes only the interest paid on them the same as
in ante-bellum days The interest paid on the
bon dis deposited as security for the bills is
properly included as part of the taxation