The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-08-21

@A9
money In the same way that our Greer
back friends look upon the seyen.thirt
notes as current money. But in both case
: they were debts to be paid, and nj
money.
RESUMPTION nor TnE CAUSE oY HARD TINE
Again, itcontractton Of the currency
the cause Of the hard times, why did tn
hard times extend 10 all Europe and |
the whole civilized world? Its Clearl
shown that the panic Of 1873 extended i
Its widening folds 80 as to embrace all th
commercial nations OF Europe, whicI
could not be affected by the volume OF on
paper money, but were affected by tn
general distress under which we suffered
The Republicans believed that the vOlumI
Of our currency, being lrredeemable ant
variable In value, was n cause which
produced the panic Of 1873, and that otheI
causes, such as the waste Of great wars
over:production, wild speculation, unprO
ductive enterprises, inflated prices, q reCk'
less gambling spirit, which ut times seem
to seize upon nations and individuals, con
Cured to produce the great panic OF 1873,
and that the chief Of these was an ire
deemable paper money which varied
In value from day to day. AT
the very time the panic came upon us,
l was traversinR the country as q member
Of q Senate Committee On Transportation,
charged with the duty OF examining
whether 1t would not be expedient to
build three great lines ofwater t~ransperta.
ton from the West to the sea, which, II
entered upon, would have not cost less than
$S00.000,006. At that time the grievance
OF the hour on the part Of the Changers,
or the the farmers OF the west, was that
the cost Of transportation was so great a.
TO consume their product; and among the
wild schemes Of the time 1t was proposed
TO embark the National Government into
vast expensive works, which would, In my
Judgement, have been Of little value II con.
structed. This high cost OIL Transportation
was itself the effect Of inflated prices,
while cheap transportation, the cheapest
in the world, has been one OF the beHef.
clal results OF the panic OF 1873,
TAILAoY or MRLATEoH.
Now, as { the remedy. Our Greenback
friends proposed to meet the panic Of 1873
by q large issue Of ~irredeemable paper
money. Yielding to the demand for an
increase In the volume OF tho currency,
General Grant did authorize the issue
OF S26,0O0000 Of United States notes that
had been retired prior to 1868. This nc.
ton had not the slightest effect in arresting
that panic, but tended ratherto impair con.
idence and cause the boarding OF capital.
Free banking, also, was resorted TO, and
was one Of the provisions OF the reslmp-
ton act. Under that act, banking became
as fee as any other trade or occupation,
and any amount OF paper money could
be Issued upon the security Of bonds
deposited in the Treasury. But, although
this privilege was opened to every one,
scarcely any banks were organized under
1t, and IN amount Of circulation greater
than was Issued under this open privilege
was freely surrendered, because it could
not be used. Our GreenbaCk friends
would have forced the issue Of so large an
amount Of irredeemable paper money as
10 have lifted out OF debt the greatest
bankrupt in the country. They pointed to
the wrecks OF broken fortunes stranded
along the great ocean Of business, and de-
manded money enough to be put NflOat to
raise them all into solvency.
1t Is scarcely necessary, at this late day
Of the discussion, to point out the fallacY
OF these wild and reckless schemes Of Wis
ionary enthusiasts, who would have flood
ed the whole country, destroyed all val
ues and driven the nation into universal
bankruptcy, and compelled it to return,
through barter, to coin again. The sober
Judgment OF u people has SO often cor.
denned this that It is scarcely neces-
sary for me to point out the inevi.
table effects OF such an issue OF paper
money. Republicans as well Us Democrats
shared in the delusions OF the time; but
as the discussion proceeded, and the pub
lie judgment was cleared, the Republican
party did, as 1t has uniformly done for the
last twenty years, take the responsibility
OF proposinga definite measure TO cure the
evils under which We were suffering.
Eighteen months OF failure and disaster
had proceeded before the Republicans
could be so far united as to propose and
pass the resumption act through both
Houses Of Congress; andthis was intend
ed as the remedy for the panic. Tho final
Judgment OF the Republican party was,
that the only proper remedy was to base
our currency upon a coin standard and
issue no money in any form except that
which was redeemable in gold and silver
coin. This central ideaha been uniform.
ly advocated by the leaders OF the Demo-
cratic party; but they, as on other ques-
tons, finding the responsibility resting
upon the Republicans, and willing to make
political capital out of any act, however
~meritorious, that the Republicans might
pass, voted against the resumption act,
and thus made a party measure Of that
which should have been supported by
everybody in the land.