The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-06-11
ISSUES OF THE CANVASS.
NEEDED FINANCIAL REFORM.

mare Of disappointment and realizing
sense Of utter shipwreck; hopes lost,
fortunes ruined, energies paralyzed.
The Greenbacker who advocates a
% fiat" money system simply proposes
10 revive on large scale g Brandon
times" Of which the old inhabitants Of
our State have a vivid recollection.
Our forefathers by stress of war were
forced to resort to the fiat system.
Their 81 continental currency" served
its purposes in war, but it deprecated
until it was not worth a " continental"
8. Confederate money" was abundant,
and it made times flush for awhile, but
everybody knows that even if the Con
federacy had succeeded, it would have
gone the way Of its Continental prede-
cessor in earlier days, and Of Bran
don bank bills and the other wildcat
currency in later times.
1t ha. always been the fate Of - fiat
money to 20 up like rocket with a
flash which dazzles for a while, and to
come down like a stick. Currency to
be lasting, must have solid basis. 1t
must have intrinsic value Gold and
silver are staple in value, and these
metals are necessary To a permanent
and solid paper medium Of circulation.
These metals are worth about a. much
in one part Of the world "a the other;
and since Abraham purchased land for
the burial Of his aged wife Sarah in the
field Of Macpelah, with four hundred
shekels Of silver, they have been re
cognized as either the money, or the
basis Of the money, of the world. Hence
we assert what the experience Of every
government proves, that currency to be
a trustworthy medium of exchange and
measure Of commodities, must have
basis Of actual money, otherwise values
Auctuate, confidence is destroyed, bust
ness depressed and the public becomes
the prey Of spectators.
The d" Independent system of finance
to make money cheap and plentiful, isl
easy of accomplishment. 1t is only ne
cessary to put the presses to work and
print it by the billion. 1t would be
plentiful, but it would require immense
quantities to carry on the business off
the country. Five, ten or fifteen dollars
of it would represent a silver dollar
of the fathers, and it would take double
that number to purchase your break |
fast. Prices. of everything, Except per-
haps the great staples which we produce
and which outside nations buy, would |
90 booming, and then would follow the |
crash, and bankruptcy and
oud wall Of distress and crashing Of
.eeth.
There is no reason why instead of
billions Of superfluous, false money, there
should not be an ample supply of the
real article for all the uses of the pub
ic. The United States is the great
gold and silver-producing country Of the
world; and its precious metals should
De utilized as currency, or the basis of
t. The heresy propogated by the bond
holders for their own gain that silver
should be dishonored as a measure of
# value, is rapidly disappearing in this
Even in England where it has
peep tried in the interest of the privi-
eyed classes, great revolution is going
N. The last Congress passed law only
remonetizing silver, and the
administration has exercised its inge-
luity to render it nugatory. These eff
orts should he counteracted, and bill 4
passed for It's free and unlimited coinage i
n addition let Treasury certificates be
ssued to represent the gold and silver
bullion purchased by the government
or coinage These certificates would
,e the equivalent of gold and silver and
,e receivable for all dues, and payable
or all government obligations. 1t
would constitute cRrrency as substan-
ial as the metals Oh which it rested. Il
substitute legal tender paper Of this
description for the notes of the national
ranks and thereby break up the dan
-erous combination Of the money power,
nd save TO the taxpayers the fifteen or
wenty millions Of dollars which ii is
osting them annually. n
! Another evil to be removed is the
xtravagant expenditures of public :
honey. The expenses of the govern i
lent are four times more than they t
ere in 1861 when the Republicans OBJ
aimed control of the government. They
ONE directly out of the pockets of the
bling maSses-not of the favored few :
no have invested their over-grown =
'Ftupes in capital which it has been r
ne rule Of the Republican party TO ex- q
mpt from taxation, From fifty mil o
ons to one hundred millions of dollars 4
ould be saved annually to the tax c
ayers under the economical system to t
hich the Democratic party is pledged. il
Tho burdens of government ought to c.
9 equa1ized. This would be accom-
lished by imposing tax on incomes S
bove specified sum, say 50, 900, which .
ould touch the pockets of Northern /,
lpitalists who have grown rich on the v
lisfortunes of the country, and compel b
lem to bear their proportionate share n
its INsdsRS. The internal revenue n
stem enforced BY the dominant party
monstrous iniquity. For example,
le receipts from internal revenue for !