The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-01-06
non ancis A. Wolff On the Finan,
cial Situation.
Rpring Reporter.l

: your candidacy for Congress, / was anxiou
0 to engage you in debete strictly upon tn,
[ Greenback question l wanted to deal witt
: a champion of your acknowledged abii ty-
l and what makes up gentleman with cul
I tiyated mind, eloquent and magnanlmous II
: debate withal that native courtesy and ge
l NAL disposition that has drawn around you
2 so many friends. Iovertook you at Canaan
2 in Benton county, but your limited notice IL
a busy season failed to bring out an audience
and we regretted the Disappointment After
the election / still had desire to eommu
nicate with you. / wanted, while your party
was going, and gone, to console you with
the reflection, that while we reject that
which is bad, your essential, legitimate and
ever living principles still survive in the
Democratic party. The recent election has
clearly developed the fact that the strength
you claimed last year was swelled by
auxiliaries from the Republican party, any
your little flag this year was not seen in thd
smoke of battle. | have no desire to twie
you for not dismembering your party, for it
was mooted question as to what party
would make the most proselytes as there
were 50 many of a Republican diathesis.
Between the two parties in opposition to
Democracy l never could discover any
affinity upon principals In the North we
sometimes coalesced with the Greenbackers,
but in the South the coalition was between
our opponents, which reminds me of the
snakes and the little prairie dogs in the
prairie countries they live together in their
burrowed villages upon terms of perfe ct
amity. We can't afford to give up our
Democratic friends We still regard them
as a species of the genus of Democracy. The
agitation of the financial question has been
productive of much good, and our citizens
are taking lively interest in monetary lit
erature and when the prejudice and passions
| engendered by the war shall have passed
away, the strength of the two great parties
will be fully tested by live and legitimate
issues. Much of the ground passed over will
be surveyed and new fields will be present
ed to the view.
The act for the resumption of specie pay
ments, passed January IA, 1915. The
period arrived the first day of January,
| 1879. The CESSATION was accompanied by
much travail The wealthy fundmongers
were particularly anxious to wipe this cur
rency out of existence and Republican
| administration was swift in the supply of
facilities. The holders of the fve-twenty
bonds were the most importunate. Indeed,
| they had availed themselves of the opportu-
nifty presented by the act of the 18th day
of April, 1866, which authorized the
funding of greenbacks into $40 bonds at 6
per cent They did not want 'lawful
! money" nor f'dollars" They wanted gold.
! Finally Congress passed the credit strength
ening act of March 18th, 1869:
''rhe faith of the government is solemnly
pledged to the payment in coin or its equiv
| alent, of all the obligations of the United
| States not bearing interest known as United
States notes, and all the interest bearing
obligations, except in cases where the law
authorizing the issue of any such obligation
has expressly provided that the same may
be paid in lawful money, or in other cur
rency than gold and silver.
And the United
States solemnly pledges its faith to make
provision at the earliest practical period
for redemption of the United States notes
in coin"
This gave comfort to the bondholders,
but while there were yet some constructive
doubts many were happy 10 ref0frtr rr Il
per Ponds But to get back toy re-
Sd sum tion, here is one of the instrumenSali-
| ties
"The department in its circular of the
14th inst, having directed that after the
first of January next, no distinction be
made between coin and notes, in keeping
rendering or settling the accounts of pub
lie officers involving transactions which
occur subsequently to that date, you will
keep but one money of account.
! ['79-337.
Prior to that time, importers paid their
customs-dues in gold, and the government
| paid the interest on the bonds in gold from
decline in paper money would be a
| tempting invitation to fraud and derange>
ment in the receipts of customs dues before
the circular could be revoked. While the
| beam might hang down in the direction of
| free trade, it might as suddenly rise to a
prohibitory tariff. Here kind Providence
| interposed, the balance of trade that has
| always been against suddenly turned in
our favor. Another blessing came in with
this same tide our ratio between the metals
| became invulnerable to the attacks of the
great nancy centers of Europe. BY our
admirable system of exchanges and clears
| ing houses, gold does not flow outwardly; it
comes in even the interest on our bonds is
caught up in the drifts of Wall street.
English merchants in settling their balances
can obtain exchange on New York through
the Rothchilds agencies while We, our
selves, havo no balances to settle beyond
the sea.
Great piles of coin were amassed; for
which, at different periods were issued
So, 900, 900 of bonds at a per cent. and
$50, 800, 900 at per cent. together with
accumulated surplus in the treasury for
resumption. As the popular idea is to
maintain a greenback circulation for all
time to come, regard the policy of re-
sumption a farce. The business of the
government should be to keep greenback
alta par with coin. Automatically, a sur
should be retired This reminds me of
what Mr.. Endicott stated before the tf nj
ted States Monetary Commission n
'The proper way to resume, is by COM
mencing at the other end, viz: by with
drawing paper to a point, at which will be
possible to resume without danger" p. 384.
With this plan of preparation, is as far
as we need 60 five can raise paper to a
par with gold, resumption is altogether I'M
necessary. Small bills are so scarce now, we
| are often bafled to resume our subscription
| for newspapers Why keep up resumption
agencies with long counters and rows of sleek
clerks, whose salaries almost amount to
sinecure? When probably across the streets
merchants are clamoring to exchange their |
massive silver for portable and transpoTta-
bic paper money.
Resumption waxed in proportion to the
growing ascendency of the Democratic par
ty. It is not the money in the treasury that |
holds our paper at par, 1t is the wealth, |
prosperity and stability of the government. |
Peter Cooper remarked that "Greenback |
holds mortgage upon the individual wealth |
of the nation" and he might have added |
upon the hearts of the people "Greenback |
comes to US from the furnace and the perils |
of the war" The most beautiful flower in |
the financial boquet
In harmony with the views of Mr.. WeaY-
er, am in favor of paying it all out in the /
standard dollar of 412A grains. Congress
was too swift to repeal the privilege taxes /;
we must revive some of them, particularly |
the graduated income tax, and the tariff on |
imports should come gradually within the /
revenue standard, with protection incident /
ally. Appropriations for internal improves
ment shoid be strictly national and limited /
in the aggregate BY wise legislation in a
few years we can exhibits the phenomenon
of nation free from debt.
Competent authorities are agreed that /
three DER cent. of all circulating paper mon
ey is destroyed by fire. water. mutilation /
and other casualties which is an argument 4
in favor of duplicating that is Irresistible. t
One other function; il the balance of trade /
was to set in against us we could still MAIN
tain our ratio between gold and silver BY
retirinr our gold through the channel OF 1
....t...r1l Ines and be renrnsented by outstaRd-