Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1882-01-26

r: carry out your suggestions, they woul
s. inevitably bring upon the country or
If OF the most widespread and long-col
8 tinued panics ever known in the hist,
{. ry of this country; a panic that woul
!. involve the business men in bankrup
n cy, and inaugurate a revolution anon
!. the laboring classes.
o Has not the supreme court repeated
d y decided that the issue of legal ter
n der notes by the government was
constitutional measure, and as thes
:. notes are now, as you say, IA conven
3 ent and safe currency" and "a prof
+. to the government" and are preferre
: to either gold or silver coin by the bus
q ness men of the nation, and for twent
!. years have thus been used, would
. not be financial suicide to at'enr
t either to remove their legal tende
q quality, or to W thdraw them fror
circulation? Are they not in fact tn
only staple currency we have? Fo
! the last three and half years, thei
volume has been fixed and uniform
, Ihat volume can only be changed b
act of congress, and after the mos
mature deliberation, while the curren
cy of the banks is lluctuating enor
, mously at the pleasure of bank officers
Your report even admits that th
banks, by retiring their circulation
might cause serious contraction O
the currency, and grave embarrass
ments in business" and you advise az
a remedy that they simply be required
to give previous notice of their intent
ion to retire their circulation; but vii
your suggestions in that regard remedy
the evils of contraction or of imitation
The banks now hold the power OF
almost unlimited imitation and con
traction, which power they are using
to their own advantage, and there will
be no stability or safety in business
until that power is taken from them.
The constitutional right to coin
money; to make legal tenders and ia
Issue currency rests IN congress alone,
and the people will never secure jus.
tice between d. btors and creditors until,
as Thomas Jefferson said, "bank paper
IS suppressed, and the function of issu-
ing currency is restored to the govern.
ment to whom it belongs and that all
currency whether coin or paper is made
"A legal tender for debt.
Again, | cannot but regard your sug.
tion to stop the coinage of silver as ex
ceedingly unwise. From your own
statements it appears that nearly all
the silver dollars now in the treasury,
are covered by silver certificates. and
these certificates have been issued on
a deposit OF an equivalent in gold coin,
showing conclusiyely that certificates,
which you Intimate are 'redeemable
in silver dollars worth but So cents
in gold" are preferred by the people
for business uses, to gold coin.
Mr., John Thompson, of the Chase ma.
tiOnal bank has declared that.
"Ihe sooner silver and silver certif-
Gates constitute the major part of
our money, the farther off will be a
panic and 4 revolution"
Instead of Withdrawing silver certii-
lcates the government should issue Ger.
tiiicateS covering all of the gold and
silver coin and bullion that the people
choose to deposit with the government.
If this was done, aud bank notes with
drawn, and legal tender notes were
made interchangeable with gold and
silver coin and certificates, we should
for once get sound currency; one that
could not be inflated and contracted at
the option of bank presidents-and one
that would be impartial in adjusting
claims between debtors and creditors.
Your suggestion too, that the bonds
be all paid in gold coin values, might
well be regarded as nos only unwise
but unjust to the American people, who
have the bonds to pay. You must not
forget that most of the original bonds
We're issued, when both gold and silver
coin, and treasury notes were the law
ful money of the country, and that the
original purchaser only paid 30 cents
on the dollar in coin for some of them,
and that large majority of those
bonds were sold at less Than 81 cents
on the dollar, in coin. Those bonds,
many of them, were paid for in treasu.
ry notes, and were redeemable in those
notes as well as coin. Where is the
Justice, ask, in compelling the people
now to pay all these bonds in gold Have
the people no rights that are to be re.
spected in this matteri Must the
treasury department of the govern
ment be run in the interests of few
thousand bond holders and bankers
and in way that would bankrupt the
business men of the nation, and throw
the working classes into idleness?
Have the 5O,OOO,O00 of people no rights
to be looked after and protected by the
governments Justice to all parties
demands that both the principal and
interest of the public debt should be
paid in the same kind and volume of
money as was in circulation when
these bonds were placed on the market.
If England and Germany are disposed
to pass laws permitting bankers, bond
holders, and money lenders, to extort
money unjustly from the business men
and working classes, by making all
iebts payable in gold coin, does it fol.
ow that the United States should do
The samep When you talk about a
standard of value, you should remem.
Der that since 1862, gold, silver, and
egal tender notes, have all been stand.
lrds Of value in this country, except
or the period between 1873 and 1878, $
When silver was demonetized in the
interest of the b.pd holders and money +
enders, and the government was max s
ng every possible effort to destroy the s
egal tender notes. 4
During these years, the nation was t
n deluge of panics and bankruptcies, C
nd relief did not come until the silver a
vas remonetized and the destruction e
f greenbacks was stopped S
Do you wish to see return of such
imesP IF so, let your suggestions in g
egard to the currency be carried out, s
nd you soon will see a return. G.
The removal of the tax on bank de- &
osits is also a question of doubtful Il
alne. According to the late report of [
he comptroller of the currency, the t,
ggregate deposits are about $l,0S3,- Il
10000, in the national banks. This h
loney belongs to the people and tbe N