Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-03-20
FINANCE AND TRADE.
Condition Of the Markets Here and
Elsewhere.
Money 4i-2 Per Cent. Governments Un-
changed-stoek Actre-flsur Shade
Bettec-Mheat Higher-Prosf-
sioas Advancing.
PAYING OFF the NATIONAL DEBT.

There are two classes of people who
ars opposed to refunding, and are in ia
yor OF wiping out the national debt as
rapidly as possible, regardless of Its eff
feet upon our national currency. Those
who belong to one class contend that
the Government should issue directly
all the notes that are permitted to circu-
late; that a government which Is In
debt is foolish to pay interest when It
can borrow without interest, and at the
same time beneficently supply the peo-
pie with an abundance of ''the best kind
ofmoney." Strangely enough, many
who belong to this class are great stick
lers for estate sovereignty" and who
would be inexpressibly panied to
see the Federal" Government
exercising 1.-THE of the power in
any other direction that they are so
anxious to have it exercise in this par
ticular direction. Neither the State
sovereignty" fiatists nor those who do
not profess to be so much alarmed about
a stretch of national authority seem to
be aware of the fact that the power
which they wish the national govern
ment to exercise is, at bottom, the
power to raise and lower prices at will,
and the power arbitrarily to add to or
take from the burden of every debt
and obligation, public and private.
1t would seem that it ought to
be plain to everyone that power so
vast and so liable to be abused, cOu-
sciously or unconsciously, ought, under
any circumstances, to be exercised
sparingly and cautiously. 1t ought
especially to be 80 exercised in view Of
its value in an emergency. 1t is, no
doubt, good thing to be able, In case
of war, or when, for any cause, money
is urgently required, to support imme-
diate wants by the issue of notes with
out interest, and suitable for use as cur
rency. And that is a very cogent rea-
son why the power to do this should be
exercised very moderately, and never
be exhausted, in ordinary times or when
the country is not in presence of an
emergency. 1t is very cogent reason
why we should now take measures TO
get rid of our greenbacks, since We neg
lected to do so long ago, when the ext
gency which called them forth passed
away.
Those who belong to the other Of the
two classes referred to perceive the dan
ger and impolicy of a government
monopoly of paper circulation, and that
there is no settled relation'between Gov
eminent requirements, or the judgment
of Congress, and the volume of paper
currency needed to meet the legitimate
demands of business. They also per-
ceive that the supply is not likely to be
very closely related to the demand so
long as it depends upon the ISSUES of
banks based on Government bonds
They perceive that expansions and con-
fractions will depend far more upon the
fluctuations in the price of bonds, and
the consequent fluctuations in the profit
arising from the issue of circulation,
than upon the scarcity or excess of cur
rency. Hence they propose that the
note circulation shall be issued by the
banks, but that it shall at the sametime
be divorced from Government bonds,
and that its volume shall not depend at
all upon their value.