Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-12-27
sILyx. AsD cuaKEScY


ffof the D1spafcns,
The great interest the people OF THIS coun'
try have 10 the question Of currency, goiu,
silver, paper money. or Whatever - pse-
sentcd 10 them or furnished to them TOT
their use or adoption ~ money, no mae.er
by what agency, governmental OF otnei'
wise. Ia Us sufliciency and quaiity TOT so..
must Judge and about which they must act,
and not government, corporation, or indi'
yIduaIs for them.
The power and authority OF the Govern.
mept under the Constitution and from
precedert, rieht or wrong, Is great, but IL
cannot make fifty cents worth OF silver pass
for dollar, and therefore anything less In
ousptity end fineness OF the true market
value OF dollar will ever be subject TO con-
troyersy with the people, banks. and trades
mtp, NJ opposed 10 one way or another 10
the validity and Justice OF such coin being
put upon the market a. money OF COM
merce.
II Is indispensable for these reasons that
the Government, In coining money for the
use OF rade, should coin 1t In conformity
10 the intrinsic value OF its bullion IN the
markets.
n is claimed that the present dollar OF
ll9 grains OF silver Is not OF the required
veipbt and fneness. certainly not OF the
renr.ired weight measured by such stand
ard Of value. This being so, objection to
n is sufficiently explained without going
into the vast sea OF speculatioDs about ma
topal preferences OF silver or gold, or
preenbackism; and because silver dollars
Of 412 grains will temporarily pass under
Government sanction OF II as dollar
when trade dollars OF greater weight VIII
not pass, II Is not TO be assumed, as the
(;reenbackers do, that anything the Gov
eminent stamps as money Is such. and must
psss for money. Since real money, under
such circumstances, will be exported to
the countries or nations that will give 1t
out at Its true value, Just as the peope
themselves OF a country that impairs by
governmental authority the privileges ana
rights OF the citizen will desert IL ana ny
to other realms more congenial 10 them.
The compulsory coinage was superin-
duced by the suspension Of the use OF coins
AS A circulation from the fact that the Gov.
eminent had taken charge OF the entire
currency OF the country and instituted
banking system that could float paper ire
deemable In coin. The common sense OF
Congress told IL, that there was wisdom In
utilizing the bullion OF the country instead
Of seeing il exported; and the old idea OF
specie. payments had not entirely forsaken
the brains Of thinking men, who know the
difference between tangible and Intangible
property values; between commodity
that Is property in itself, and mere bit OF
paper that has contingency OF redemption
on its face (howeyer goOd), between an ar
ticle OF commerce that needs no redeemer,
and one for which such redeemer has TO be
looked to and possibly sought alter. IL
was wise in Congress to institute the COM
pusory coinage, since the Government had
taken IRON the people their own methods
OF money. But the folly OF the Govern
ment lies in buying bullion and coming 1t
simply to pile II up in the Treasury, and at
the same time carry an Understanding
debt, the interest accommodating and absorb
ing the revenue. Every dollar OF silver
and gold, il would appear, should be paid
out by the Government ut once in liquida-
ton Of its debt as far as the money will 90.
No reason can exist for the idea that gold
and silver will become drug or depreciate
from superabundsnce 30 long as paper
money can be fioated in any shape, or that
even paper money is in excess so long rs
interest Is seven, eight, and nine per cent.
CONGRESS might as well institute methods to
limit the production OF corn for fear II may
be superabundaut and impair the profits OF
the manufacturers Of flour. All produc-
tions, bullion as we'll as others, regulate
themselves by the compensation they afford
to labor, and their uses are measured by
tie limitation thus wisely impelled by the
laws Of production.
II the average market price OF produe.
ton falls below the cost OF production OF
ANYTHING the labor Heretofore employed in
raising it will be diverted to other produc-
tons or enterprises, so that legislation need
never be invoked to regulate the produc.
ton Of commodities when we have human
sagacitv and self-interest continually Gi'
rected toward the production and manu-
facture OF every article OF commodity or
traffic demanded by the public for their
convenience or comiort, and in such guam
titles as is best calculated 10 accomplish
Iublic needs. The public are entitled to
The convenience and utility OF silver In every
form in which il could be rendered
available for commerce or domestic econo.
nv, and It's value IA a medium OF exchange
OF values is beyond question equal or in al.
vance OF gold. Currency coin should be OF
sufficient bulk 10 lessen the risk OF loosing II
from its meagrencss In size. Gold COIN be-
low ten.dOllar pieces would be easily mis-
placed or lost, and one-dollar gold'pieces
are invariably stunned for pocket mo-
new. Hence very large sum OF
coin Of denominations below ten
dollars would he required for fractional
currency in the daily exchanges OF market
able productions aud operations OF trade.
Only conceive OF great nation so scantily
supplied with silver coins as to give rise to
inconvenience in trade and system OF bar
ter Ike that which existed in colonial times,
when the payment for nights lodging
had to be made in two pounds OF tobacco.
IL has long been the object OF trade to place
gold and silver in the front rank OF values
as mediums of exchange, and simply be-
cause the whole people accept them at all
times unhesitatingly, and since the volume
for circulation OF these two commodities
have never been equal to the whole value OF
all other commodities in continual eX.
change, paper currency Is necessary IN
some form as an additional medium. So
| long. then, as paper Is needed as a medium
OF exchange of values, silver nor gold can
not Je in superabundance. And not only
| is the insufficiency OF gold and silver "a a
medium Of exchange OF the vast values OF
commerce and trade demonstrated by long
wears Of experience and the needful aid OF
| paper currency added. but commercial eX-
| change, through bills OF exchange and
| drafts, are likewise brought into service to
expedite the operation OF the buyers and SELL
| ers Of the vast commodities OF the country.
And IL will be safe to say that the activities
OF traffic and the actual transfers OF prop
erty values OF every description have been
! immensely increased in the last thirty
years-far in advance OF the ratio OF p0pu-
lalion. For, suppose the population OF the
country had doubled in thirty years, the
volume OF trade has more than quadrupied !:
every man worth $500 buys and sells five
times what he could have bought and sold
thirty or forty years ago, and the necessary
increase, cOnespOndngly, OF the volume OF
| the mediums Of exchange Is evident.
| II, therefore, Congress should suspend
the coinage Of silver, the holders OF bullion
silver would have TO apply for its coinage
on individual account, aid II the use OF
silver. as q currency, was abridged by Con-
| gress refusing 10 coin it as 4 Government
standard, or as n legal tender, end thereby re-
| duce the bullion value OF silver, as 1t surely
would, then the individual seeking the
coinage Of his bullion would have to put
more silver in the dollar 10 make II m irket-
| able at par with the reduced value OF bull
! hon. even il the Government stamped IL
| only for current change. In this way the
trade-dollar was introduced, having more
silver it than the present standard dollar.
And this circumstance serves TO illustrate
the effect OF the Governments interference
/ with the question OF currency by attempt.