Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-07-22
no furrlre Reeolation.

The surplus Resolution.
The fnsneisrs Of Wall street sre not
the wisest people in the world. They
fsti.r themselves that because they are
prsctiesl finsnciers they can instruct
Congress- on financial questions. We
sometimes see the same sort OF spirit
manifested By practical men IN other
saiis o.. llie. ice pGso.ica' mechAA %
Ia much better in his place than would
be- the skilful civil engineer but all
the same the skilful civil engineer is
seleeted TO locate all railroads and
canals, and TO supervise the dig
ting OF tunnels, &C., &C., DC. 30
the hydraulic engineer is called upon
to supervise the construction Of water
works, although he may not bs
able to perform himself any part OF
the practical work. He is not wise
engineer, however, who fails to consult
practical mechanics when he has had
entrusted 10 him undertakings such as
those TO which we have alluded. So,
although we might as we'll contend that
"who drives fat oxen must himself be fat,"
a. 10 claim that q Wall-street broker
must necessarily be good authority on
finance because he deals in money and
bonds and stocks, yet as there are able
6nanciers in Wall street--men who have
studied political economy thoroughly
il was wise to consult some Of these as
to the probable results of the passage
Of the MORRISON surplus resolution.
What results would follow If the
MORRISON surplus resolution should
become q law? Wall street fears that
gold would be boarded that it would
soon command premium and that
business would drop to silver basis.
These are the worst results that are
possible. But surely even these need
not alarm US greatly. The business of
the country dropped to credit basis
to greenback basis--during the war
and remained so until 1879, and yet
there were never before SO many for
tunes made in the same length of time
as were made in the United States be-
tween the years 1861 and 1879, al
though one gold dollar was often worth
two greenback dollars.
What is meant by the business Of the
country falling to silver basis? No
thing more--perhsps we ought TO say,
nothing less-than rise Of % per
cent. in the price Of all commodities.
Bonds, stocks, corn, wheat, tobacco,
and all other property, except perhaps
real estate, which never responds at
once to an apparent rise or fall Ia
prices, would nominally advance in
price. That is, since the bullion in a
silver dollar is worth only seyenty-odd
cents, and the disappearance or hoard
ing Of gold would leave us only a silver
basis for our currency, the fall in the
value of this currency would be neu'
tralized by n nominal rise ia the prices
of commodities.
But another factor must DO mentioned.
The disappearance or boarding of gold
would be @ contraction Of the volume
Of the currency. Such contraction
would produce lower prices. So that
these two factors would in measure
offset one another, and leave prices
much nearer where they are now than
ths nonometallists deem possible.
And this last remark suggests the
source Of oil the trouble. 1T is another
form OF the contest between monometal
ism and bimetallism. II all the money
in the Treasury were gold, or if gold AM
silver were Of equal value, next to no
body in Congress, or out, would objec
to disposiug Of the surplus ovel
100000, 0C0 ssproposed by the MoRRI
SON resolution. Il is evident, there
fore, that the measure is q good one il
itself, and if it is not good one under
the circumstances, it is because silyel
and gold are not at par. Is the dis
parity in the prices Of god aud silver
good reason for voting down the NOR
RIsoN resolution
We see no occasion for alarm upoi
the part Of anybody, whether the re
solution become q law CT not.
would, in the former event, be merel,
putting our different theories 70 th
test Of experience. Congress will re
assemble In less than five months. b,
that time either Wall street or MoRRI
SON will have come to gr'ef, since on,
or the other will have been demonstrated
to be wrong.
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Another Coupon-Killer.