Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-03-09
He Would Have the Government Loa
Money to the People.

SENATOR STANFORD.
He Would Have the Government Loan
Money to the People.
WASHINGTON, March Sth.-To have the
currency of the country based on its landed
wealth is the idea Of Senator Stanford of
California. This idea he has put in the
form of resolution, which he will intro
duce in the Senate Monday, instructing the
Finance Committee TO inquire if loan
may not be made by the Government upon
local State mortgages to bear low rate of
interest, say from l to per cent. per an
mum, and the Government to reserve the
power to call in reasonable amount of its
loan at its discretion.
SENATOR sTAEFoRD's PLAN.
Senator Stanford said this evening. when
spoken to regarding his plan, that it was
the duty of the Government to Issue cur
rency upon the value of real property, or
authorize the establishment of national
banks with power to put legal tender notes
in circulation upon such security, which
would be guaranteed in their redemption
by the Treasury of the United States. "If
national bank which purchases bonds
issued by the Government and to the ex-
tent of 80 cents on the dollar is authorized
to put notes in circulation as currency,
which the General Government guarantees
the payment of; if the bullion from the
gold mines may be taken to the mint and
have its value fixed by the impression of
die; if silver bullion may be accorded free
coinage because of its standard and fine
ness, why may not the farms or town prop
erty of established, fixed and certain value
be used as the basis of d sound and health
full currency?
AS GOOD AS GOLD.
" can see no reason" Stanford went on,
"why land or town property having at
tanned permanent value indicated by the
Assessors estimate, ascertained by impair
tial values, might not be used as currency
with as much confidence as the paper OBJ
legations of the Government or as the
metals produced from the mines. / have
seen the financial world twice driven from
its prosperity by the fear that the excessive
production of metals would prove value
less for use as money. The best money
is that based upon the wealth of the ma
ton and the property and honor of all its
people.
CHANCE FOR TRUST.
GA currency that has for its security the
real property of the country is more surely
guaranteed than by the bullion produced
from the mines and stamped at the ma
tional mints. The country owns no mines,
and who shall say the time is far distant
when private ownership shall hold in
trust all the mines, and of what value will
be the constitutional provision that gives
the Government the right to coin money
if it has neither gold nor silver to coin and
stamp?
THE POWER OF TAXATION.
ITO coin and issue money for circulation
is not the most important function of the
Government. When it is considered that
Congress, the Legislatures of the several
States and the municipal bodies of incor-
porated cities are armed with the powers
of taxation, and individual assessors are
clothed with the right of valuation for pur-
poses of taxation; that for the non-pay.
ment of taxes the Tax Collector may sell
property without judicial investigation or
decree of Court, or without any reserva-
ton of the rights of minors. absent persons
or persons of unsound mind, how much
less significant seems the power to coin
money and control its volume of circulation.
WOULD HELP BUSINESS.
"That currency based upon real estate
values, under limited estimates, would in
crease activity in all industrial employ
ment, have no doubt; nor do l think such
a volume OF currency properly limited by
legislative restriction would recall the days
OF Georgia, reproduce the Mississippi bub-
Bile, or the follies of the tulip speculation,
Why should man who has mortgaged for
one-half or one-quarter its value the accu-
mutations of his life, be more careless in
the expenditure of his resources than he
would be if he had hypothecated his prop
erty under an interest-beariDg mortgage to
a usurer for coin, the interest upon which
he must pay whether he uses his money or
not?
NO FEAR OF PANIC.
"Such an issue of national currency to
limited extent would have its first effect in
ouieting all apprehension of panic or
financial disaster that are sometimes more
hard to bear and more ruinous in conse-
quences than the resulting calamiiies
would be possible to financial panic. All
disastrous probabilities would be made
avoidabie and all branches Of business
would have breathed into them new life.
Danger of money psnics locks the gold and
silver tin coin or bullion) in the vaults of
the banker and money-lender, and while
gold and silver coin is unusable it is value
less. No man is rich and no community
prosperous with boarded gold. Money is
like any other property, worthless until
actively employed. l have gone over this
in general way with number of Sena-
tors, who were all apparently well pleased
with it.
Nc ADVANTAGE TO THE WEALTHY.
apparently the plan would give an ad-
vantage to people who are possessed of con-
siderable property, but this is not true.
The man who owns farm could only loan
money at low rates, and even if he could
do SO at per cent. he would be as much
entitled to it as the capitalist who had mill
ions to invest in Government bonds, and
after depositing his bonds with the Gov
ernment he would have $4,000 issued him
in legal tender notes. The idea is to issue
legal tenders for the amount of the mort
gage, as in the case of the National banks