Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1890-01-01
Reply to vallette.

So. 1t0pAy " 6AAoVV0. Y,
The fifteenth plank of X. L. platform
is, never to issue interest. bearing bonds,
but to meet emergencies by issuing
greenbacks. August 81 I criticised this
as unwise, and from time to time since
have discussed that plank. You say that
you have discussed the fourteenth plank,
that government should issue money di
rectlY to the people without the inter
vention of banks.
Excuse me for not gathering what you
were driving at. Your main arguments,
that / am ignorant, paid tool of the
money power, slngle-standard man,
lawyer that government did not borrow
money, and could not, because it made
lt-that the trade dollar was not for trade
with China, that John Sherman is ras-
cal, ETC., ETC., are admirably adapted to
prove your side of either of those propo-
sitlons, or of any other proposition, but
are not so self-luminous that we can tell
which side or what question they prove.
1 will hereafter apply them to the Sec
ond proposition, but wish first to sum up
my arguments on the first.
I thought the fifteenth plank unwise
because the discount from depreciation
in such cases would be greater than the
interest saved. The saving was from the
soldier, the sailor, the man of fixed sal
ary, and the loss to the rich contractor,
who added to the price of war material
and supplies all depreciation.
And the medium of exchange was dis
turbed, affecting transactions other than
the governments to the disadvantage of
the poor. gave, for instance, the i'm.
mense losses from depreciation during
the late war, though we limited the issue
to what could not be borrowed, and
| never had out more than $447, 900. 900
1--WE issued more, but by taxation and
borrowing kept the circulation at that
figure, and less). The evil effects of a
deprecated, fuctuating medium long out
lived the war. The fifteenth plank pro.
poses to intensity the late evils by meet.
ing the entire expense with much
greater issue. To the reply that law
conferred full debt-paying power, and il
could not depreciate and that the first
| $50, ,OOO, 900 did not. answered, and dis
tinguished between the debt-paying
power and purchasing power. In num-
erous historical instances, fiat money
had the first power perfectly, and the
second to the extent of its intrinsic value
OF metal, and if paper, through sliding
scale down to zero, unless Its interchans ga
bilitYs with actual value WAS maintained.
showed from history that the first $6O,-
1900 did depreciate-that they wer,
payable Oh demand, and fluctuated witt
the ability Of the government to NEE
demands. Reserving $4,000, 900 of du.
ties in gold met that demand. but woult
not have appreciably affected the pric,
OF the larger issue, had It been payable i,
it. since receiving $210, 200, 900 year O.
it for internal revenue and hundreds o
millions for bonds did not keep 1t at par
1 also called attention to the case of
maratime as most likely of wars, whe,
with no duties collectible, putting lex
cept" on the back would have but
verbal, and no practical effect. On Oc
tober 2, in answer to some OF your re
marks, / showed from the suprem
court decision and Chase's reports tha
the government borrowed on bonds all i
could 1885,, 500, 900 up to December 1
1851; that the fourteenth plank abou
the necessary circulating medium (aff1rm
I'd by you to lie one with the fifteenth
threw no light on issuing quantity un
necessary for circulating medium, bu
commensurate to the demands of a grea
war; that an unlimited issue would de
preciate faster than a smaller issue Dor
rowed back on bonds and paid ou: again
Your suggestion that taxation would b
better than borrowing on bonds was me
by historical showing that we did tai
heavier than any nation had done before
and nearly, or quite, to the limit of taxa
tion. While my last article was de-
layed, you answered the people wit
quotations from Spaulding. Stevens
Wilson and Lincoln. As further amuse
ment in that direction, L quote from Blain,
! vol. l, page 422. 'Mr. Fessenden state
that on certain day he was advise
very strongly by leading financial ma
(James Gallatin) to oppose the legal ter
der clause as utterly destructive. tt
same day another friend and fnanci,
morris Ketchum) assured him the leg.
tender bill was an absolute necessity
!. The next day Gallatin telegraphed b
had changed his mind, and the ensuin
day Ketchum wrote he had changed his