Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-04-07

$50 per head, or doubling Of our present
stock OF &i5, 000, o0o,o0 A very large pro-
portion OF this stock Of money should be
lr coins of dollar and under, and, OF
course. in silver coins.
ENCOURAGE POPULAR sAvrNos.
An intelligent statistician, IN estimating
the total transactions az mankind through
out the world each day, concludes, from
careful computation, that on an average
Of them all, the amount involved In each
one docs not exceed ten cents. The num-
Der OF transactions involving minute ac-
counts Is infinite; that involving large
amounts Is. IN comparison, very limited;
Therefore, TO bring money home 10 Oil
the people and thereby enable. them 70
conduct their dealings in cash-down, the
coins OF small denominations supplied for
circulation should be very profuse in num-
Der; while those Of the larger denomina-
tons may be loss NUMEROUS. When there
are no small coins TO save the necessity OF
barter in small dealings, an immense num-
Der Of articles and products worth out
half dimes or dimes cannot be sold, and
are wasted and neglected. In respect TO
of the pennies, and the pounds will take
care Of themselves" cannot be practced'
THE ExAsnLE OF THE FRENCH.
n Is the policy of France 10 supply the
smaller coins for circulation IN profuso
liberality. The circulation OF oil CONS
there is at the rate of $50 for each lnhaol-
tant; whereas in England, where the poor
save comparatively nothing, the amount
Der oqpifa rs less than S25. The influence
Of an adequate circulation of small COINS
necessarily silver) upon the economical
habits of the French people is very marked.
It's most wholesome effect is in enabling
each man to own his house and garden
London Truth thus speaks on this subject;
let any one 60 TO French village, ana
he will discover how the system works;
The laborer has house and plot OF land
which are his own. This gives hum OASIS
of inieperdeace. The produce Of his plot,
added 20 his wages, makes all the dlner-
ence between lAnury and comfort. IL -
true that he does not live better than an
English laborer but why2 Because he sdreS.
When he is too old TO work, no hands the
house and the plot over TO one OF his sons,
on condition of being housed and fed.
Thus he is independent in his old age. one
of the good results of this system is that
the laborer acquires the habit Of sdcing,
and when once this habit Is acquired, u
becomes an absorbing passion. In afrench
village there is hardly O single peasant
(owner of house and plot who spends
money at the pot-house."
Who has forgotten that when the war
indemnity of twelve hundred millions OF
dollars was demanded by Germany IN 1871
the French Government derived nearly oil
of it from the humber pOpuiace OF France,
who subscribed 10 the greater part OF the
loan on which it was raised IN less than
month? The world never witnessed %
more sublime act OF patnotlsm' buJ u
was more phenomenal in the fact that a
free pedsQntyy were able TO produce the
needed treasure. Even larger and more
eager crowds OF lenders attended the leu
ting of State loan IN Paris the other day.
General Grant, who had many Of the
highest instincts OF the statesmen philoso-
pher. expressed o strong desire TO see the
boarding of $500. 900, 900 of silver CONS by
the people Of tho United States. Our peo-
ole do not hoard small sums, as the French
do, because they are denied the COINS
which embody small values The passion
for saving is not planted in the popular
breast and is not nuTtured. Inc circula-
ton of the full standard silver dollar Is
boycotted by the gold class and the ma
tionaI banks, and the Government has
given aid and comfort TO the policy for
eighteen years.
POPULAR WEALTH BETTER THAN TIE WEALTH
OF MII4LIoNAIREs.
What if the coinage Of silver dollars and
fractional coins was made free to all corners
and literally put into circulation as poll
CIV of the Governments A large proper
ton Of them would disappear with magic
rapidity. They would hide themselves in
the sayings-boxes of poor men end in the
stockings of poor women. General Grants
expectation and desire that three hundred
millions of dollars of them would be thus
a.. l. 1,,
The mints would be overworked for years
Five hundred millions would hide them
selves away for rainy days and serve as an
insurance against the financial panics pc
riodically Matched in New York and the
money famines everand anon contrived by
the pools, rings, and syndlcates of our mo
nometallic cities.
Instead of urging the Government to es-
tablish this healthful state of things the
gold-class are protesting that silver has
lost its monetary utility. and are demand
ing its absolute characterization. A thou
sand newspapers in the land are engaged
in a supreme effort TO terrify a stern and
brave people into a suicidal submission TO
the demand. Should they succeed Sue
cess might be possible III States where the
people are less free and more burdened
than the people of our own country, but 1t
IL not possible here.
| have now completed what ! felt i'm
PEELED to say to the public in the present
attitude of the question of tree coinage.
Since the task was begun the speech Of
Mr.. Window in New York, the article Of
the Director of the Mint in the North
American ReUie,o, and the testimony against
free coinage given before the House Com
mlttee on Coinage in Washington have all
transpired. | had intended brief reply
to these utterances in the conclusion of
this paper; but its unexpected length
makes such reply impracticable. l must
therefore bespeak your further indulgence
and reserve that easy and pleasant task for
q separate paper.
Yours respectfully,
Ro. w. HUGHES.
Norfolk, March IS, 1891.