The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-03-19
ALLIANCE INITIATION SCHEMES,

If the Farmers Alliance with its pet
schemes of finance expects to get patent
on its initiation ideas, Senator Morrill,
has taken their wind. so to speak, in a
little scrap of history incorporated into a
report to the late Congress on Senator
Sanford's bill ''to supply the national
want of sound circulating medium
by permitting owners of land to give a
lien upon the same for twenty years to
the government. for which the mort
gage would receive legal tender cur
rency and be charged two per cent.
thereon. 1t disposed of this by no means
original scheme of imitation in sum
mary way. He compared it to a famous
French system of finance which he thus
described:
The insurmountable disorder of the
French finances and annual excess of ex-
penditures beyond receipts, without
doubt was the first cause of the French
Revolution. Fresh loans were required
for the treasury every year. The mobiles
and clergy would not consent to be
taxed, and lenders at lastrefused to lend
The king and queen sent all their plate
to be melted down, but it was insufficient
for the public expenditures. The treatise
of John Law on "MOney and Trade had
length Talleyrand brought forward and
carried his measure for the confscation
of the whole ecclesiastical property of
the kingdom, reserving a pension to the
clergy and appropTiating what was
estimated at 00O0 900 to aid the public
necessities.
In December, 1888, the assembly
ordered the sale of church and crown
property to the amount of elG,000,000
and decreed that paper currency should
be created of that amount, bearing five
per cent. interest, and calling assignats,
for the redemption of which the confis-
Gated lands were to be sold. Not to
enter into all the progressive steps
taken in less than five months by another
decree, the assignats were declared a
legal tender, with interest at A per cent.
The public debt rapidly increased, and
in 1880 new assignats were created of
double the amount. Further large
amounts were created in l79l-l792, and
in 1893 the assignats were at discount
of 30 per cent. ShopkeeBers refused
them for prime necessities, and their
shops were plundered in general riots.
With the creation of more assignats in
1892 the convention decreed six years
imprisonment to any person who should
sell assignats at less than their nominal
value, or make any difference in price
whether paid in paper or specie. A sill
yer franc got to be worth six in paper.
The penalties for making any difference
in price were greatly increased and death
was decree1 against all who kept back
from public sale articles of first necessity.
Trade and production nearly ceased.
Public functiOnaries could no longer live
on their salaries, and One-third of the
army deserted.
In 1895 the assignats in nominal value
amounted to $500, 00O,O 600, and had
fallen TO one-thousandth part of their
nominal value. Finally the government
refused to part with the national domain
at the deprecated value of their paper
currency, and destroyed it a single blow
by decreeing that anyone might make
bargains in whatever currency he
pleased" Thus dropped out of circula-
ton, perhaps, the largest batch of legal
tender paper currency ever created, not
withstanding it was based upon land
security and supported by all the terrors
of national power.
This sketch OF an initiation scheme
that has become historical is worth
saving for future reference, as the assem-
bling of the next Congress, will be a
signal for reOpening the battle for inila-
ton all along the line.