The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-02-18
SOFT MONEY.
win, It Did For tho Country III tho Days
OF Andrew Jackson.


lions OF Cat" which Is to be redeem.
able neither in coin, land nor products,
but Is 10 BIO based on "the credit and rc.
sources OF tho nation" Their repre-.
fento,ivcs In Congress arc Introducing
hills for the printing and distribution Of
this stuff, which II loaned out TO farm.
crs and planters OH tho scale they pro-
poso would DO ~ abundant rs tho
caves In Juno md rs valuable, for
while II few millions OF 1t might ho
toatcd by tho government, II received
byit for Its dues, larger issue would
BE- waste paper. g
One OF tho Alliance leaders said that
he has mot heard single valid argu-
ment against tho subtreusury schcmc"
which contomplatcs n flood OF "Gat,"
which Is to DO convertible into nothing,
and which will be therefore exchange
able for nothing. Tho best arguments
against these wild projects are facts,
and II this Alliance man wero familiar
with tho history OF his country he
would know dozens Of iorciblc answers
10 his follics.
There have been various attempts in
this country to run its business with
paper money, which, whilo pretending
10 be redecmablc in specie, was not.
One Of them was made during President
JacEson's administration and plunged
tho United States into financial diff
cultics, the effects OF which were felt for
quarter OF q century. Tho charter OF
tho first United States bank, the child
OF tho creative genius OF Hamilton, OK
pred in 1911. That OF tho second one
was granted in 1916 10 run twenty years.
In 1880 tho bank was furnishing cur
lency which was readily accepted
throughout the Union. Ita notes were
at par everywhere, and, in tho western
and southern states, commanded Il slight
premium over silver, because they could
bcshippcd Mt less expense. These notes
were not legal tender, but the people
kNew that the bank could and would
redeem them in specie whenever pre-
sentGd. The bank had the government
deposits, and kept them safely.
President Jackson, that "pugnGcious
animal" as Gallatin called him, had n
bitter, unshakablc prejudice against tho
Bank OF the United States. Ito could
not run" it as no did the government.
10 proicssO1 to believe that it was a
FeGcralist institution. He had all the
pnjudiccs OF tho Jctlcrsonian Demo-
c.ats against anything which was the
handiwork OF Hamilton. III his first
annual message tho President indicated
his hostility to tha bank. In 1882 he
vetoed bill for intending its charter.
And Oh that occasion Senator Clayton
said:
In less than four ycars the pecunary distress,
the commercial clnbaraSSlnents, consequent
upon the destruction Of the United States Bank,
must exceed anything that Inns ever been known
in our history. I.
But neither the constitutional argu-
ments OF Webster nor the prophecies OF
Clayton could pass the bill over the
veto. The following year the govern
ment deposits werc withdrawn from
the bank by tho Presidents order and
were distributed among the state, or
pet, banks run by good Jacksonian
Democrats. The withdrawal OF the de-
posts compelled the United States bank
10 curtail its discounts. That caused a
stringency in the money market. 1t
was claimed by the administration that
the bank acted rs it did for political
purposes, and the secretary OF the treas
ury directed the "pet" banks to make
liberal discounts. Jackson wanted them
10 Issue notes freely" They did SO
gladly and began to-
Pour forth with prodigal hand their spurious
Issues OF paper lnoney--thosc pictured shadows
ihHt bewi!dered the brain, Intoxicated the hearts
OF the people. and drove them into the maddcst
schemes OF speculation and extravaganza.
Iackson's state sovereignty banking
scheme rain along swimmingly for a
time. Money was abundant, prices
were going up, and all felt rich. Sud-
denly the people began to feel uneasy.
They went to the banks, presented
notes which said on their face that they
were redeemaolo in specie, and asked
Tor tho coin. Tho banks did not have
It. Then the bubble burst. The banks
went down, those which had the gov
eminent deposits included, and the ter
rLblc panic OF 1887 began. All tho pre-
dlctlons which Webster had made in
the series of remarkably able speeches
which he delivered in opposition to
JaCkson's financial madness were vcri.
fed.
There must be some of tho Alliance
men who arc old enough to remember
the panic OF 1887 and its commercial
financial, and political effects. The
conntry discovered that what it had
been regarding as money was worthless.
hundreds OF thousands OF business
men went into bankruptcy. A state of
ihiooierGble distress existed from Maine
10 Louisiana. The political rcvulsion
was 80 great that in 1910 General Har-
r!son carried threc-iourths OF the states,
INCLUDING Mississippi and Georgia.
there were six bitter years of intense
suffering from 1887 to 1S43, when tho
state OF things began to improve. But
from tho iirst-named year, when tho
state banks OF issue were abolished and
.ho national banks were established,
lhe country was afflicted with Jackson's
s!ale sovereignty banks whose notes
were sometimes worth par ut home, but
never outside OF the state in which
1nEey Wore issued. and which were worth
III thcway from five cents on tho dol
ht up, their value varying with their
prospect OF being redeemed in coin.
tFeSidont Jackson struck down tho
sale, uniform, constitutional currency
S c,ch was furnished by tho United
GATES bank and opened the door to the
.GfFeht OF shlnplasters which bedcvilcd
p io country for quarter OF century.
i nIu Us that stuff was, it was better than
anat the ilatists ask shall DO issued, for
;oNie OF tho old state banks did redeem
u, ~ specie. But tho Alliance people want
.no country flooded with paper, not ono
GIIece OF which would DO redeemed.
mehce tho panic and distress which
would follow tho issue OF such absolute
w lrrnlnnrn nhln tn,nh .,.a,,l.l L. e.