The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1893-10-07
THE CURRENCY QUESTION
An Important Document on the
Monetary Situation.
Ex-senator John b. HenderHon's Letter
to Secretary Carlisle Written Mt the
Latter's Rcquest-Cause Of
Existing Conditions.

AoeSCHs AsC4uCos-Co0eO "a
Existing Conditions.
Ex-senator John B. Henderson, of
Missouri, has addressed to Secretary
Carlisle the following communication:
ITO Hon John G. Carlisle. Secretary Of
the Treasury: / promised to give you in
writing the substance of my statements made
to you in conversation touching the monetary
condition Of the country. then expressed the
belief that the present stringency is produced,
not by any lack or insufIiciency Of our currency.
but by the loss OF confidence produced among
business men because Of the bad quality or in
feri"r character Of a large part Of that cur
rency.
81 There is no error OF more common preva-
lence than that the abundance Of money issues
necessarily adds to the commercial or business
energy of people. OF course, q certain amount
which to effect the smaller exchanges Of COM
modities These money tokens do not create
exchanges. but the exchanges create o neces-
si.y for the tokens Money tokens do not
grow wheat and corn, nor manufacture cloth,
nor operate railroads, nor sail ships. Labor
and skill do these things: and among people
entirely civilized over o5 per cent OF the ex-
changes necessary in these operations are con-
summated through the medium Of bank checks.
Experience demonstrates that this mode Of ex-
change Is more convenien safer and less ex-
pensive, and experience also demonstrates that
these bank facilities become enlarged or con-
tracted as the money tokens become scarce or
abundant This Is business law as inexora-
Bile as the laws OF nature. Hence there is less
danger in limiting the bulk Of circulating
money than people generally imagine The
bank check is better for another reason. to-wit:
That, having performed its once. 1t ceases to
circulate; 1t Is removed from the volume Of
circulating money and Is forever Cancelled If
the exigencies of business demand another
check 1t is issued anew, and more In like man.
ner and Is destroyed when its object has been
accomplished. We shall never have perfect
currency until every note used for circulation
shall be destroyed on Its return to the author-
fly issuing it. and no new note issued except for
value and only at the call of business demands
England has come to this, ana America, with
England's experience, will do likewise
Prosperity and Volume Of Circulation.
"2 The amount Of money In circulation per
capita among the people Of the United States
on the LIST day Of July of the years named below
is shown In the following list: In 1874. sls.03
1874 s1a 10; 1875, s17.l6; 1875 sl612; 1877, t55e
1873 SIS 81: 1870 si675; 1880, si94i; 1884, 81 IL
1882 ~ 81 1882 e2e9l; 1884, So s.; 1885, e23 or
1884, s21 Sc: 1887 e22 IS; 1885, e22 81; 1882 Es25e
1890, ss2 e: 1891, e2a4i: 1892, t24 ~; June /,
1898, casa These figures demonstrate to the
business man of Q few years experience that
neither individual prosperity nor commercial
activity Is absolutely controlled by the amount
of the circulating medium The passage In 1875
Of the act for the resumption Of specie pay
ments on January I, 1879 put an end, fof the
time being. to our deprecated paper currency,
and from that time till the passage Of the Bland
Allison act OF 1873 we were, in fact rs In theory,
on . gold basis, having but single standard of
exchange: and the benefcent effects Of this
single standard, giving assured condolences
which can be based only on uniformity and per.
manency Of value, lasted until increasing silver
coinage under the act Of 1873 reached an
amount which. in the constantly declining value
Of silver. threatened peWanently to unsettle
the currency.
II think am safe in asserting that from July
I, 1879. to July 1. 1873 we enjoyed very great
prosperity, individually and nationally. There
was no lack Of money. 1t shficed not only to
I'LL the treasury. but 1t abundantly answered
the demands OF commerce, and an extraor-
binary business activity followed by very high
prices 1t will be seen that the average per
capita circulation during that period was 500
II we now take the period from July, 1892 to
the present, period OF great monetary strin-
gency, we find an average circulation per cap
ita Of ga IS. 1t Is therefore apparent that In
the common parlance. times may be hard
and money scarce with the most abundant cir
ness men Of community, for reasons good or
bad, but satisfactory to themselves, resolve to
make no further contracts. to quit all business
transactions . seeming scarcity of money Is
the result Whatever the volume Of the circu-
lsting medium, IL does not impose itself on
anybody. He who gets 1t must give an eQuiva-
lent for It II nobody wants his labor or his
property he can get no money. II he who has
It refuses to loan It, in fear that the currency
to be paid back At maturity Of the loan will be
less valuable, the condition Is one of stagnation
and scarcity OF money is the consequence
The per capita circulation in the United King
dom OF Great Britain is now sla34 OF this
"a 40 Is gold. circulating freely among the peo-
pie. OF silver there is only 263, and Of paper
HsA
The Example of Europe.
"The per capita circulation in Germany is
still less to wit, Slz56 And yet In these coun-
tries, with their vast commerce and manu-
features, there is no dearth Of money, and in
terest rules 1T scarcely more than half the
rates prevailing in this country. England
adopted the single gold standard in 1916 and
has adhered to IL ever since, and by so doing
has become the money center Of the world
Germany adopted the single standard In 1871
and since that time she has been rapidly advanc,
ing In all the elements Of national greatness
1t Is true that France has . seemingly large per
capita circulation (s4 .oD, but OF this sl7s5 con-
sists Of silver which wss coined prior to 1874
while silver maintained its relative Intrinsic
value TO gold. The finances of France for
tunatcly, are steadied and made secure by the
happy possession OF at least $500 600 900 in gold
coin alone More than half of its deprecated
silver e total of 500, 900 0oo) lies idly in the
Bank of France. where It is likely TO remain
unused ~ the 1851 27S sl6 of coined dollars that
on June l. 1893, lay boarded in the treasury of
the United StateA The per capita actual cir
culation in France scarcely exceeds that in the
United States and consisting rs 1t does al
most wholly Of gold, the currency is reasonably
permanent and reliable; and as France has
now ceased to coin silver. the financial situa-
ton there is not threatened rs here by o
change of standard
u. The panic Of 1873 was. without doubt, the
direct result Of speculation and overtrading
induced by the greenback era, beginning in
1062-6S Between 1863 and 1879, both inclusive,
the balance Of foreign trade against us was
3, e0a, 40, 0oe-that is, we imported into this
country during these eleven years, over and
above our exports of merchandise, this enor
vno,se nofo var md v,{I1{ox, do11o-c