Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-01-27
FRIDAY ..........JANUARY n. 1893.
MIR. Fa;rcbud and the Currency.

MI. N-IClllU anu inc 0ul lt4tJs
Ex.Secretary FARcmLD. though he seems
10 favor the repeal Of the 10 per cent. tax
on State. bank notes. does not seem to like
that sort of currency which is not current
away from home. but ~ always sent back
10 It's place of issue as soon rs possible.
At least so we infer from what no sad IN
one part Of his speech on the subject OF
the currency at the grand Democratic
banquet on Wednesday night IL Is true
he spoke as If he might be tempted to try
to denationalze our currency If the pres
ent laws providing the people with
sound currency could not be executed
without infringing upon the doctrine that
the United States Government ought not
TO use Its taxing power for any purpose
except to raise revenue But his remarks
on this topic, taken all of them to-
gether, show that no has not been
Ynisled by the wildcat fnslclers of
the land He said, quoting from an
other speaker. give US a currency good IN
fuoy part fMe uorid. and it will be sound"
1.-THE Democratic party has 1t within It's
power" Mr.. FhRCmLD added. TO give to
the country n sound currency If IT will al
ways bear in mind the true principles of
Democracy" Mr.. FAIBCHILD, therefore,
does not train with the men who would
debase our currency by flooding the land
with local-bank notes good nowhere elsein
the world than at the homes of the owners
of those neighborhood banks. He added:
MANY persons have an idea that there IL
somewhere in governments the power to
infuse value into things which would
otherwise be valuelcss "-lrredeemable
paper currency, we would cite for exam
ple. or wildcat "homing" notes. If We
may borrow a word from the vocabulary of
the pigeon fanciers. Let "hOming" notes
be the name OF those notes which refusoto
serve anybody's purposes who lives hun
bred miles from their place of issue.
Democrats must not fOrsake their creed
obey must 60 where Democratic princi-
fles lead. But they must he careful IN
Adding to the crcdo of the fathers. The
ELECTROMAGNETIC law and the bill to pre-
tent dealin: in futures and options both
xiolate the rule that the government must
not use its taxing power except to raise
revenue. SO does the law giving bounty
TO sugar-producers. So has done every
tariff law that ever was enacted in TINS
tountry. Indeed, it would not be easy to
frame any tariff law which the people
would approve that was not open TO the
objection that ii levied taxes not simply to
raise revenue for the support of the gov
eminent but for other purposes. If the
Federal law taxing State bank notes 10 un-
constitutional because It is obnoxious to
The objection Just mentioned, then all of
the other bills or laws we have named
above are or were unconstitutional also.
But why should there be any doubt as TO
the power of Congress 10 tax out of ex-
fstence any currency that interferes with
The national circulation provided by our
laws for the use of the people? The
power to provide national currency does
not reside in the State Legislatures.
Therefore, ii must be provided 10y Con-
Cress or not at all. Is IL possible that the
people of this great country can constitu-
tionally provide no other currency for their
own use than such as refuses to serve the
purpose of currency may, that they
caunot provide currency at all. but must
depend upon forty-four States to do this
work for them:
Let us add that Colonel ARCHER ASDER-
son. in his opening address. spoke of ere
newed confidence in the stability of our
currency" and that Mr.. BREcKINRIDGE said
OF Mr.. CLEVELAND that he stood for
sound and stable currency" and also said
that he himself favored a currency that
would be as good at Liverpool as at New
YORK.