The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-11-28
Amen! The governments banking

Amen! The governments banking
operations at present are helping the
spectators and hurting the people,
The sooner it retires from the business
tne peter 1t will be for the country.
"One of the features Of his plan will
pc the gradual retirement of the forced
legal tender paper issued during the
war and under the Sherman silver act.
Several plans have been suggested for
securing the retirement of these notes,
put none has yet been decided upon.
The difficult feature of such action is
the necessity of reiteming the notes by
actual cash raised by taxation. The only
alternative to redemption out of current
cash IL one form or another is the issue
OF Understanding bonds to raise the
money Of redemption.
Neither plan is likely to commend
itself at first blush to certain elements
IN Congress, but some method of grad
ual retirement by means Of the surplus
in the treasury will probably be re-
commended. The income tax and the
duty on sugar are expected to supply a
comfortable surplus, if Congress is not
carried away by extravaganza by the
middle OF next summer, at the begin
ming of new fiscal year. It is be-
lieved that the actual retirement of the
legal tender notes could be safely spread
over series of years if Congress had
once pledged the credit of the country
to their redemption and had authorized
banking currency as the means of
supplying money in the future.
"Whatever regulation is recommend
ed for the retirement of the legal ten
ders will probably be accompanied by
the proviso that they shall only be re-
tired according TO fixed percentage Of
the new bank notes issued. It wcald
not be lnaterial that some of these bank
notes were afterward Withdrawn from
circulation, for that would not Justify
the reissue Of the legal tender notes."
This retirement of treasury notes we
advocated the other day, and we are
glad to see that it is favored by the ad-
ministration. The general government
should issue no paper currency, but
confine itself to the coinage of hard
money. Supporters of the ''greenback"
policy usually overlook the fact that
treasury notes are not money but pro-
mise to pay money, and that every
paper dollar issued represents dollar
Of government debt-as bad as q bond,
save that it draws no interest-and has
to be redeemed at some time. Why not
pay of this debt now existing, and re-
tire the SS46, 100000 of treasury notes:
While they remain in circulation the
government must keep up its gold re-
serve to redeem them on demand aad
be at the mercy of the spectators. The
retirement Of these notes, the coinage
of the silver bullion and the withdrawal
of silver notes would release the GOLD
reserve of $l00,000,0O0 and make the
treasury independent of Wall street.
Of course the retirement of these
notes should follow the expansion o.
bank notes under the proposed system
thus avoiding contraction of the cur
rency; and the funds for the purpose
should not be raised by the issue o
bonds but come out of the treasury
surplus as it may be created.
The proposed banking currenc,
would have the advantage, in the opin
ion of its friends, of continuous expan
sion to keep pace with the growth o
the country and the system would re
ouire no amendment for many year
unless defects of detail were disclosed
by the operation of the law"
There can be no doubt about that
1t would return to the people righ
taken from them by the government q
q war measure only.