The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-08
THE MEANING OF CURRENCY
REFORM.


The New Albany Ledger, a Democratic
paper of the opportunist school, says the
Republican talk about currency reform sis
the veriest bosh ard rot, and behind it all
stalks the ungainly and repellent skeleton
of self-interest and sneaking partisanship. -
OF course, the Republican party is very
wicked. from a Democratic point of view,
but it does not change it's principles every
few years and has not jumped from the adj
vocacy of honest money to fiat money and
called it Jeffersonian Democracy. The Led
ger, which, by the way, used to be regarded
as good sound Democratic paper before
the whole party became permeated with UNI
soundness. continues:
There is not nation i'm the world that has
better money system than the United
circulating notes and national bank circula-
tion-all on an equal basis of absolute safety
to the people-all absolutely satisfactory to
the people Let it alone. If anything is
done in the way of reform to such a su-
perlative circulating metal medium and pa
per currency, let it be to give the country
more of 1t, with the government behind 1t
ALL even to it's bonds for the redemption of
the national bank notes, for what this coun-
try most needs to make it prosperous IS
enough money in circulation TO stimulate it's
That is much the style in which Demo-
cratic opportunist papers used to talk in
the days of the greenback craze. when the
advocacy of greenback imitation was
thought to be good scheme to catch votes.
Now it is free silver and money enough ito
stimulate business into the greatest possible
activity"
The most frequent and perhaps the most
plausible argument against currency reform
is the "let it alone" argument used by the
Ledger. It's fallacy consists in confoundng
our currency with our currency system. and
making people believe that because one is
good the other cannot be bad. Our currency
in itself, thanks to the strength and credit
of the government is, up to the present
time, as good as any in the world. 1t is all
of equal value, all par and all as good as
gold for the purposes of domestic exchange,
though our paper money would not be rec
ognized abroad at all and our silver dollars
at only their bullion value OF less than SO
cents. But for all practical purposes it is
true, as the Ledger says, that the different
forms of our currency are ''all on an equal
basis of absolute safety to the people" But
when that is said about all has been said
that can be in defense of our present cur
rency system. The currency is remarkably
good and the system conspcuousy bad.
The advocates of currency reform do not
expect or desire 10 have currency of more
equal parity than that we now have. or
bank notes of more absolute security to the
holder than those now in circulation. Moth
ing could possibly be better than the ma
tional bank notes in this regard. and the
credit of the government makes our other
forms of paper currency equally as good.
But experience has shown that while the
notes are exceptionally good the system is
fundamentally and dangerously bad. Cur
rency reform aims at simplifcation of the
present heterogeneous system; at the estab-
lishment of the gold standard and the con-
Torrance of all our currency to it; at the
gradual reduction and ultimate retire
ment of The legal-tender notes; at
the withdrawal of the government from
the banking business. and at the establish
ment Of banking system which shall in
sure circulation as absolutely safe to the
note holder as that we now have, adequate
to the demands of business at all seasons,
and free from the defects which experience
has shown are inherent in the present sys-
TEN and inseparable from it What those
defects are, at ieaS> the main ones injuri-
ously affecting business interests through
out the whole country. any one can learn
by reading the report OF the secretary of the
treasury, just published They have never