Year: 1869

Done on the shortest notice. and in manner


that will be satisfactory to ALL


I conclude, then, this branch of the


subject by the earnest opinion that


it was a good policy three years


ago, and it is good policy now, to


allow all parties to stipulate tho


time when, the amount, and the me-


dunn Of payment, subject to gen.


erai laws of fraud, usury, and force


Free trade in domestic productions.
liberty to contract and be contracted


with, has never been restrained be-
fore. Let US restore these rights;


and having also provided a paper
representative of the coin in the


Treasury of the United States and


bank currency convertible into


gold and founded upon the highest


securities, let us now deal with tho


much more difficult questionable


appreciation of the present currency


to the standard of gold. 81 r
| If this question affected alone the


Government of the United States


we might resume specie payments


very soon; sooner even than the


Senator from Massachusetts Mr..


Sumner proposes. By funding


portion of the United States notes,


by requiring the banks to maintain


their full reserves in legal tenders,


by withdrawing the three per cent.


certificates, and by the use of the


gold in the Treasury, we could re-


sumo at once. This process might


increase the bonded Indebtedness of


the United States 800, 100000 and


the interest $5,0O0,0OO; but our


revenues are amply in gold to pay


the increased interest, and the act


ual saving in the current expense. OF


of the Government by the reduction


of prices to the gold standard would


be double and perhaps qnadruple


the increased interest. The body
} of our expenditure being the inter


est ofthe public debt, is now paya-
BILE in gold, and its burden is not


increased by specie payments, while
J the saving in expenditure and the
: probable saving by the funding of


the debt at a lower interest would
: largely exceed any interest we
would have to pay on notes with
> drawn from circulation. -..-..
? And if the burden of resumption
? fell alone upon the national banks
the task would be an easy one.
Their securities, deposited with the
t Treasurer of the United States, are
now nearly equal in gold to the
t amount of their circulation. A call
t under the banking act Of ten per
| cent. additional security could be
easily met by the great body of
5 them, and thus enable them to re-
+ sumo whenever the United States is
!, prepared to resume. Their profits
: in the past have been large. Those
S not now strong enough to perform
: the great object of their organiza-
/ ton, namely, to furnish uniform
d currency, convertible into gold, may


well give way to other banks ready
: to take their places. -r
y But redemption by the banks
e means redemption by all their debt
), ors; by the merchants, manufactur-
d ers, and traders Of the country
s And we are therefore compelled to
b deal with this question, not as
: affects the United States and the


banks merely, but as it affects all the
), people of the United States. How
G will the appreciation of the currency
g affect their interests? Suppose it
r accomplished, how will it affect
y different individuals A person
It entirely out of debt but possessed of
l. property ofproductive value would
e not be affected by the change. His
J property would be of less nominal
1t value, but it would be of the same
1t intrinsic value. Its producing ca
l. pacity is undiminished. 1t will
W buy the same food, clothing. and
e necessaries of life. The relative
Il value of commodities to each other
IS is not affected by the currency used,
1t but by supply and demand.


s If the currency is depreeisted it
+ will take more of it to purchase the


article. If it is appreciated it will
: take less; but the appreciation or
e depreciation of the currency does
d not affect the price of other cemmod-
It tiles in their relation to each other.
S This can only be affected by the de-
r mand for them, by the supply of
r them, and ultimately by the cost of
n producing them. f~[
= So a man without property and
t. not in debt, but who depends upon
d his labor for his support, is not in
le the end affected merely by an appre-
e citation in the currency. His wages
IS may be less, but what he receives of
n the appreciated currency has the
II same purchasing power as the higher
/ wages received before. The change
IS does affect him for time, for land
,f and labor are the last commodities
/. to feel a change in the currency.
l. The immediate effect of deprecia-
% ton in the currency is injurious to
IS him, for his food and clothing rise
s. more rapidly than his labor, but ap-
y probation of the currency is imme.
Y. diately beneficial to him for the rea-
al son that his labor does not fall in
Is price so quickly as food and cloth
ly ing. The value of labor, however
y. may be disastrously affected by the
!? mode of appreciation. If it is ,bro't
1t about by sudden contraction the
l. result will be suspension of work
% of enterprises, and consequently a
is reduction in the price of labor.


wi Persons OF fixed salaries and in.