Year: 1878

MONEY AND TRADE.


The second lecture in the present under the
auspices of the Free Trade Club delivered at the
club rooms. No. n West Twenty fourth street. by
Mr.. Horace White "Money and Trade" You
are aware, said Mr.. White, in opening.
that the New York Clearing House Associa-
;ion has adopted resolutions first. to discontinue
special gold deposits and after january /; second,
to receive and pay balances at the Clearing House in
gold legal tender notes. and third receive silver
dollars only special deposits to be returned in kind
Being trustee of the whole community the bankers
first duty is TO keep safe and return on
demand to rightful owners all moneys COM
| mtted to his Now. matter of
the bankers of New York in adopting the resou
tions spoken of above concerned only in keeping
money placed in their hands by stockholders
and depositors aud thus fulfilling first duty.
| BY process the irredeemable notes Of the gov
ernment constituting the paper currency Of the
country have acquired value equal to that OF
gold, or within a small traction OF it


NAV be IN on the s ihat o jane
uary this difference will disappear II the revenues OF
the government. collected in pursuance of the Re
sumption act sufficient for the purpose great
cry has been raised by the silver against the dis
crimination. and numerous suggestions have been
made by way of preventing the banks from carrying
the resolution into effect. I submit that acts OF
Congress will be inpotent verbal abuse to
he es nI Bear in mna that al trade is at
barter, what Is farniliarly called swapping
thing for another, and money is employed merely
facilitate the exchange Bank deposits in reality
consist of commodities sold They represent and
stand for the circulating capital of the conn.
try. Banks the places where swapping
property is done by Wholesale. Although the deposits
in banks are loosely termed money and may be de-
manded in money at any time, yet all the money
needed used by them is the amount necessary to
pay daily balances or differences, where bank
holds more checks on another then the latter holds
on the former.


The standard of comparison. said he. actually in
force in the commercial world is gold Whether
J, Ia limit ta1
The &C diiiicuisy s of Of Having two % things composing
and the essence of standard is that it
shall remain of the same value at one
Gates Gates Of the double standard. gold does not
remain Of the value at all times. 1t varies II
not from year to year. from generation to generation
according to the productveness Of mines and ac-
cording to the demand for it, which is greater ct
times than at others. That is true in the sense
that gold will buy ut times than at Others
The why will do involves study Of those
recurring and alternating periods OF prosperity and
trade" do not deny that there are other causes
than these but maintain that variations in its value
dependent upon mere supply and demand. and indie,
such long periods Of time TO be
imperceptble at any particular time. Now. the
have occurred with great frequency and intensity
during the past $50 years. while silver occupied the
field of monetary circulation equally with gold do
not consider that the nature or kind or amount Of
money in among the people to be one of the fac
tors or agencies causing panics. The underlying
cause is to be found in undue accumulation of
debt incurred in buying goods with the expectation
Of selling them at higher price,


In conclusion Mr.. White spoke Of the conditions of
trade now existing. which he regarded in themselves
almost sufficient to resumption OF specie pay
ments even without the influence OF the Resumption
act. He pointed out that the in East
ern Europe had increased largely the de-
mand for American commodities and products
and while the exports have been increasing
the imports have declined in greater ratio He said
that there would doubt be deal Of fllbustering
the money question in Congress. but he doubted il
anything would be done to disturb the plans al
ready arranged for the circulation Of gold and paper
side by side. n


1.-THE TENTH Mise y