Year: 1878

Somebody has asked Secretary Sherman
how much paper money circulates in sew
eral European States, and he replies:-
Twelve and half dollars a head in France,
six and a third in Great Britain. three and
half in Germany and fourteen and half
in the United States. Thus it appears that
We have already more paper money per
head of population than either of the other
three States named, and we have besides a
free banking law, under which our paper
currency can be increased at any time to
any extent demanded by business and with
the best security to bill holders. Consider
ing all the facts of the case it is not won-
derful that the greenback infationists cast
but small vote.


But the real question is as to the redemp-
ton in coin of the paper promises to pay.
A United States legal tender note is at this
moment actually note having sixty days
to run. At the end of that time the Secre-
tary of the Treasury will redeem it in gold;
and as the national bank notes are redeem
able on demand in legal tenders they, too,
will be virtually demand notes, for which
the holder can get gold sixty days hence.
We say gold, because the Treasury has but
little silver-of one hundred and fifty mill
ions of coin it will have not more than
twenty millions of the universally despised
dollar of our fathers, and it will probably
be allowed to retain these.


We trust Congress at the next session
will direct the Treasury to redeem the sill
yer fractional currency in sumAof fifty or
q hundred dollars. The small change Is
only token money. The country will float
a great deal of it, because it is convenient
and necessary, but unless the government
redeems it on demand the banks neces-
sarily refuse to take it on deposit, and a
serious and constant loss is inflicted on
persons who in the course of business re-
ceive more than they can use of it. All
token money becomes burdensome as soon
as it ceases to be redeemable, precisely as
paper notes, which also are only tokens
not money, but the representatives Of
money.


There is in some quarters needless
panic about the dollar Of our fathers. This,
which properly is also only token and not
real money, exists as yet in SO moderate a
quantity that it can do little harm. If
Congress continues tho foolish attempt to
make eighty -four cents worth Of silver pass
current as q dollar the silver dollar will
presently fall into great disrepute. and
public opinion will, long before the
amount coined becomes dangerously great,
demand the cessation Of coinage and the
withdrawal Of the amount coined. But if
the present Congress shall order the re-
demption of the silver small change by
the Treasury in sums of fifty or hundred
dollars, and if the next Congress
should follow this up with law
ordering the redemption, also, of the
silver dollars in sums of say one or five
hundred dollars, there is reason to believe
that the country, under these circum-
stances, would float not less than hundred
and fifty millions of silver without incon-
venience to business or arrangement of the
currency. For the present only about
twenty millions of silver dollars have been
coined, and more than another year must
pass before the silver dollar can begin to do
the great damage which is now predicted of
it. BY that time we trust it will have found
its proper place as subsidiary coin.