Year: 1876

A Sensible and Convincing Argument.
On the last day of August, Hon.
Newton Booth, the Independent Sen
ator from California, addressed the
citizens of his native town, Terre
Haute, Indiana, speaking mainly on
the financial issue. For sound logic,
expressed in graceful and vigorous
style, the effort has not been surpas-
sed in this campaign. We hope our
readers of every persuasion, will give
it careful perusal. Mr.. Booth said:


"I suppose if I should throw a
stone into this audience at the man
who has the very best plan that ever
was invented for supplying currency,
resuming specie payment, and paying
the public debt, most of you would
dodge. Some of you out of an af-
fected modesty may keep your plans
secret, but you know you have them,
and sometime, like murder, they will
out. 1t is best they should out ,
Let us have full, free, candid discus
sion; the true plan will eventually
appears land Aaron's serpent will swal-
low all the other serpents. Of course
that will be yours, but you must bide
your time, for this is wicked and
perverse generation. 1t has not yet
got out Of the wilderness. Now,
there is this to be said of all the va
rious plans and suggestions on this
subject. Differing SO muchin details
and expectations of results, the hard
est of hard-money men and the soft
est of the soft upon a candid COM
parison will find their principal
difference is about methods and not
about general principles. Both will
agree that the currency of the coun-
try ought to be stable in value; both
will agree thatin this commercial age
and country some form of credit will
circulate as money. We shall have
United States notes or bank-notes or
both. They will agree further that
the best bank-notes we have ever had
are secured by Government bonds
They will also be very likely to agree
that if the Government could furnish
the whole circulation without danger
Of arbitrary initiation or contraction
that would be desirable They will
also agree that in order to maintain
a stability of value in paper currency
there must be some method of re-
demption. The late Sectetary of the
Treasury recommended in his last
annual report that he should be al
lowed to fund s3,O0O,OOO of green
backs per month until by reduction
of their volume they would appreci-
ate to par with gold. This would
have been contraction, it is true
But the greenback' men are IN favor
of allowing the holders Of United
States notes to fund them into inter
convertible bonds. Now this option
of conversion is worth something or
nothing. II nothing, of course the
measure would be futile. If some
thing, conversions would be made
and it would result in contraction
If the contraction should be too rap
id, so that sthe volume of our cur
rency should not be equal to the
wants of business if money should
be in demand so that the holder OF
3.G5 gold bond could make more than
that with money, he would take his
bond to the Treasury and get curren
cy for it. Under the Secretary's plan,
if there should be demand for more
currency, the banks would deposit
additional bonds with the United
States Treasury and issue more bank
notes. If there be any principle OF
initiation in either Of these plans it is
in the latter, for in the first the bonds
surrendered cease to bear interest; in
the latter, the bond deposited does
not bear interest, and whatever profit
there is in circulation IS an induce
ment to the banks to make it as large
as practicable. Again, one plan of
resumption is to sell bonds from time
to time and place the gold in the
Treasury to redeem greenbacks when
presented. The greenback men say,
when the holder of United States
note presents it for redemption, give
him the bond and let him sell it or
keep it. The greenback men are in
favor Of currency issued wholly by
the Government. There are very few
hard-money men who will not admit
that the Government should supply
a part.


1t is not my intention to discuss the
relative merit of these plans. l have
long been of opinion that the Gov
ernment could issue long fund in
terconvertible with currency, interest
payable in gold, at a lower rate OF
interest than any other description,
and that through the instrumentality
of such bond the volume of cur
rency would be self-regulating, and
would be supplied with less friction
than through the more complicated
machinery of banks of issue. The
gain would be in a reduction Of the
interest the Government would be
compelled to pay. l do not see how
it would make money more abundant
for any one who has Governmen
bond can get money for it now
Whoever expects through this or any
other instrumentallty that money is
to be made abundant so that it can
be earned without toll, accumulated
without frugality, is doomed to dis
appointment. Individuals may get
rich by fortunate accident under
any system, but communities can on
ly grow in wealth and prosperity by
labor and economy. With these, and
with fair natural advantages, their
prosperity cannot be long retarded.
The seasons OF speculative excitement
when everybody seems to get rich by
buying wild lands, town lots, fancy
stocks, and dlscounting the future
are uniformly followed by depres-
sions-when fictitious values vanish
like fairy gold, real values are depre-
ciated, and labor has to bear the
double burden of paying for past inn
prudence and present support. In
last resort it is labor which pays the
whole debt of society. There is no
legerdemain in finance, no Aladdin's
lamp even in invention by which we