Press enter after choosing selection

Financial

Financial image
Parent Issue
Day
9
Month
January
Year
1874
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

)E4R ARGUS : Being ounfined to ïny house by teinpoary illness, and in great want of inoney cannot collect, I have earnestly watchd the procuedings of Congreso, and oareully rpad the financial artioles of Wendell Phillips, Ben. Butler, Thora. Scott and Frank Scott, HoraceDay, nud others, ïoping they would suggest se me plan that would give us folks in debt, all the inoney we need, without the tug and toil of earning it ; but I fail to see any plan which will raiso the purchasitif power of 3 (ió per cent. bond to par, while a 5 per cent. will only sell for 100 cents oti the dollar. So I am forced to the following conclusions : First, that MüSEY, being the measure of all coinineioial values, must, of itself, necossarily be a valuable and useful cominodity ; and its true value, like the value of all other useful comtnodities, will always be the oxact labor cost of its production, whether that be much or little, and no araount of legislation can make it other wise; nor does the stamp which governments place on its face, in the least change its relative value, as compared with other things, for its purchasing power niust forever be in the exact ratio of their relative labor cost of production. The tact that all civihzed countries have adopted the use of gold and sil ver as raoney, and its universally acknowledged convenience for that purpose, ia a sufficient reuson for the continúan cc of GOLD AST) SILVKll as the standard of value by which all other commodities shall be nieasured. Aud when I say gold and silver, it is in the belief that silver is notso bulky nor abundant as to be in the least inoonvenient ; and also in the belief that its labor cost of production, as compared with its stamped value, is a trifle less than that of gold, which, by giving the debtor class the option to pay in either, will make it difiicult for speculators and money dealers to forestall the market by hoarding gold, which they only want for making a corner to purposely embarrass legitímate trede and productive industries. Monoy, whether of gold and silver, or other eommodity, need not nccesmrüy become a CIKCULATIXO MEDIUM. The promises of prompt men to pay in one, ten, or sixty days, their uhecka, notes, bilis of exchange, ifcc, ifcc, form a large portion of the mediums of exchango in all highly civilized countries. Many countries peruiit individuals and associ.ttions topledge valid securities, and lend their notes payable on demand at the sanie rate of interest tliey can legally obtain for gold or other valnable productions ; and thoso so called bank notes become the currency of most rural districts, while checks, and bilis of exehange become the great medium of exchange in all commercial towns. BANK N0TE3, CHECKS, AND BILLS OF ÏXcnANOE, when well secured, are as good as gold and silver, and being so iiicomparably more convenient, it is believed that no civilized people will voluntarily abandon their use and go back to specie for a currency, were it as abundant as the most grasping could desiro. One of the anomalies of specie is, that so long as people feel certain that they can obtain it ou deinand, they never want it. ïherefore we Ree it is unquestioned security that is needed in all monetary transactions, whioh seourities, it is difficult to provide for by a pledge of specie, whether in bank vaults, or ander State control, unless the amount shall eTjual the circulation it is intended to secure ; and at thit rate the security would not be more absolute, nor nearly so convenient as government bonds at their fair value on the mirkets of the world, which fact, our own practical knowledge has taught us. - Theretore let us provide for a SYSTEM OF BANKING, whose circulation shall be secure beyond all question, and as tree as merchandising or any of the trades ; and, if possible, so elastic as always to meet the greatly varied wants of our immense and ever fluctuating commerce ; and lastly, so independent and self-sustaining, as to evade the control of grasping speculators, whose only airn is to make "corners," hoping to embarrass useful industries. To make BANKING PRACTICALLY FREE, enact that any person or association sha.ll be entitled to circulating notes at the rate of $100,000 for every $105,000 of TI. S. bouds at their market valué, kept with the coinptroller of the currency, whioh notes may be loaned at such rates of interest as the borrower shall agree to pay. Wben any bank or banker sb.all refuse to pay specie for their notes on demand, the bearer thereof uiay have then protested in bulk by a notary, reoiting nunibers, &c, suffiuiently to identify them, which bundle of dishonored notes, the bearer uiay present or send to the controller of the currency, who shall givo U. S. bonds at the rate of $101 of their market valué for every $100 of said dishonored notes. - The forfeit on bankers' securities is purposely made small, to prevent speculutors and ruoney dealers f rom being tenipted to hoard currency and einbarrass trade, which would surely be done on a more tempting margin. Now, it wiil readily be seen, that the very worst that can befall the bill holder, is to get a bond that is worth oue per cent. iu gold more than the par value of his dishonored notes, and the grealest calamity that can befall the legitimate banker, is the withdrawal of that portion of his capital, and the discredit of being a delinquent, This is ■practically FBEE BANKING, and if more or less profitable than other business, the inexorable laws of trade will soon determine, and capital, which is always on the alert for safe and prolitable investment, will so stealthily and gradually advance or withdraw, that violent changes in the price of money, or the market value of industrial products, will never recur, and a BILL HOLDERS, OB MONEY PANIC with its blighting and deinoi-alizing effects would be irupossiblu. Interest being being entirely free, and our socurities uuquestioned, the supply of money will always tend to an exact equiübrium, and becoine as elastic as the demands of industrial pursuits can inake profitable, and the limit of circulating notos, will be our exact ability to redeem on demand in specie, which no bank or banker can evade wilhout a forfeit to the billholders, of one per cent. more than its specie equivalent in value. All tendency to ble speculation will be discouraged by advancing rates of interest, niftking it unprofitable. The tendency to opérate ou country bankers' daüy balances in the great centera of trade, has done rauch to rob legiti rúate industries of a needful pupply of currency, and shoul.l be abated by prohibiting ban ka of issue f rom paying interest on deposita, and compelling thera to make their collections through banks of circulation wherever nation;il banks exist. To bridge over the present financia] crisis, and encourage idle capital to immediately circuíate, it may be well to put a reasonable amount of S per cent. bonds on the uiarket, the prooeeds ot which may be used from time to time as sold, for such purposes as government would otherwise feel oonstrained to tax our already overburthened industrial pursuits; and to ease the toiling, struggling masa, now in debt for property at high prioes, over the crash which an immediate return to speoie payuients would créate, - provide that bankers, for a reasonable time, may issue 5 per cent. interest notes payable such time henee as may seem discreet, and as an equivalent therefor in their securities, bankers shall not draw interest on their bonds from the cotnptroller, untilthey redeem their own notes with spocie and pay their aceumulated interest. A very important idea in this monetary plan is to arise from the use of silver, as well as gold, tor legalized money, thereby making it impossible to corner and einbarrass legitímate trade. None of the objections now hold good s to inoonvenient bulk, &c, which were forcibly urged when a specie currency was an absolute necessity, - for, with the present system of banking, or the one here proposed, neithergold nor silver will ever be tolerated as a circulating medium. Nevertheless. they will be, as they have been, the true measure of all commercial values, - and, for that purpose, one is just as good and convenitnt as the other, for neither will but seldom h) counted, weighed or moved, but reuiain in bankers vaults to be druwn against when desired. It is confidently believed these suggestions are pvaotical, safe, simple, and preominently ecoriomicül, and that they enable the country to carry the largest aniount oí currency which can be kept uctivfly elastic aud redeeraed on demand with specie, Whatever that amount may be, the natural laws of supply and demand will soon determine ; and the less government undertakes to regúlate it the more exactly will it adjust itself to the wants of' legitímate trade. In fact, we only need consent that the controller may become the trustee, and hold the bonds required of those who shall desire to engage in banking, ïhe system needs no watchful care of legislators, nor reports of assets or liabilities, discounts or circulation. It ueeds no courts of law, nor lawyers, - the plan is so simple and efficiënt that every man can protect hiraself against loss, expense, or tedious delays - except depositors, - who, perhaps, should be protected by a reasonable personal liability of the stookholders, which, if left open, competí tion among ban kers, for the gratuitous use ot' fuuds on cali, will prompt them to make stronger than any practical law would be likely to provide for. No doubt some of these propositions will seeni ultra to the niany intelligent readers of the Arous, therefore criticism is invited, hoping for valuable suggestions which my result in practicable good. ISRAEL HALL. Aítn Abbor, Jan. 5tb, 1874.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus