OCR Text |
Show TESDELL PHILLIP3' ri5A3ClAl PLAN. We know ycry well that Mr. Wen-dull Wen-dull Phillips is crazy on Borne points, and especially on that of putting the negro by act of congress into the position posi-tion of a bort of national privileged claee, to bo forced into good Bocicty whether he is wanted or not, but it may be that hia financial ideas are more practical in their application to the biidineAj requirements of the public pub-lic than hia race-equality notions, which very few except republican congressmen con-gressmen believe in. At a meeting of the American Social Science association associa-tion at Boston recently, Mr. Phillips declared that it w.m not a dishonest currency to which we inuat attribute our present torpid, unhealthy commercial com-mercial condition, but to tho high rate I of interest which prevails. Ho said our war scared us into tho beat currency cur-rency we ever had. fho people, ii wise, will hold on tu it. Ho insisted upon these points: 1 Tako from the national baaka all I r g it to a'Uo bills. I ' T..H t he nr l.in iurlf Hiitih'v a cur rency niiiulw for all our nftds. 3. lie luci tue ;:Uo of interest, A specie basis, Mr. Phillips contends, con-tends, is impossible. T'nno and circumatancaa will mftltf greenback equal to gold ye-, bo'. r man go'.d. fcutthiacountry will r ever, I mink, ;triou5ly fi.-t ttb-iut reht"ring a -pecio basis as dUtinct object of eil'ort. Hpfi'ie basis ws a rory good meLhou when lrai'was small and interchange of produce wa slack. A hundred ami rtf'.y yev s ago a r.ilativo ot mine wis able u Hfcl irom Boston t" Alb -ny in he own vehicle in thr.-a week. It would not answer at all new lo givu up the Boston Bos-ton and Albany ,railwy an i contine ourselves to tuth carriages and roads Ttioro ii not gold enough in tho world or at any ratount enough available for currency, to support tha busmeia of tai; gjneratiuu. Mr. Phillips would retire all the national bank bills, at once receive one-half of all debts duo the government govern-ment in greenbacks, and in time all debts due, which would soon put greenbacks on pur with gold, and would Kcure tin1 government enough . gold to meet itd obligations. Allow 1 any person to deposit national bonds 1 in tlu) national treasury, aud receive gicenb.icks in exchange, thedeposiL-.r receiving the full amount of the bonds, and p:i)iug three or four percent, per imL'imi as interest. Mr. Phillips 1 eaya that the jut-sent system is a one-sided devUe by which capital gets uniform advantage over business and labor. The capitalists in clamoring about inflation, uro simply demanding demand-ing protection lor themselves. They frighten men to dca'.h with pictures pic-tures of ruin if the present, i arreney (t. e. ibil),l)M OU) greenbacks) is allowed 'o' exist. At tho b.Miio tiinp, capital add to or lake from this bank-bill currency f 1,1100, OUU.OOO at i'.a own mere will aid' pleaiuro. Tha New York clearing-i clearing-i h- io uses check .lo the amount of a j tlj0,UUJ,UUJ a day a currency thri I create without asking any ono'a leave. Another idea proposed by Phillips ia that the government by and by allow al-low landholders to borrow one-half of the value of their improved land in grecabacks at tbo smuo rata oi interta'.; tho vnluu sat on the land to tc tho average of what it has b-tin ap praised tor taxe during tint last urn years; tho interest to be v iscounted at the tmc ol the loan, such greenbacks o ba riturnod at any lime and ifco land-or land-or bonds to ba released. Any otner holdor of gre-.-nbai'ki to be almwvd l" surrender thorn mkI have ia their Mead a nntion.il bond bearing the same in teresl berore mentioned. Tho pr.nuipa-of pr.nuipa-of iuch bonds to be pa"d in gold, Buy thirty, titty, or a hundrad years hence. The result ofeuch a system as Mr. Phillips' would be to reduce the interest inter-est on our national debt to less than 1 per cent. Ho thinks that twelve hundred millions of currency would not be an extravagant estimate for the national wants. This amount borrowed bor-rowed by the people would produce over $-10,000,000 interest. The government gov-ernment now pays an anuual interest in-terest of about $100,000,000, leaving us to pay only $00,000,000 annually. Do you say wo should be flooded with paper'.' 1 ak who would keup it un)e.-it un)e.-it ws worth to hun more thac 4 per ceii t. 7 The moment it ceases to do hi i tha". goodjho would exchango for bonils. Do you my this power to increai" tha currer cy is too dangcruu-to be trusted to the ou'iaess men of the country ? I pkir, in reply, is it any Bfer t.. tru t it, as it n trusted now, to oauk airectortf There is a euri U3 oversight in the cry of ii.tl.tion. Wo f jrg -t tbe nation double its ppjlatiou in th rty years; that it add.-, herefrc, to toe hinn like million to Li imputation annually. O: course tbe sufficient cu-rency of 1870 must be too Emu) 1 for 1ST6; yet because-we because-we have more currency now than in 1SG0, men bold up hinds of horror and cry "Inflation." Another result of this Bystem, Mr. Phillips says, would be that it would make us independent of the bank of England or any ring of capitalists : Give our eistrn mtnufactures and our wejioni landcolders money at 4 and 5p"r eent. and we ctn then de y tho c-jmpL-ti-tion ot" t;io world. Keep you.- lovanio tarill'to pay the debt. Ab.jli-U ita protective pro-tective element at once. I waive entirely, -o far as our home curre'-cy is coucerud, all abortive attempt to k-.-c-p a golo basis. iiven BulH:ni;t Bowen allows that without irredeemable pa-er money Eng-iand Eng-iand would not have conquered Jiapn-lsm; Jiapn-lsm; thaupsper n.'tes f..ug!il the banle of Witter lo.1, k--p her working-men employe em-ploye 1, gve them e-ise under almost in-crediblo in-crediblo taxes, and secured I -trade unexampled unex-ampled prosperity. Our late war tel s the same story. Yet there are those who seem never aole to learn the lesson. There ara doubt Ices some special kinds ofbu-iniS' so proliwbie that men engaged en-gaged in them can afford to pay ten and twelve per cent. But I am sure 'hat busmeis men will support mo in savin that bu-iness in genera! me average business of the country cannot be carried car-ried 0:1 with prtlit wiilo money is at Yen per coat, or much above. Y-1 Bowen allows that our average imero-t is ten per cent. Every a. re easi of the Mississippi Miss-issippi ra 'ricaed at tha rati? of ten per csnt. is fas', paseir g ihIo the hands 0 tho1 money lendar. You must therefore lessen the ra'e of interest, ei:hc'r by attracting fjro gn capital cap-ital hero or by inventing some new way to make trecr use of all wo have of every kind. Only thus can tho ab..r:ng and trading class prosp-r. ueh reduction of in tore-1 would b&T raved the north from the pre'en'. wholetle bankruptcy; by developing tbe imhitry of tlie outh it woiud nve gone far to prevent tbe political polit-ical irc-uMe-'tbere whica loom ;o darkiy over our future. This subject is worthy the attention oi tho coming congress. The democratic demo-cratic majority in the house of representatives repre-sentatives canr.ot be belter engaged for a few months than in a t'orough1 investigation of our entire financial tyslem, with a view to relieve tho people, peo-ple, if poii bie, from the present fear-' ful burdens of interest which operate against all legitimate business enter-' prises. Some method must be devised to break down the onerous money monopoly, or national and individual bankruptcy appears inevitable. ' 1 |