OCR Text |
Show RESUMPTION FOLLY. Tiie resumption act of January, 1S75, has thus far resulted in a contraction con-traction of $41,000,000 of national bank notes, and $12,000,000 of greenbacks green-backs fci3, 000,000 in all-and the comptroller of the currency and the treasurer of the United States estimate esti-mate that the shrinkage of currency for the remainder of tho present calendar cal-endar year will be at the rate of $0,-000,000 $0,-000,000 a month. In round numbers, num-bers, there will be on tho 1st of January, Jan-uary, 1S77, $100,000,000 less money in circulation than when the currency curren-cy aci passed in January, 1875. The eflect of this decrease in currency it will be readily conceiyed, is to increase in-crease the relative- value of tho remainder, re-mainder, or in other words to make money icarce and dear and merchandise mer-chandise cheap. It will not, bow-ever, bow-ever, pay any more debt. One thou-1 sand dollars, no matter5 how many I bushels of wheat may be exchanged for it, will only pay a debt of one thousand dollars. An exchange clearly seta forth the great importance of this proceis to the community : Now, when we look at the public debts of th ditl'un-nt lafons, wo see wlmt an iimncnati gain to tbo creditor ela-g results re-sults from legi-latiun which tt-ruj to iuko money dar and morchifidiso cheap. Tbo twenty principal nations owe, in tho ag'i (f l'e, th nraot lacon-C'uvaHo lacon-C'uvaHo mm ot A0,0i,0 W0. Admitting Ad-mitting that th pih.cipal of th--se debu can nevt-r b" p d, tho interest on nearly all of it ib paid promptly a it bi'om-a due. The mm of this interest id JlMli,-7u'i,mi0, JlMli,-7u'i,mi0, which is paid yearly to c ri ditora. Tliis l not all. 'i'b" '-rnill'T national dfd,U arc e-tiaiatd at 600,ihi) Oou. Un-I'ulti Un-I'ulti thoct; are municipal dotjtJ, the debt of a;al;, wbi h con;liuiUj a part of nations, na-tions, county debts und private rich. Tho wh"lti Iido of debtJ, puMic and private, pri-vate, will bo materially u(rnnnted by siny p -lie v which mikea moui-y diar and rn'jrc(iai,di;fj cbup. I When it is considered that Ly f,ir the largest proportion of our national, state and corporation inJubtedneas is held abroad, it is clear that tho clasa to bo principally benefited by forced resumption would be the foreign holders of tlio federal bonds and other Cfidences of indebtedness, while tho creditor cl.vsj, comprising tho great bulk of tiic population, would bo impoverished im-poverished and tho country bankrupted. bank-rupted. Forced resumption in 1870 therefore means a continued contraction contrac-tion of the currency, in the interest of the foreign creditom, tho prevalonco of hard tunes mid the ruin and bankruptcy bank-ruptcy ol lhu majority of tho Uwnvna ' interests and industrial classes. I 1 |