Jasper Republican, Volume 2, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 September 1875 — The Value of Credit. [ARTICLE]

The Value of Credit.

Wendell Phillips demands that the money of the country shall rest on national credit The money of all civilized countries, he declares, “ consists of paper and must rest on credit” But there is a very material difference between a paper note that is redeemable in gold on demand and a paper note that is not redeemable on demand. A greenback is one of the latter kind. The United States “promises to pay bearer one dollar” for it but this promise has never been fulfilled, and it is now twelve years old. What is the credit of a man worth who does not pay his debts in twelve years ? The “ credit of the nation” is a term very vaguely used, and those who use it do not seem to know the meaning of it. The national credit ought to be as good as gold, but it is not; it is worth thirteen cents on the dollar less than gold. Besides, the more the national credit ia stretched the less valuable it becomes. The Government has outstanding now $382,000,000 unredeemable greenbacks; suppose it were to increase the sum to $1,000,000,000; is it not plain that the national credit which is supposed to stand behind them would not prevent them from going down to fifty cents on the dollar ? The United States Governmenthas repudiated its notes at times—if anyone doubts this let him take an old Continental bill to Washington and ask the Treasury to redeem it; the genuineness of the bill will not be denied, but the holder will be told that there is no appropriation to pay it out of. This is an example of the absolute worthlessness of the national credit The plain truth of the whole business is that a credit must be instantly, absolutely and certainly redeemable in gold, on demand, to be worth par. If it is not so redeemable, it is depreciated; it has only a conjectured value, and no amount of patriotic talk about the nation that stands behind it will increase that valne one farthing. Wendell Phillips himself would not give a gold dollar for a greenback dollar.— St. Lotus Republican. ... .Judge Kelly says that the greenbacks now issued are but capital deposited in vaults for future use when money may be again required. Well, suppose more greenbacks were issued, as favored by Mr. Kelly, what would prevent their being likewise deposited until more money was required ? What is thus stored now are offered at low rates of interest, and are not taken because there is no demand th&efbr. Would the issue of several millions more quicken the demand ? It seems as though such over-issue would be like & redundancy of eggs in a huckster’s hands, liable to serious depreciation.— Republic Magasine. ... .There waa once a sort of “ money” known as' assignats. It resembled the greenbacks in many respects. Its material was paper. It was a promise to pay. It circulated. It was secured by a pledge of the “faith” and “resources,” etc., of all France. But it went down, down, until its ohief value was as wall-paper in a peasant’s hut. Will some inflationist* explain the whys and wherefores of this fact? “ Why, gentle stupid, tell us why r* —Chicago Tribune. ... .It is somewhat singular that -some of the inflation organs which have been ringing all the changes on the “hardmoney” failure in California do not have a word of comment upon the fact that tiiere have been no failures among the business men of that State. This Important fact does not serve to point a moral in foe inflation interest, and hence it is WeftUiy m\tt&X,—Qhicago Timet.