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IkTURDAy, June 30, 1787. VB A leorgia state gazette H OR 5k | INDEPENDENT REGISTER. FREEDOM of the PRESS, and TRIAL by JUR Y, to remain inviolate forever. Constitution of Georgia. IUGU ST A: Printed by JOHN E. SMITH, Printer to the States F£ays t Articles of Intelligence , Advertisements , &c. will be gratefully received , and every kind of Printing performed. ■ ■ ■■ 1 ■. i ... ~...1- , : ... ... . -- from the- NEW-YORK GAZETTEER. 1 the Fretmen Inhabitants of the United States . Friends and Fellow Citizens, tN every part of these Hates the great fear city of money is become a common fubjed of complaint, his does not seem to be an imaginary grievance, ke that of hard timesi of which men have com bined in all ages of the world ; the misfortune is cneral, and in many cases severely felt. The ;arcity of money is so great, or the difficulty of aying debts has been so common, that riots and ombinations have been formed in many places, nd the operations of civil government have beeii jfpended ; this is the more remarkable, because iiree years have not palled since money was very lenty. A calamity of such magnitude has de- Tvcdly drawn the attention of every legillature in ie union. Ih some of the Hates paper mouey has een jnade as the beR or the moR convenient re medy by which the fuHerings of the people can be elieved. The General-Aflembly of the Hate of tforth-Carolina has already had recourse to two miflions of paper, Certainly when any article » scarce the general remedy is, to make more ; arid Fit should be found, when money is scarce, that rivate and public debts can be honeflly diicharged y a new coinage of paper, the expedient is admi able, for it is the moR easy process by which debts me efcer paid. This, however, is a fub.ieCt on vhich many doubts have arisen. It is not ueßioned whether there are means by which ve may be enabled to difeharge our debts and ecome opulent and powerful, but there are nany who believe that our debts cannot be fairly lifeharged, nor our citizens relieved, much less an they become rich by the manufacture of paper noney. It has also been my lot to entertain some loubts, .whether the laR regulations have hithero ieen adopted for prefen ing juflice, for relieving he oppreHed, and for securing the profperityof he Rate ; —thefe doubts have given rife to the pre ent address. This is a quefiion, my fellow citizens, that claims 'out 1 utmoA attention, for no fubjeft of equal im lortance has been presented to your view since the leclaration of independence. We are going to :onfider whether the adminiflration of government, u these infant Rates, is to be a fyflem of patch. vork, and a series of expedients—Whether a toothful empire is to be supported, like the walls if a tottering ancient palace, by flioars and tem lorary props, or by measures which may prove :ffedual and lafling—meafures which may im ircrve by use, and Rrengthen by age. We are toing to confider whether we Riail deserve to be t branch of the moll poor, dilhoneß and con emptiblc, or of the mofl Rourißiing, indepen lent and happy nation on the face of the earth. The reader is not interefled in knowing who he writer ot this letter may bp ; a bad argument is not mended by the supposed abilities of its au thor, and a good argument does not require pa rental support. In the mean time he counts it his duty to declare, and he does it with humble gratitude, that his complaints are not occasioned jy personal misfortunes; but he finds himfelf a member of a great family; he interefis himfelf as a brother in the happiness ctf his fellow citi* tens, and he fufiers when they are grieved. The more I confider the progress of credit, mid [he increase of wealth in foieign nations, me more fully am I convinced that paper money mufl prove hurtful to this country ; that we cannot be t elieved from our debts except by promoting do tneßic manufaftures, and that during the prevail ♦ « • • ing scarcity of money* the burdens of the poor may be relieved by altering the mode if taxation. Here are three separate and diftinft piopofitions; they (hall be considered apart, in order that each of them may fall or Hand by its own weakness or ltrength. In public measures, as in the conduft of pri vate life, it will constantly be found, that “ htnejiy it the i'tjlpilicy ” this maxim is fomewbat become old, but it has not become useless. A paper cur rency, which is a legal tender, even when it may have depreciated to 20 or 30 per cent, is not gene rally considered as an honest tender, and there are many reasons for believing that such a currency will not finally prove ufeful to the states. I fay it has not generally been oonfidered an beneji tender. Theieaiemany people who fay the money ought not to have depreciated j they fay that neceflity juftified the measure, and that we are bound to receive such payment as the law piefcribesr but I never have heard any man fay that it would be perfect justice to pass a law, by which every cre ditor fliould be compelled to receive three fourths . or two thirds of his debt instead of the whole debt 5 *nd yet such a law would be perfeflly similar to the tender of depreciated paper, except that it would be a proof of more frugality and plain dealing; for it would be calling tilings by the right name, and would save the expcncc of pa per coinage. However convenient ntprtciartd paper may appear to those who use it in the difeharge of debts, we have already difeovered that the credit and finances of these states are injured by paper cur rency, and we (hall certainly continue to fuffer, unless we can be relieved from it. There ha 6 ever been found much difficulty in (baking off the prejudices of education. We have been accus tomed to the use of paper money while we con tinued a depending province ; such a currency was properly calculated to prevent the growth of ma nufactures, and to continue our dependence and poverty. Surely under a change of measures we ought now to consult our own prosperity, and not the emolument of Great-Britain, or any other kingdom. If we are willing to take a lesson from other governments, we (hall find that money is not to be made out of paper, for there is not an empire, kingdom or date, under the fun where debts may be legally difeharged by paper money, except in some of the United States of America. It is admitted that a paper medium, under the ferm of bank notes or governments ferurities, is circulated in France, England, Holland, and mod other commercial countries ; but ncLody is com pelled by law to receive the payment of any debt in such money ; hence it is, that the paper of those countries bears no refemblancc to curs ex cept in name. Every man lec eives a bank note or refufes it at pleasure ; when he receives it, he knows that on the next hour he may hare it changed for gold or silver, as the bank is obliged to make such payments on demand. For this rcafon bank notes being portable, are frequently prcfei red to coin of the weighty metals. But it never was found that bank notes could be circulated at par, unless when it was believed that they might be exchanged for solid money ; nor could they be circulated, if they were declared to be a legal tender. The reason is obvious—the whole value- of paper is •imaginary, and me* do not believe by conpulfion. # fcvery attempt to;)force a mdfl to believe that pa per is egual in value to silver, implies a tonfeiouf nefs that it is not equal. It injures that which it was intended to faTC. Though the paper money which had been eraittecPin North-C'arolina in the year 1783, had depredated 20 per cent. ai£u * . • « • i. THE ments were invented on the lalt year for making moie money. It was allcdged that under the le gal government a gieater sum of money had been circulated without much depreciation, and con sequently a second coinage might take place; it would not depreciate. This argument was not plaufiblc, but not solid ; for the value of paper is never found to depend on the quantity in circulation, but oh thefecurity that appears lor its redemption. The bank of England, which belongs to a com pany of private fubjefts, circulates notes to the amount of thirty-two millions of dollars, though it is not believed that they have above fourteen millions in specie at any time on hands ; but every man can get money for his note when he demands it. In the year 1716, soon after tbe death of Lewis the XiVth, the celebrated John Law, in company with some other gentlemen, obtained a patent for a banking house at Paris. They illued notes in which they promised to pay tht bearer, on J&ht t a certain sum, m gold and filler of the •vuitgbt ana JitmntjS then ejlabltjj.ea by la*w- As the late King had altered the weight or quality of the current coin ten times during his reign, and the fame thing might be done again, Law’s notes, which were not so fubjeft to depieciation, were preferred to specie at one per cent. Such were the effefts of a general confluence in good payment* Within the space of four years, notes were ifiued by Law and company to the amount of 225 mil lions of dollars, which was near twice as much as all the specie in France; but the notes retained their credit, because the company wete thought to be boneft and able to pay. Cn the 21 ft of May, 1721, the Duke of Orleans, Regent of prance, illued a proclamation, by whhh he reduced the value of bank notes to half the nominal sum. They were depreciated fifty per cent. This was a proof of the want of integrity; and it operated accordingly ; it deflroyed public confidence. It did not merely diminilh the value of the notes — it annihilated them, and, on the 22d of May, one guinea in gold could not have been purebafed in Paris for one thousand guineas in notes. The hif tory of paper money in all ages is uniform. Its value depends on the confidence of the public. Let government give a Angle proof that they ought not to be truted—-Confidence van'flies, and “ like the baseless fabric of a vision, leaves not a trace behind.” Let us compare this with the hiflory of the paper in some of our dates, and confider whether it ought to have retained its value The fit ft emidion of the slate of North-Carolina in 1783, was to have been redeemed by the sale of forfeited estates. That foundation was soon re moved, and those estates were converted to ano ther use. The money depreciated, and recourse was had to another coinage. This second ftrufture was raised, if poflible, on a worse foundation, for it had not even the appearance of liability ; taxes ate laid for calling in the money, and it is immediately refiored to circulation. Was itex petled that such money ftiould pass as gold and sil ver ? No, certainly. The Legifla'rre themselves do not seem to have expefled that it ftiould be con fdered of equal value. Tobacco, a staple of North-Carolina, has been purchased by the public for two pi ices in »hi§ new money, and creditors at the fame time are compelled to receive it as specie, in the payment of debts. Is \Y\\t jujlice ? \ . Strangers will call it by a different name. . I have attempted to lhew, according to the fate of paper in other countries, that it was not to have been expefted th*t our money Ihould pafs**’ as gold or*filver. Everybody knows that it is more or less depreciated in all the liates who have emitted it. It is tketefoie nyt a good payment, r < [No. XL.I