stem the torrent, but you will be swept away by the spirit
you have evoked and the instrument you have created. You complain
now of a want of confidence which makes men hoard their money.
Will you, then, destroy all confidence? No, sir, no; the way to
_restore_ confidence is to _inspire_ it by fulfilling your obligations.
You cannot make men lend you; you cannot make men sell you anything
--either bread, or meat, or wool, or iron, or anything that is or
that can be created--except for that which they choose to take.
You may depreciate the money which you offer, but it will only take
more of it to buy what you want. It is true that the creditor may,
by your laws, be compelled to take your money however much you
depreciate it, but he cannot buy back that which he sold, or its
equivalent in other necessaries of life, and thus he is cheated of
part of what he sold. During the war, when money was depreciating,
many a simple man gladly counted his gains as he sold his goods or
crops at advancing prices, but he found out his mistake when, with
his swollen pile, he tried to replace his stock in trade or laid
in his supplies. Sir, this policy exhausts itself in cheating the
man who buys or sells or loans on credit, who produces something
to sell on credit; whether that something be food or clothing;
whether it be a necessity or a luxury of life. Productive labor,
honest toil, whether of the farmer or the artisan, is deeply
interested in credit. It is credit that gives life and competition
to trade; and credit is destroyed by every scheme that impairs,
delays, or even clouds an obligation.

"Again, sir, an irredeemable and fluctuating currency always raises
the rate of interest on money, while a stable currency or an
improving currency always reduces the rate of interest. This is
easily shown by statistics, but the reason is so obvious that proof
is not needed. If a man lends his money he wants it back again
with its increase; but if the money, when it is to be paid back,
is like to be worth less than when he thinks of loaning it, he will
not loan it except at such rates as will cover the risk of
depreciation. He will prefer to buy land or something of stable
value. If money is at the gold standard, or is advancing toward
that standard, he will loan it readily at a moderate interest, for
he knows he will receive back money of at least equal value to that
he loaned. Again, sir, with a depreciated currency great domest