The Pennsylvania evening post — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-09-21 00:00:00, page 1

The PENNSYLVANIA EVENING POST.
For the PENNSYLVANIA EVENING POST.
IT has been said, that many timid people begin to be
very apprehensive for the fate of the Continental cur
rency, and are veiling it, with great expedition, in lands
and certainties of various kinds ; for lay they, " should
the forces of Great-Britain prevail over the colony troops,
the currency will be totally abolished by the conquerors, and
the possessors will fink the whole." Surely those who thus
reason, are but little acquainted with the movements of go
vernment, neither are they aware of the injury they do their
country ; for by such condud, they immediately effed, in
part, the evil they wish to avoid. When paper money cir
culates in the common course of trade, its value gradually
rises and falls according to its quantity, when relatively con
fidcred with the value of the real effects of a country, such as
houses, lands, provisions, gold, silver and merchandize of
every kind; for though paper merely has not any fignificant
value in itfelf, and has only such nominal value as we please
to fix on it, a single dollar bill being as large as an eight
dollar bill, yet as by general consent we agree to receive and
pass this as one and that as eight, so long as this mutual con
fidence and resolution continues, they are, to all intents and
purposes, of as much real worth as so much adual gold and
silver ; which are, of themselves, of no other absolute value
than what mankind have been pleased to fix on them ; the
Mexican Indians found iron of vastly greater use than gold,
and freely exchanged one for the other, till they learned, by
fatal experience, that the eastern world preferred the gold, at
the rifque of life, honor, and their boasted religion.
Paper bills are, with refped to the public, what private
bonds and notes of hand are amongst individuals, meer pro
missory notes ; and so long as the grantor is good and fuffi
cient, they will bear a very fafe assignment ; for he that re
ceives an eight dollar bill in payment, does in fad only re
ceive an assignment of a Continental promissory note, which
at some future day is to be paid off. It must be granted, that
the issuing large sums will gradually decrease the value of the
emission, in the fame proportion as the introduction of an over
quantity of any article of merchandize would effect its price
and sale ; but as this decrease in value, can never instantane
ously take place, the trader, by keeping his money in a con
stant circulation, will gradually raise the price of his com
modities in proportion to the decreased value of the money,
and thereby always keep fairly and fafely above water. A
loss can only happen, where long credits are given, or to
such as keep large sums useless by them ; therefore it be
comes of course their interest, to throw such money immedi
ately into trade; for the captures may happen in the course
of their adventures, the prices of such goods as arrive fafe,
must, in the end, amount to more than the losses ; for whe
ther insurance be made or not, the consumer must actually
pay such advanced price as will be equal to the rifque run,
and leave a profit to the* trader besides ; otherwise, there muff
be a general bankrupey amongst the merchants, a general
cessation of exports, a floppage to the railing of the several
Naples of America, and of course an almost total ftagnatioa
Vol. lI.J
Price Three Coppers. Published every Tutfday, Thursday, and Saturday Evenings.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1776.
471
to the circulation of money ; for without trade, little money
will serve us ; but as the necessities of our unhappy coated
dill call for large and continued emillions of |aper money, it
becomes absolutely necessary f r every cafhholder to pulh it
into trade ; for though we are a people individually confid
ing of diftind fortunes, yet oh the great scale we are one
large trading company, and mud fink or rife together. It
the whole continent, upon an extensive view of the matter, are
unequal to the conflict, the fuffering must be individually felt,
and nothing will so effectually support us, as steadily and
resolutely extending our trade to the utmost limits it will
bear. It is a grand Continental experiment we are trying,
and nothing but the experiment itfelf can determine the expe
diency ; we are not to look on our present situation as a mat
ter of choice, but necefty; we have got into a labyrinth, and
must get out of it as well as we can ; if by giving a general
credit to cur money, and forcing a trade, we should weary
out Great-Britain, or involve her in a war with some of her
European neighbours, we ' may then take ourowi}time to pay
off the debt we have been contrasting, and every year will re
store the currency nearer to its original value. To what ex
tent a country may venture to run itfelf in debt, is a question
beyond my abilities to solve; whether a community and an
individual may with propriety be compared, I cannot pretend
to determine ; but if the comparison would hold, I should
fay, that as an individual has a right to spend or run into
debt to the exaft amount of what he is worth, without injury
to his creditors, so may a community ; if this be true, it may
be easy to determine how much farther we may fafely go.
The present value of all the estates in America is about
3,200,000 dollars per annum, fappofing the rated taxes to
be, on an average, only one sixth of the real annual va
lue of the estates, some may think, that the rates bear
a much greater proportion to the real value, yet it should
be considered, that there are large estates in land as well
as money, which are scarcely rated at all. If I am right
in this estimate, the whole present worth of America,
at twenty years purchase, is fixty-fovr millions of dol
lars. Thus if the whole continent belonged to one man, it
would be very fafe to trust him to the amount of sixty-sour
millions, and I presume the debt we have ,et contracted, both
Continentally and Provincially, does not amount to near half
that sum ; and besides we should confider, that land will an
nually increase in value, and that there will be large trails to
dispose of to foreigners who may be tempted, by a mild admi
nifration of equitable laws, to come amongst us ; here it is to
be observed, I go upon the presumption, that we shall carry
our peint of independance; but fappofing the worst that can
happen, that we should be reduced to our former situation
of allegiance to the crown of Great-Britain, it can never be
the interest of England to abolish our paper currency, for
many weighty reasons; she must certainly wish to renew her
trade with us, upon her former advantageous plan ; but if
by a total reduction of our currency, she should ruin all the
monied men upon the continent, where should we find mer
chants to build drips arid export the_produce of the country.
[Num. 261.