The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1779-01-12 00:00:00, page 1

From' the CONNECTICUT JOURNAL.
H ONEST U S.
Number 111.
A Reply to the fccond and twelfth questions
fnajl be the business of this number. The old
man enquires, ' Is there in reality so great a scarci
ty of the necessaries of life, the produce of our farms,
as that the p^ffefTors of them can be juflified in de
manding and receiving five or fix Continental dollars
for a bufh?l of wheat, which heretofore has not
ben fold for more than one Spanffh mill'd dollar,
orl2 or 15 pence per pound for grass fed mutton or
beef, which has never been fold for more than from
2 to 3 p nee per pound in hard money ?" This and
the twelfth question are for substance the fame, a re
plyto one will be equally an answer to the other.
In bptli of them Senex teems io take it for granted
that the value of hard money continues invartbly the
fame, and that nothing but scarcity can raise the price
of commodities, both of which are far from being
true. Too great a plenty of money depreciates its
value,and proportionally enhances the price of all
vendibles. The price isaifo railed by the uncom
mon demand ^hich there may be for them, which
may arise not from scarcity only, but from various
other ciicumflances. These two things the great
plenty of money, and the uncommon demand for
necessaries are the two grand things which ever give
a high pricejo any community. These ate (efficient
on the fundamental principles of commerce to ac
count for tie high price which every thing now
bears, allowing t' e Continental currency to be equal
in value with,t"e fame number of hard dollars ex
pressed in the face of the bills. The inc/eafeofmo
hey, let it be intrinsically ever so valuable, will de
preciate it almost toan incredible degree ; even so
that goldand silver shall be of little account. Such
was the influx of these precious metals into the holy
land in the reignof king Solomon, that he made sil
ver in Jerusalem as fiones, and it was nothing ac
counted of in his days. Gold and silver are said to
have funk in Europe, upon a just calculation, flnce
the difeovery of the mines in-South-America after
the rate of thfee thousand per cent ; that is after the
rate of thirty to one * This is much beyond the
depreciation of our Continental currency, and the
only reason to be assigned for it is the greater quan
tity in circulation. In the reign of Edward 111. mo
ney was so valuable, that the valuation of the fif
teenth of all the moveable eftatein England amount
ed only to 29 000!. fterlin,. The subsidy <r land
tax of 4s, in the pound which now produces two
millions in the reigns of Richard IL and Henry IV.
amounted only to 70,0001. t Says the great judge
Blackfione, " As the quantity of precious metals in
creases, that is, the more of them there is extended
from the mne, this universal medium or common
sign will fink in value and ,raw less precious. Above
a thousand millions of bullion are calculated to have
been imported into Europe from America within
lets than three centuries ; and the quantity is daily
increasing §. The conference is, that more mo
ney must ue given now for the fame commodity than
was given an hundred years ago. A horse that was
formerly worth ten pounds, is now perhaps worth
twenty ; and, by any failure of current specie, the
price may be rediced to what it was. Yet is the
honein reality neither dearer nor cheaper at one
* fhafcrc.ty of money in Europe in centuries
plwas artificial as well as natural. The crusades
and duties paid to the P^pe drained Europe of the
little money fehad. So fate as the reign cf Henry
% HI it was computed that 800 000 ducates had
ternfent to Rome n the compass of fifty years for
firit fruits only.
t BLekh^u/s c. V. T. p. 31 I.
§ Dr. Rcbertfon fays, ' According to principles
cf computation, wh : ch spear to be extremely mo
a&a c, Spa ; n has drawn trom the New World a
ft pply of wealth, amounting at least to two thousand
^client rs norridf.terror” RU. of America v.
fUESDAY, January 1% 177% T HE [Number 729.
CONNECTICUT COURANT,
AND THE
WEEKLY I NTELLIGENC E R.
HARTFORD: Printed by WATSON and GOODWIN, near the Great Bridge.
time than the other : for, if the metal which con
flitutes the coin was formerly twice as scarce as at
present, the commodity was then as dear at half the
price as now it is at the whole" fc Lord Kaims.
that great political writer, is in the fame sentiments
and reasons more largely on the fubjed, as follows.
" A variation in the quantity cf circulating coin is
the mod intricate circumstances; because it never
happens without making a variation in the demand
for goods, and frequently in the quantity. I put
a simple case, that the half of our current coin is at
once swept away by some extraordinary accident.
This at firft will embarrass our internal commerce,
as the vender will insist forthe usual price, which
now cannot be afforded. But the error of such de
mand will soon be difeovered; and the price of com
modities after some fluduation will fettle at one half
of what it was formerly. At the fame time there is
here no downfall in the value of commodities, which
cannot happen while tye quantity and demand con
tinue unvaried. The purchasing for a fix pence
what formerly cost a Shilling make no alteration in
the value of the things purchased, because a fix pence
is equal in value to whata Filling was formerly. In
a word, when money is scarce it must bear a high
value.-- Put next the case, that by feme accident
our specie is mftantly doubled. Upon fuppofitiop
that the quantity and demand continue unvaried, the
result must be, not inflantaneous indeed, to double
the price of commodities. Upon the former fuppo
fition, a fix pence is in effe& advanced to be a Shil
ling; upon the present fuppefi'ion; a Billing has in
effed funk down to a fix pence. And here again it
ought to be observed, : th&' the price is augment
ed there is no real alteration in the value of commodi
ties. A bullock, that some years ago, could have
been purchased for ten pounds, will at present yield
fifteen. The vulgar ignorantly think that the value
of horned cattle has risen in that proportion. The
advanced price may, in some degree, be occasioned
by a greater consumption ; but it is chiefly occasion
ed by a greater quantity of money in circulation"*.
On these fundamental principles we may fafely rea
son, that if doubling the quantity of circulating me
dium, while the demand continues unvaried, will
double the price, then doubling it three or four times
must depreciate it, at least to five or fix for one. This
is the case at present ; we have, in about three years
and an half, increased the quantity of circulating
medium, in the United States, at least from about fix
or eight to thirty or forty millions. It would doubt
less be quite within bounds to reckon the whole
quantity circulating, including, with the Continen
tal currency, the outflanding bill of several of the
States and the hard money, forty millions. On sup
position cur ports had been all open, and there had
been no extraordinary demand, this only must have
advanced the price of commodities, at the rate of four
or five fold. But as the demand also is greatly in
creased, this will advance the price still much high
er. On the lowest computation one fourth of alleur
labourers, are employed in the army, at sea, or some
way or other in the affairs of the war. The militia
are often alarmed and called off from their labours ;
the avocations from agriculture are innumerable; by
reason of the frequent meetings of assemblies, coun
cils of war, committees of faf&y, fele&men and the
like. These circumflances render it impossible that
the fame quantity of land should be cultivated as
was formerly. They occasion, that what is culti
vated is not so seasonably and so well improved, and
that the precious fruits of the earth are not so ferfon
ably and advantageou fly gathered in. Fruitful is
lands, large and fine tra&s of country, which used
to yield large supplies of fiefh and flour, art either
laid wafle, or in the hands of our enemies. Great
quantities cf provisions have been destroyed in the
course of the war. This must greatly diminish the
quantity of provisions, on the whole, and increase
the demand. To this we may add, that a large ar
Block, c. v. I. page 276 177.
* Kaims's IV. Sketch of the Hiftcry of man, p.
my and numerous captives have been thrown in up
on a few States, and a fleet and army of foreigners
consisting often or twelve thousand men have been,
upon their coasts, increasing the general consumption.
Their communication to fitter States by water is cut
off, and the difficulty and expence of land carriage
is almpft incredible. All these circumstances unite
their influence to make an extraordinary demand for
the necessaries of life, though the earth hath yield
ed her increase withufual liberality and plentioufnefs.
(To be continued.)
From the Pennsylvania Packet, Dec, 15.
To SILAS DEANE Esq.
AFTER reading a few lines of your address
to the public in the Pennsylvania Packet of
December 6th, I can truly fay, that concern
got the better of curiosity, and I felt an unwilling
ness to go through it. Mr. Deane must very well
know that as I have no interest in; fc bkewife am I
no stranger to his negotiations and contracts in France,
his difference with hit colleagues, the reason of his
return to America, and the matters which have oc
curred since All these are to me familiar things ;
and while I can but be farprized at the conduct of
Mr, Deane Ilament the unnecessary torture he has
imprudently occAfiontd. That disagreements will
arise between individuals even to the perplexity of
a State, is nothing new, but that they should be
outrageously brought forward, by one, whose Nati
on abroad should have taught him a delicacy of man
ners and even an excels of prudence, is femething
Grange. The mind ofa living public is quickly
ala.nied and exfily tormented. It not only fuffers
by the Broke, but is frequently fretted by the cure,
and ought therefore to be tenderly dealt with, and
never to be trifled with. It feels firft, and reasons
afterwards. Its jealousy keeps vibrating between
the accused and the accuser and on a failure of
proof always fixes on the latter. Had Mr. Deane's
address produced no uneasiness in the body he appeals
to, it would have been a sign, not of tranquility, but
death ; and the' it is painful to fee it unnecessarily
tortured, it is plea fant to contemplate the livingcaufe.
Mr. Deane is particularly circumstanced. He has
advantages which seldom happen and when they
do happen, ought to be used with the nicest care and
the firicteft honor. He has the opportunity cf telling
his one tale and there is none to reply to him. Two
ofthofe gentlemen he so freely censures are three thou
sand miles off, and the other two he so freely affronts
are Members cf Cong'refs, one of them likewise, Col.
R. H. Lee is absent in Virginia, and however pain
ful may be their feelings, they must attend the pro
gressive conduct of the house. No Membersin Con
gress can individually take up the matter without
being inconfident, and none of the public unAr
flands it (efficiently. With these advantages Mr.
Deane ought to benicely and fluidly the gentleman, in
his language, his assertions, his intimations and his
fa&s. He presents himfelf as his own evidence;
upon his honor, and any misrepresentation or disin
genuous trifling in him will be fatal.
In CONGRESS, December 8, 1777
''WHEREAS it is of the greatest importance
" that Congress should at this critical conjur.&ure
" be well informed of the fiate of affoirs in Europe.
" And whereas Congress have relolvcdthattf e Hon.
•• Silas Deane Esq; be recalled from the Court of
" France, and have appointed another Commissioner
“ to supply his place there. Ordered that the Com
" mitttee for foreign corrifpondence, write to the
" Hon. Silas Deane, and direct him to embrace the
" firft opportunity of returning to America and up
" cn his arrival to repair with all pt ffible dispatch
“ to Congress."
Mr, Deane then fays. " and having placed my pa
" pers aud yours in fafety, I left Paris the 30th to
" embark for my native country ca board that fleet
" which your great and generous ally sent out for
" your assistance, in full confidence that I fhouldnot
1' be detained on the business I was sent for."
lam obliged to tell Mr. Dearc that this arrange