Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1842-12-01
Gtt 1rft prfsa.
SRos THE FREE RREss.
TO THE PEOPLE.

=
N The conmuhieations heretofore addressed
10 you, Il Was my endeavour TO convince Vol
mat 4 was vain % hope Cor Setter times una
Jol check and break Up all traffic in credits
Nhe.herihe credits given By indisidgals. or bS
he Banks. u musts be manifest 10 aay one
who uiil take The trouble 10 think, that the ~
dfridaai crtdiis such a. bonds. bills, notes, mort
cages, trusts, SC, and HE corporate cFedils
bank notes for exsmples together, constitute ths
credit sSsteAs, and further, that this has been
usediss our szFrtncy or nsJaes. BY general con.
,eni and preciice, fer years. The prices az al
property have beeo regulated BY his credit u.s.
lem; i has 20 ali lnsen,s and purposes been our
exchanging mediums currency, or nsoaey, il you
please, and any operations that have ! tendency
10 destroy it.. must 5HeeessaTily pull down the
prizes 81 prosperity ara fSishifulsraie The ef-
feets Of diminishing teyreney are then felt bs
property and labor and Mr. Hamilton Of South
CaFolina, in late letter, quotes il as the opth-
ion Of the great Hume Ahst The effects or d.
miaishing currency are always more seriously
fell BY people than ne failure of crops. He
does not give the reason why This is so. nor do
We reflect upon il as we ought 10 do; although
we know the fact ~ we'll rs the great philoso-
pher; for We do know, that notwithstanding
the. failure Of our crops, as long Is our
currency was good we did not feel any thing
like the pressure We do now. Let us now ex-
anime the reason why diminishing currency
is felt more than the failure OF crops: we
have heretofore said that about one-thlrtisth III
currency was amply Sufficient 10 exchange any
given amount Of properly, and that property
will always bear fixed relations 10 the exchang-
ing medium. Such being pKe case. il follows,
as effect follows cause, that il you diminish
this exchanging medmmRul one-thirlieth, this
~ IL
ces Of property 30 fold. Little as you have re-
aecied upon this operation; fellow ciiizens, il ia
wen understood BY The money ;jobbcfy who are.
now combined to bring down propertJss and labor;
and they are daily making their experiments
upony gu with as little heartand feeliH9 as qnack
doctors do upon frogs, aad upon tie POOR mice
that are placed under the, exha usted receiver Of
an air-pump toadcertan with h0ie hulf air they
can live. !. The air is exhausted with slow and
Ingenious cruelty, the peer y:ctim becomes, eve
ry instant, and at each lsssened quantity OF the
vital fluid weaker and weaker, until death kind
y ends bis tortures
Just So, now, the moaey-class are making
their experiments upon you. The war upon the
credit sysism, the vital flul OF the country, has
been going on for years.; and as il has from
time TO time been exhausted and lessene6, pro-
periy and labor have. like the victims Of the
air pump, grown weaker knd weaker, sunk low
or and lower. until tbs tine is rapidly spproaeh-
ing when property. irithoas JairfeOnsideratiOsl,
will pass into the hands OF the creditor class and
the la1oring part Of The country will be in their
power too For lei Il b. borne in mind that
out of The wealth OF The country ibe wsges Of
labor must come. aud that. FOR thai reason, any
thing that trsmmels the circulation OF wealth
must necessarily curtail iee employment Of La
Dor and its tewards. ,sss
From lI.gse remarks, yclu VIII see the nes s
sity of protecting the currency of country
from all sudden changes aaddeclines, Of what
ever materisl thai currency may consist. Diff
eerent things haye~been used as aIcurrency 10
different ages andi nations Shells have been
used for that purpose, tobacco, gold and silver,
bank paper; and in4Ghina, the bark Of trees
with a government stamp, iong before bank pal
per. And il matters not which Of these things
is agreed upon aud used los exchange propeItyl
and is thus made eo,,reatie,l1lig The moneyof the
country (; for whichever is so used musa be under
the guardian core Of law, and confined 10 the
purpose Of its agency; 10 vii. 10 the exehsng-
ing or property, and 10 that alone. Otherwise,
Instead OF being convenience, II W i'll be warped
and tortured into agent Of mischief, and " III
be in the hands of the sagacious and cunning
the means OF cheating labor ofits dues.
4 To illustrate these views, let me refer you 10
some Of our colonial history, and 10 the. times
when tobacco was our moissy or currency. Then,
the bonds given were 10 pay so much tobacco /:
This being thecass, il happened in the year Of
1910, when Wyatt was Governor, that tobacco,
the then currency, had become so abundant that
il wss mere drug. The House OF Bargesses,
at that time our Legislature, passed law re-
duiring one half Of all The tobacco 10 the colony
10 be burned in the public Warehouses. Their
idea was that when cne-hsif was destroy led
the remainder would be spprecisted in value,
and would bring more in foreign countries. -
There was, however, another very important
matter 10 be considered Of BY them This TO-
bacco, The half Of which they determined 10 burn
il order 10 increase the value abroad, was a
home the currency Of the people, and all their
contracts and deb,s were To- be pail in II. The
law to rn'one-hsif Of The whole crop-in othel
words 10 destroy One-haJ d The emreney-8a.
intended forthe benefit Of the whole communi.
II, for the benefit of the .br-eIass IS well q.
tie ds5tor-ela,s. But observe, if this law hst
no, been accompanied by other legislation, the
most Overwhelming ruin would have been bro
upon the de btor-class; for; the effect would
have been 10 give the ertdstor-elass more thar
double the smount Of their dues, at the ex peGsG
OF the debtor-class. For eEample, under tina
law. saw that A was indebted 10 o in one-huu
dred pounds ofiobacco-- filis pounds Of the hun
dred. with which be was 10 pay B, is burned un
der The law, for B's benefit as well as As
Now ask, would il not have bceuthe height o
Injustice and oppression TO have compelled hin
to have paid ihe entire hundred pounds TO B
Manifestiy il " ouid have bten, Our wise am
lust ancestors then decided; Ihat as ope-half o
the tobacco--in other words bhe-half Of the cur
rency--was destroyed By legislative action, I
was right thai one-lsalf OF ilge debts which Wer,
to have been paid in that currency should be de
stroyed TOO. They, therefore passed . law, q
the same time thai a should pay 10 FIT,
pounds Of tobacco, which 81 the law had beef
appreciated snd made equsl III eatus 10 the ] O.
lbs. il none had been burned " this was just
land there can be no doubt. about. II, J when 10
6acco vas Tbs currency does not The same rea
soning apply, when paper Is the currency, o
gold and silver, or any othes medium Let U
than bring home this reasoning too day, he
Instead Of tobacco The rr,,Ssrtss bare been us.n
ertda as = currency, u Is vel to 30 back I
1.-The cavs OF our forefaIhenHfor lessons, espe
EcislIv ID honesty. They possessed more Of tbs
valuable material than y 70 sefound IN our ger
erstion. when oser-rsafhinE is too much III
lie Is, Is now appI. BE jsst principle 6Po
which they acted, ID thE currency Of our time
liz vito Bank paper I'D - private Psper: foI
lressoa As We may. these two together has
Horned our currency sHa ell our contracts hal
beeu based upon theEsS The Legislaiure, o.
sommob scent, The sgsHl of Al The people, Dol
lereditor-cisss and tsbtor-class, creates Bsnl
4 wi,k capital Of nine millions The paper
tkese institutions, 50 created " our comms