Loudon free press. (Loudon, Tenn.) 1852-1855, 1853-09-02

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7 Of saf iosnia, mans startlile predictions we're
I she rsiINs oi labor a,',l the business relations
'ofthe iIessa generally. Be eeaera sentiment
( seeme to be, that ertrsili1g would advance,
ard that as gold beeaine more abundant, ps1p-
eliv would ran MP nosaiaally at least, st q xeIr
4 rapid rate. And w&a, too. like discoveries
were made in Aistraiia this prediction VAS re-
ptal1d viih st.i iaorc confidence. &sld has
since been pouring IN from che Two sources. bv.
millions Of eolIass cath noniE.aIssl he wise
pIes o he earth are still puzzled. Speculation
{ is as busy as erer and al sefis IF pr4icisns.
Etmesf them Of most copfss8iefofy char:lcter,
+ cfmtihae to be made 4 writer ii the Is!st
number Of the Merchants Magazine, Caleb
I Sfetson, Esq asrotes ABOUT fifteen pages 70 the
subjuct. The article is too long @ give at
Length but some Of its facts and suggestions
wnl be read with interest The writer takes
ground aeaiust lie Old doctrine that cold and
: silver lave an arbitrary fixed value. This, he
says, is great mistake, and tits contradicted
by the whole history of the currency of the
world. The business of mining is one Of an
cient orr gin. The amount collected in single
year Of the reign of Solomon is computed at q
million and a half of dollars. The quantity
afterwards became so plenty, that silver was
counted as nothing.
The gold which accumulated in Babylon was
immense, and vast in amount; the authenticity
and accuracy of the aggregate is given by He
rodotus; he SAYS, that the annual tribute of sill
yer and gold which Darius Hystaspes, king of
Persia, after completing his eonquests, received
from the several provinces, about 4S0 years be-
fore Christ, was 1850 talents Of gold-which,
in our currency, Is Sl6,800,000. Xerxes took
ont with him into the field of war, so much
I pl L., lloco looloJ
The first coming OF gold was by Darius,
about 475 years before the Christian era. The
coinage was of great purity, and the pieces
Were called Daric'S in honor of the inventor
! They were nearly the value of the American
hall eagles.
The wealth of the great men of that age was
! immense. Pytheus, king of the petty terrific
| ry Cleena 40 years before Christ was celebra-
ted for his immense wealth. Lardue, an able
/ French critic, estimates his wealth at $l7 $780,
! 600 of our money.
Ptolemv Philadephus, the second king of l.
gypt, after Alexander, was said to have possess
ed treasure to the enormous amount of 100000
talents, or S85,3f0,000 Of our money.
The precious metals were abundant, during
/ the Macedonian Empire, over the whole shore
of the Mediterranean. The enormous wealth
of the Romans is beyond all calculation. Hav
/ 4i SdbNRHtt INCiN ItttN sllO'i4NN, 't''A bSNV'hC
masters of all The known world, the whole
wealth Of the world was amassed with the Ro-
man metropolis. Fespasian, at his accession,
estimated the money which the maiLtainance
/ of the commonwealth required, at a sum equal
! to 800 millions Of our currency, per aDnum.
| The concentration Of the wealth Of the world
at Rome, by the extension of the Roman En-
pire fully accounts for the enormous wealth of
/ diviti.e!s. The fsrtpnes Of Crassus were equal
! to eight millions OF our currency, In money, and
an equal amount in lands. Paas c. G. Clau-
| dins Isidorus had about the same amount of
property. Augustus left property to the amount
! of l55 millions of dollars of our currency
Plutarch, in his life of Mr.. Crassus, says, that
no man could be accounted rich who was not a
he to maintain an army out OF his own revenues.
| Many other instances can be named OF those
who held vast sums expended. Just after the
acquisition of universal empire, at that period,
large part of the treasure had not been gener-
ally difiuscd among the masses; indeed, the
wealth of the Romans was held by a small pro-
portion of its citizens.
Having proved that vast masses Of gold and
silver were in existence in the remote ages of
the world, it may be proper to notice, that,
according to Roman history, the rise OF proper
ty was a necessary consequence of the great in
crease Of cold. As one among many instan-
CCS WHICH DC iitfllCbs ticsiOuet W
at Museum, was purchased by Cornelia for the
sum Of 5000 drachmas, or about 81 500 of
The influx of gold raised the price of real prop
erty enormously; and in a few years, the house
! of Corueia was sold to Lucullus for the SUM of
500,200 drachmas, or $77,529 of currency
making clear profit, by the of property, OF 65,-
900 in the investment. Such was the opera
ton of the influx of gold upoa property at
! this period of the world.
1t is stated that the mines of Siberia must
have been worked $50 or 200 years before Christ;
while the mines of Egypt and Nubia, some time
after, produced twenty-eight millions of dollars
annually. ~
The effect of an increased quality of the pre-
cious metals on prices, has been observed from
the earlies. period of history. In time Of So
lon, an OK was worth three shllings sterling; a
sheep seven pence three farthings-but the IN
crease of metallic wealth increased the price OF
commodities to five, ten or twenty times the a.
mount; in the course of two hundred and twenty
years. The mining operations, which were so
excessive till Rome arrived at the zenith of her
power, gradually decreased during the decline OF
the Roman Empire, SO that, in the fifth century
/, of the Christian era, mines ceased to be worked
at all.
The amount of silver and gold in the Roman
Empire, before the death of Augustus was esti-
mated in our money at y 10 mlloHS OF dollars,
which, in 4s2 of our era ,--rvas reduced to Ali
r1riitiv,rs-Uf dollars. About one century after
the dissolution of the Roman Empire, Mahom-
ct appeared, who, when his power arose, pre-
sented an aspect sufficiently terrific to continue
the suspension of the mines. Indeed, for the
period Of nearly two hundred years, up to the
year 700, the greatest diligence has been able
to discover no trace, in suthor, of mining hav-
ing been carried on, andthe diminution of the
precious metals had decreased in the year sos,
to the small sum of $l7l 600.
The discovery Of America, and of the mines
I it contained seems to have kindled a violent
and vehement passion for exploring the bowels
of the earth to search for gold. The excite
ment was universal in most parts of Europe be-
tween the years 1888 and 1862, More than a
thousand leases of mines in Europe were taken
the greatest activity prevailed, and most all
the people seemed to think themselves with
in the reach Of immediate wealth. A large
portion of these mines became nearly extinct
at the beginning of the present century. The
mines of Saxony, the working of which COM
menced about the twelfth century, have contrib
uted large amounts of gold and silver. These
mines must however, have been exhausted long
ago, as 10 traces of them can now be founo.
The writer argues that it is probable that IN
l.