The Empire County argus., 1854-12-23


HARD TIMEs.--Wherever we go hard times sa
| lutes the ear. This exclamation is on the lips oi
all classes OF community. Take up newspaper
from the Atlantic States Europe, and hard times
meet the eye. Financial embarrassments, fail.
ures and bank suspensions are chronicled in almost
every column The cause is anxously inquired
AFTER and we are told the specie has been drained
from the country to liquidate foreign Indebtedness
The vaults of the bank of England have been inva.
ded to deray the expenses of the pending war with
Russia, and so forsooth, the bullion has disappear
ed from that institution The commercial operator
ship owner, artisan, manufacturer and mechanic
with one accord, each to the other, exclaim hard
times, all over the land The miner too, is aware
OF crisis in his affairs, and attributes his difficult
ties to the scarcity of water Never stops to emu
merate the useless expenditures he has incurred
never Dreams even of the dollars he has sent curl
ing towards heaven behnda a cigar with fire at
one end. No, all the evils of a strapped condition
are attributed to the want of water This is mis-
take more rigid econamy would have leftmoney in
the pocket. The support of the thousand and one
drones engaged in useless avocations would have
been withdrawn, and they compelled to go to the
mines, where there is an abundance of room, and
to work digging gold Go to San Francisco and
other cities and towns, and we find stout mass of
bone and muscle at every hotel and at nearly eve
ry street corner, cooked up on high stool doing
nothing. Who supports this army of idlers the
laborer. The laborer gives vitality to all branches
of business and strict economy on the part of the
laborng classes will drive loaferdom into employ
ment Hear the San Francisco Price Current talk:
1t says "We have too many spectators, too many
real estate operators and inhators in word too
n'any dlers and too feaD rorkerS." Again, this pa
per exclaims, 'Thanks to our hard money basis
we are not suffering now as much as others, but
we are nevertheless paying now the penalty of our
over-trading, and the end is not YETI True we
are not suffering as much now as Others but for
the last four years we have suffered vastly more,
and will continue to suffer more than older States
until paper banks shall be totally exploded Else
where men have fashion of inducing the State to
issue her credit in State Bonds say million of dol
lars, and then by fiction of law call these bonds
and directly issue paper promises to pay to the
amount of Million and call this paper rag medi-
UNI, money. equivalent to gold and silver. This is
downright humbug, not one cent of genuine mo-
ney about the whole transaction. Nevertheless
million Of money, intrinsically worthless chaf
it is true, is obtained IN effect out of nothing and
by common consent circulated in community as
CdSh--common consent would make birch bark
equally good. How is it here! We deal in the
genuine stuff, the simon pure orc ITSELF and pay
valuable consideration for all we purchase On
the other side of the Continent they lock up the
gold in the iron box and continue to issue three to
five times as many dollars in rags. This fictitious
currency, the more the better, enhances the value
of all kinds of property, in proportion beyond real
value when regulated by "hard money basis
only. Thus it is we suffer, being swindled two
dollars on every four of goods we buy by the rag
money system of neighboring States. There is no
equality between hard money basis, and rag mo-
ney circulation based on nothing at the start The
thing is complete dog trade, equal to selling one
dog in exchange for three pups to become dogs
presently, two of which die in every instance.
New York city has circulation ofmons compos-
ed entirely of rags. These rags are bartered off
lor poots, tne poots snlpped 10 Cahforna ana sold
for gold dust, and what is most provoking at an ad
vance on rag prices We are the sufferers, and
men on the Atlantic slope the gamers. How can
we get even The process is easy. Cultivate the
soil and raise our own food, manufacture our own
goods and export wine, cotton. tobacco &C., all of
which we can produce, retain our gold and the
thing is done. Then we can look on and see pa
per money wggle.