The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1856-02-29
WHAT BECOMES OF THE SILVER


the amount of silver coin in circulation has
steadily dec "nse' and more than one inqe.
NOUS theory has been broached 10 account
Tor its disappearance from its accustomed
channels. Among these, that offered By the
Philadelphia American is the most satisfac.
tory. That paper has dug up from the Brit.
lsh Parliamentary statistics the amount of
silver shipped TO the East Indies and China
from Great Britain; and from its fienres we
learn that the enormous sum of thirty one
millions Of dollars took that direction in
1855, and that during the last five years oyer
ninety millions ofsilver have been swallow.
ed up by the demands of the China and As.
iatic trade, in addition TO the cnorpous
amounts that have been required for the
same trade which is carried ON bv tbe A.
lantic ports in the United States.
1--WE pay silver and little else for the teas. In.
dia silks, spices, indigoes, &C., that we bring
from abroad; and, inasmuch Ms the supply Of
the metal does not increase in propotion to
the increase ofthe Eastern trade, the demand
grows every succeeding year more and more
brisk, and the amount in circulation less and
less. We do not see when or where this
drain is to be stopped. The Chinese de-.
mand little that England or America can
spare. Their civilization, their habits, Gus.
toms and wants, are widely different from
ours. Our farbrics, whether of cotton or
wool, are of little valuc TO people who pre-.
fer nakedness TO the most sumptuous nppn.
rel. Our hreadsluffs and salled pork are not
highly esteemed by men whom dab of
boiled rice is dinner and to whom pork il
an abomination. Our steam engines and
locomotives teiegraphs and reapers, our la.
bor.savng machinery of all kinds, which con.
duce so much to the prosperity and hap.
pincss of the Western world, are powerlcss
in breaking down the caste system of the
Eastern world, that is older thau our civilian.
ton. As long MS we continue to indulge in
the detection that is the comfort of the moor
est MS well us the valued luxury of the rich;
ns long as we will stimulate our paates and
impair the national digestion with spices
that the East only can furnish; and us long
ms our wives and daughters will wear silks,
which, for brilliancy of dye, shame the birds
OF most brilliant plumage, there is no es.
cape, we must pay! The Chinese, wiser
than the English, will have nothing TO do
with our bonds. In the 'Flowery Land the
most sklllful negotiator would fail to wiring
Il dollar from the incredulous mandarins.-
| They demand the silver and to them il Uoes ~
a FACTORY Boy Nnw SPEAKER.-Tn the
election of Mr.. Banks as Speaker, the Frede.
ricksbnrg Herald thinks it may say nj lcost
That energy has been rewarded. if not intepri.
| ty OF character; for we believe that Mr.. Banks
has always been somewhat of a slippery poll.
tician--generalIy managing TO fall on that
side OF the fence where the herbagc was most
IuSnrlant. We have in Mr.. Banks an exem.
plIllca'ion of the beauty of our republican
system of government. There is no office,
however high, to which boy, however hum.
ble OF birth and destitute of fortune, may not
aspire. MIR. Banks began life Il bobbin boy in
a mill at Waltham, Mass; his education was
that afforded by ihe'New England free school
system; he is represented as having studied
under great disadvantages, and worked against
odds, with hardly anything in his favo. save
industry and I'M ndomitahle will. At the
early age Of fortytwo he has been elected
Speaker Of the popular branch of Congress
"n Office scarcely second in importance to that
of any other in the United States.
:B Mr.. John Boyd, ofparkcrsburr, Chcs
ter county, Pennsylvania, in letter to the