Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1857-01-13

H Dsss%Ssf' 81 81 81, 81 g.
R., a We ssis 81 , 81 , Si lS Il.
Iuasmuch "a that English standard gold il IS LIS
&c. per ounce. 1t follows that price OF p!d per
ouu:e 70. standard oliver is il the proportional Is !.
silver 20 one o, geld. This ratio tell annually, il ap
peers, until u 1856. i. ltOC 10 Of g,ld tha,
IS 10 saw silver had risen per cent The s'ernSe o;
the las, years has beer less than in 1894 but tic
same as in 1883, nevertheless, The average Of the
last three months has been S pee CERT. hiSie. then
the average Of lie year 1885, In SoceuiJ.- OF that
year. rrus.a bought e. 0OO,000 of coin for tie
the army, Subsequently, considerable sums we're sent
10 Russia for loans "a the price continued to
rise, however, mostly TO: iu.:s account silver
went from Earope to meet the denali. This
was the case in 1852 end 1853. The continued dc.
maud aud higher prices have, &c usual, promoted pro-
Gucion, and supplies pour moro freely luo Loudon,
the great silver market OF the wOriG. = tGis time,
Holland and France are exceeding embarrassed by
rssa9n Of the scarcity of silver, aud ~ Daak OF
Amsterdam, :ca for the first time raised il rate OF IN
tersst from tO5i Fer cent, in the vain effort 10 stop
the ou;1cw Of silver frsrce continues buy gold
10 substitute, instead Of at once GOoi!:.ifg the silver
STANDARD. 1t Isl however, yet metei .: dispute
among writers ;hsther the silver or the gold stt.nG
ard should be adhered &c. As there were formerly
buloniss and paper currency advocates 50 arethere
now silver aud gold opponents III theory. Germany,
at the late co.geaton, has adopted silver, aud il Is
comterded by able writer's IN Francs thu she la. done
80 justly, because in the present aepect OF niisr. sill
has the greatest "hXiiy of value, ra;nine-it il
alleged. more than go!d-;hat attribute which has
made the precious metals useful money. IL is
not, however, we'll setiicd yet whether il is sill
yer that ia nppreclGng-berauseu Of tue eItra0rdna.
~ Crcunist anccs 10 which we have hliuded-or
whether il is gold that is deprrcatng. Ii is un-
Cues;cnaby the case that if iroE any cause
great mpuir5 il given TO general industry BY wa:c!
he production u.i- Interchange u! wealth Is greatly
promoted more mo;.sy v.i: 10 required. Il tor ta;
purpose silver exclusively /. !e!GHnCed, i; will he
that metal which will appreciate and gold, that
has deprecated. Again, ii as in 1913, lin countries
where silver is the CURRENCY boarding se,s in, for
political motives, that demand will raise silver with
.ut lowering gold. In Frauce, NJ. Cheyaer JUST
hes Holland ard Germany in taking silver exclusive
~ on the ground that az! With liked income will
be able more nearly 10 that maiai T. estimate his
wealth in wheat at future time, than i! HE revenue
was gold. This may ba great advantage 10 hci,
but il rcarcsiy pen.des for the gradual drprts
sion to ali industry whi.a iics, arise from The sink.
ing prices, measured in reiei c0uSta.;Iy becoming
mure srsrcr. The metals are now neurly rs 10 10,
and wheat il Holland and England about equal
say ?0s. Now s:.Cul ::Tc! HppTecIae-ssy, ior puT-
pose illustration 20 e. e<tft;a3 point, to lo-the
prices in Holland being soverHed ~ silver, wheat
would he j3s., while in England prices ueing
governed oy gold, the wheat would be oos. All
things being considered, il would not make material
difference e. me lime, Du Inc u oCeeS w III
Holland would bs destructive To Industry Tor The be
ueGt OF aunuitauis while The advance OF prices IN
England would in the highes; degree enGou:ase III
dus,ry, and matter occurs: euance the g-nera
wealth. These facts did moi escape the clear s.'rs
mansbp and eminent .8y.cty uf the Hon. Il. VI. /.
Hunter when in 1852, q. chairman OF the committee
vi Finance, he reported he bill which limited The
standard OF gold, aad msce silver legal tender only
for email amounts. In his report, att.r retna!Rin2
! tina; the increase Of wealth since lSGo required
greater supply Of money hGn The miles YIELDED lie
reinatks in his report:
"H,E, then Gan We fear that any supplies Of the
pr"ciou. nietec :te! BE- derived from California
or any mines nov EEoTI. en- AFFECT inlurioGsiy si!e
standard Of value The Probaolo aiu"En, OF spsrie
raised annually doe: not now exceed SiIo,uo''G.V.
which is cum far below what would be necessary to
keep up gu :nvGrable relation between the specie
and the constantiy :S.easlng properly OF tue "o III
"The effect Of this cont ,aeoE c.!e specie standard
has been paiated by reductions in the sn'"an OF hne
metal 1hch was contained i'll coins Of given de-
no;ninGi;o: les, gold aud silver wers made from
tue ~ Tina 20 TeJresrlt The same values anu oil
though this made M 10 scl:e extent Tor deficiencies
in the production vi tie 5rerloDs naeaif fei lis ra
ration upon existing contracts, ana especially tCe2
which required long time Tor their fuit ment, Dua;
have had depressing effect upon enterprise ana pro-
ductiur. The best matured schomes Tor prObtaDie
adventure uaht :.s dsapnoint expectation, not be-
cause the calculation, 20 Tar IS GCsnc1 nnon KNOWN
data, imperfect, but because OK contraction III
tho standard Of value. What could be better cacu.
lated 10 discourage enterprise or depre:s lie spring q
human production HuY iGuch VI tins depression ui
commerce, during the middle ages, G!rse tru!a Tue
decline Of price; consequent upon dEnnction Of The
stock Ut precious metals, has probably never oeen
sufficiently estimated And yet comparison be-
tween The deer Decline Of al the great Interests COLI
Hccled with coi1merGr saL human industry dailnS
that period, Gud the wonderful i,nr-2e given 10 al
sorts vi productive enterprise aer ttie diseo>:I =:
the American ,niae, mus srsgest the ELECTS which
the e:s.. .ste o! eetandG!u y! value produced d..
ring tina two per6ds Eat i may ba asked why is Tim:
this contraction Of The stanGsd Eaue he's not been
more seriously el, in modern times, H. IA rGti. TIE
relative additions made to the stock OF specie md
property 9f ,s world were much larger IN the latter
than IN The nr:=r u ali the pecunary ran-nc.
lions Of society had been settled IL o-reGuy and the
had been III currency bE specie t:cre is reason 20
believe that the present state OF thing, would give
uTrisakat.e evidences CT tie effects of contraction
If this currency upon our enterprise and industry
Dat since the general Ut bills OF exchange GurreGcy
not constituted the only means ofssitng prcuEir.
transactions and since the middle Of tic so"enseE:h
century. when banks began to be felt in commercial
aIaisJ specie has no. constituted the only currency of
the world but hs last has been so largely comp ,-ed
OF paper tnst we cnno. emit is consideration r any
question connected with our standard Of vnlue Per-
haps no discovery in the whole U.1r...r.s.y o. com
merce has been more inIpor:SGto the world ;hsn tht
Of the bill OF exchange; mons which saved SC much
labor in it's processes none which WAS 10 efficient in
keepa; up some approximation between the real and
which formerly required long expensive, and haz.
ardous transportation Of the piec:o:s rneta!s. began
now 10 be settled by offsets. or exchanges OF as!sn.
ces mutually due by distant bankers; and thus q
transfer of entries upon their respective books,
often ssyed the expense and the risk Of the actual
transportation OF RYea.s.
"But since the middle OF the seventeenth century
there is great believe that the yalue o. the
specie standard has contracted, and there are some
grounds for supposng that in the United States this
tendency ma: been corrected even By the produc.
ton Of gold in Cnito.S:s The summer of 1851 wit.
messed severe pressure in the o.ey market IN New
York; and an exhibit of the banks O: the State Of
Massachusetts, for the year 1851, shows thet the pro
portion of their liabilities for circulation and depo.
sits TO their specie 1917 7.lo.hs to |, which
is q far greater proportion than was ever known in
that State from 1915 ISL with The exception of tue
two years Of 1885 and 1886.
This state Of things was probably brought ac., in
pa.t, by the appreciation OF silver beyond the mint
price under .sv. The silver coin left lie, snd
stimulated mpo.tGtioEs !rOl. :hs places where it
went Gold did not Immediately .sl!ace il in circu.
la.iou indeed, for the purposes OF s,aGl. change, ii
could not, aud the banks thus tempted to -aue
notes to supply the vacancy in the currency. Had
tbs market aud mn prices OF silver correspondent in
the United etates, We should p'obsbly have 10.
- I'll L.