New-York daily tribune., 1858-02-06
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
LETTER XVI.


elm sve,v kingdom into which money begins to flow
in greater abundance than formerly, everything says
Mr. Hume, in his well-known Essay on Money, takes
q new face: labor and industry gam Me- tne mer'
chant becomes more enterprisng, the manufacturer
more digent and skillfu; and even the farmer follows
Lis plow with more alacrity and attention
That this is So Mr. President is well known TO all
Why should be soi Because the circulation of society
then increases and all power-whether in the physical
or social world-results from motion. When money Is
flowing in every man is enabled to find purchaser tor
his labor and TO become purchaser of that ct Others
Tber.fra has !. heeu that commerce has so steadily
increased in those countries IN which the CaIoInau
and Australian products have SO rapioiy
France, Germany, and Northern ana western
Europe generally When, on the contrary, money
flows out, the circulation Gimnishes, ana Iaoor Is
elsewhere wasted. The labor.power being Captai,
the result of the consumption OF other ca pal III the
form Of food, ell the difference between an adyahSIhg
and declining state of society IA found in the TACT
that in the one there ID constant increase IN the
rapidy with which the demand for muscular or men
tai power follows ts production, while IN the otner
there is a daily dminutOn therein. The more In
stauty the demand follows the supply the more Is the
force economized, ana the larger is the power OF
accumulation. The longer the interval between pro.
ducon and consumption, the greater the waste OF
force and the less il the power OF accumulation.
OF all the machinery in use among men, there Is
none that exercises upon their actions great an nbu
ence as that which ga hers up and divides and sub
divides and then gathers up again, 10 De on the IN
stant divided and subdivided again. tie minutes and
qualter-hOurs of community. IL Is the machinery oi
association and the indispensable machinery OF prog
ress; and therefore il s that we see IN a new or poor
communities SO constant an effort 10 obtain something
10 be used in its stead as is shown IN various couh-
tries in which an redeemable paper constitutes tue
medium of exchange. Throughout the west, eur
rency of some description felt to be among the pne
necess,ies of ife So well il this want understood,
~. Easto hapl
Western crculatiOn-the people there passing thel
from bald to hand, because any money better than
none and good they cannot get, for the reason tna'
metallic money always flows from the place where 'he
charge for its use is high, to that at which II is low
Iiv iu thv West tr Hvw cnurous, out
each successive day witnesses the export OF gold TO
the East where it is somewhat less; and yet, even
our high inerest-rangiDg, as il has done for years,
between ten and thirty per cent per annum-cannOt
prevent il from going 10 France and Germany, where
il commands but five or SIX per cent. Money thus
obeys the same law as water-seektDg Arrays ne t0~-
est ie,tl. The latter falls upon the hihs, but from
the momen Of its fall il stops until 1t reaches
the ocean; nor does the gold Of California or the sl-
Yer of Mexico stop until reaches that point q. when
money most abouIds, and al which, for that reason,
the price paid for its use is lowest.
OF all the commodities in use by man, the precious
metals are those, Mr.. President, whose movements
furnish the mott perfect test OF the soundnees or un-
soundpess Of It's commercial System. They 60 from
those countries whose people are engaged in exhaust
ing the soil TO these in which they renoyate aud I'm.
prove II. They 90 from those AZ whlcn ne price VI
raw products and the land itself is lowfroU those
at which money is scarce and interest Is high. The
country that desires 10 attract the and thus TO lower
the charge for the Of money has, then, only to
adopt the measures required for raising the price OF
land and labor. Ia all countries the value OF land
grows with that development of the human faculties
which results from diversity in the modes Of employ
ment, and consequent growth OF the power of com
bination. That power grows IN all the countries Of
Northern Europe; and for the reason, as has been
shown, that all those countries have adopted the
course of policy recommended by Colbert and carried
out by France II declines in Great Britain, in Ire
land, in Portugal, in Turkey, in the Eastern and
Western Indies and in ell the countries that follow the
teachings Of the British school 1t has grown among
ourselves in every period of projections and then,
money having flowed in, land and labor have risen In
value. II has diminished In every period in which
foreign trade has obtained the mastery domestic
commerce. Land and labor have always declined 10
value as soon as our people had eaten, drunk and
wc foreign merchandise to the extent Of hundreds Of
millions Of dollars beyond the value Of their exports
Of the rude products of the SOIL and have thus com
PEELED the viii drawal Of the metallic basis Of their
paper circulation.
We are told, however BY the same writer, Mr..
Hune-and in that he is followed by the modern
economststhat the only effect of inci ease Of the
supply Of gold and silver Is that of hg tening the
price Of commodities, and obging every one TO pay
more Of those little yellow or white pieces for every.
thing he purchases' Were such really the case, il
would be little short Of miracle that should see
oney always, century after century, passing IN the
same direction TO the countries that are rich from
thoee that poorso poor too that they cannot at
I'd TO keep much Of is required for their
e1chaDgee The gold OF Siberia leaves land in
which little crulaes that labor aud its products
are at the lowest prices to find its way TO ST. Peters
burg where il will purchase less labor and less Of
either wheat or hemp, than il would do at home; and
that Of Carolina and Virginia goes steadily and regu
larly year after year 70 the countries to which the
people Of those States send their cotton and their
wheat, because OF the higher prices at which they
se The silver Of Mexico and its cochineal travel TO-
gether 10 the same market; and the gold Of Australia
passes TO Britain by the ship WHICH carries the
wool yielded by the hocks
Every addition to the stock Of money we are as
sured by the ingenious men Of modern days, engaged
in compiling Treasury tables and finance reports rem
ders q country good place to sell in. but bad one
in which to purchase. To what countries however
is il that men have most resorted when they de-
sired to purchase Have they not, until recently,
gore, almost exclusively, 10 Britain Il has been 80,
sssuredy; and for the reason, that there il has been
that finished commodities were cheaply furnished.
Where have they gone TO SELF Has it not been to
Britain II certainly has been 30; and for the
that there il was that gold cotton, wheat and ell
other Of the rude products Of the earth, dear.
Where do they now most tend TO go when they desire
to purchase cloths silks Il il not TO France and
Germany SO il certainly s; and for the that
there il is that raw materials highest and fn-
ished ones are cheapest Gold follows in the train Of
raw materials generally-these ast being found, in
varaby, travelling TO those places at which the rude
prucucts Of the earth command the highest prices,
while cloth, iIon, and manufactures Of iron and
other metals, may be purchased at the lowest;
and the greater the flow . in that direction the
greater is the tendency 10 further enhancing the
Priees Of the former, and reducing those of the
latter From this il would seem, Mr.. President that
Increase In the supply of money, 80 far from having
lhe eject OF eausrg men 10 give two pieces for ar