The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-01-11

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J usassessea disps1satiea ef Psovidsaee Do u
pssvsat the nexs tsa years viii probably witns
} ne oeoe raptd PeoEssee 81 efvili1ed naeione
eealtA and powos tAat has ever beea knevn.-
the nnwoaeed psofnsioa u ~ peesious metal
and he peedi6isas dsvslopnsss q indussri,
, fsseuress tAas VII - sGesssd b. sailreads an
~ steam navigAtion, sannoe fail - aceemplis
results during Tie nexs 6esaae nero seapendos
than have ever yee bssE witnessed, o. aso No,
anticipated by the NEST oAnguine.
Notwithstanding The van which aeselate
Earops and taxed - the nssssmsst the resources
Of ell ite crest powers during he sixteenth
seventeenth and eighteeksh eenturiee, the pro.
yrees OF eivilisaaioa and the growth Of popula
power, under the influence Of metallic cup-
rsncy which grew moro and moro abundant
was tar more rapid than 10 had been at any tin,
osferss since the fall Of the Roman empire
iadeed. It was under the influence Of the mighty
Impetus shat had thus been given to the cause
81 human liberty, that the Independence Of he
American colonies Of Great Britain was happily
achieved, and that the Revelation in France ~
most snhappily inaugurassd - the end Of the
eighteenth century.
The disastess which grew cut Of this latter
event = Spain lost that kingdom tho control Of
her own American colonies, and laid the ground
werk OF revolution which soon severed thoeo
colonies also from the mother country. But il
was not Spain alone that experienced the evil
consequences Of these disturbances. The i'm
poFtation Of the precious metals from the Span.
ish colonies, which in 1909 amounted 70 more
than eS0, 00Q, 900, fell OF during the progress Of
the long and odssolasing wars which preceded
and attended the 6Dal rupture, TO some 4i6,-
0oo. 900; and such was she general prossratioa
shat overlook all Industrial pursuits in the cole
M al Ca
recover, and the expectations Of specie In
amounts at oil approximating the original sup.
plies have never revived.
The consequence Vas, that from the period Of
the falling Oh Of shis expectation, down 10 1916
40, there was continual paralysis Of commerce
and industry in all parts Of the civilized world,
which found no other mitigation than in the
large issues Of paper currency, which were re-
serted to chiefly in the United States, England,
and . few countries Of Europe. England en-
barked most largely in this experiment Of pa
per money and Of suspended specie payments.
BY this tremendous agency she succeeded, in
lsl4-ls, after long effort. in subsidizing all
The great powers Of Europe and marshaling |
against him force which overthrow the empire |
of Napoleon. But her return to specie pay |
nents in 1919, spread bankruptcy broadcast |
throughout Europe and the United States.-
Through the more prudent use of this danger |
BUS agency, however, her own commercial and |
Industrial interests soon revived, sustaining but |
ew and less heavy disasters from time to time |
a the quarter Of century succeeding that
'ear. We in the United States also employed
he dangerous substitute for . metallic currency,
tut much more rashly, and have suffered terri.
'ly At intervals for our reeklessness and folly.
The enormous fresh supplies OF the precious
metals, which began in lS40, would have at
az III IL e Al - L..
assments Of both ountries, ii it had not been
which existed at the time. As sample OF the
immense undertakings which had then been
in, We do not know at what vast cost
n meney, Great Britain had undertaken the con.
truction of her stupendous system Of railroads.
he system in this country has been con-
tructed as an outlay Of . thousand mil
ons Of dollars. But this was but q single claes
t credits, the immense fabric of which had
cen commenced in lS4o. There were numer-
US others Of proportionats magnitude and cost;
nd it has required all the resources of Califor.
ia, OF Australia, and Of the paper system itself,
Or ten years, to complete the enterprises that
sd been undertaken. Notwithstanding the
of these combined resources there
ras serious monetary collapse in 1857; but il
probably better, on the whole, that that ca.
|
eneral system Of liquidation which it naugura.
I'd should have been brought about, in order
nat the way might be made clear for the
alcyon times that are now apparently to fol.
W..
What is now the condition Of affairss The
reat railroad systems Of America and Europe
hch have bel the objects Of such immense
utlays Of money in their construction, have at
myth ceased to be the objects Of expenditure,
nd become agencies of production. Machinery
nd skill in manufactures have been brought to
he highest degree of perfection; Improvements
steam locomotion and navigation have ap.
arently reached the neplHs ultra Of progress;
aritime knowledge in tides, winds, and dan
ers to navigation have attained to marvellous
'oroughness and proficiency; and with all these
lcul,ies for material and financial progress, we
ave supplies Of gold setting in upon US from
ustraa and California in streams more pro-
Use and prodigal than mankind ever heretofore
nagined in their widest dreams. In view of
Il these propitious circumstances, we repeat, it
fair to presume that the next ten years will
ro6ably DO the most prosperous which the
orld ever knew.
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