, 1861-07-17
INITIATING THE CIRCULATING
mEnEUM.

<~A3&FA
People are still mad everywhere with
the delusion, which sent Columbus in
search Of Cathay, and opened this CONT
ncnt to civilization, that money is the only
Ultimate wealth, and other property Of no
value except IS twill exchange for money;
sothat by increasing their money, and
necessarily their prices, they fancy they
increase their wealth indefinitely. And as
debt in the currency has all the effect Of
money In raising prices, they pile on the
fiction and call it wealth This latter is
the de1usion Of the. ostrich with bis head
in the sand, expecting to escape dangerby
being blind to it, and leaving his whole
body to inevitable destruction. It ia the
1uin and loss Of the whole capital to at
tempt to he increased in this preposterous
manner, and there is no such voluntary
blindness In any other nutter Of human
history or concern.
Prize is not ea}uc when it exceeds the
measure Of material things. When, with
natural currency, barrel Of flour, a
yard Of broad cloth and half eagle, or
1919 grains Of gold, exchange for each
other without difference, each measures
the value Of the other, and the price Of
each is .frc dollars. Then il we 60 into
debt banking, and by converting debt into
currency double its volume, the price Of the
barrel Of flour and yard Of broad cloth will
he ten dollars each, while their palue Is but
half The money. 1t will now require IN
csglc, or 258 grains Of gold, to exchange
for either, and damaging consequences are
us clear as sunlight The foreign importer
Of broad cloth viii crowd our market with
his commodity at so per yard, and the
exporter Of -four will keep his commodity
at home, while $40 Of gold takes its place
in the exports TO pay for the yard Of cloth
One half Of this sum is price that is not
rals'e; it is unmitigatcd fiction, neverthe-
less il costs It's solid gold, and the fiction
takes the place in the currency of SO much
capital expelled. Ne sell the gold for
half its value, while we fancy ourselves
enriched by the double price Of flour which
prevents its sale. Embarrassing our local
currency, we only increase prices against
ourselves The exporters limits are in his
foreign adyices. The price Of flour in
Liverpool depends as much upon the sup
plies from Egypt, the Baltic and the Black
Sea, as from this country, and is finally de-
cided BY the meanB Of the consumer as
measured by his own local currency. We
cannot raise it fraction there by initiating
it here, but We can and do yield the market
to the foreign producer, and thereby stop
SO much Of our OWL production Of wealth,
with the business that flows from it while
we sell cur gold for nothing. OF course
tie articles Of flour and broadcloth are
presented IN this illustration as e1ponents,
the former Of the general exports Of the
country, and the latter Of ::ias imports; the
reader will not limit his view of the sub.
iect to these two commodities. Some arti
Gle or articles of home consumption musl
be raised in price by any increase of ths
local currency, infallibly, and that rise o1
price is nothing but a fall in the price o.
money. 1tmust always operate against
ourselves BY increasing the cost Of living
and Of al commodities designed for ex'
port, tending to place foreign markets In
possession OF foreign producers.
There is vast field Of usefulness opeu
to some member Of Congress IN this i'm.
portant subject, which Is under tbe con