The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-05-24

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Rxpleessa OF csrrsasy.
Poblic attention has been 40 exclusively di
, rected to the military and naval moyemsnts o
the Rebel Government that but compAratiyel
little notice has been taken of it uonstar!
progfesa, whether upward or downward. Steam
} rams, turtles, forts, and riHe-pits, have fllet
} the Northern eye, while the foul issues of
| still fouler conspiracy have filed the Southern
pockets. We have shelled the turtles, sunk thl
| rams, cleared the rife pits and csptured the
sorts, facing the enemy At every point; but, sin
gular!y enough, have had NO encounter with th.
Rebel cvrrency. It 10 true that We have oh.
tainsd distant glimpses Of the great carnival q
rags in which the Southern sanies have been
rioting. Huge deposits Of tho ietid trash have
been taken with their forts and passed from
hand to hand among the victors, to be preserved
- mute but greasy mementoes Of typographical
barbarian. Samples have been sent home BY
the captors, to be pasted up in shops and bar
rooms as curiosities, or preserved in the albums
OF collectors of the Continental currency, that
issued for . holy cause for the 6rst time In Anne.
rican history. taking its place by the spawn Of
90 unholy one. But, saving short, abortivs
effort, at the outbreak OF the Rebellion, to ped.
die the worthless stuff in Northern cities, and
the chance reports which reach u from our ad-
vancing armies or from fugitive loyalists, We
know but little Of the social and commercial re-
suits Of this unexampled issue Of an irredeema.
BILE currency. In the hurrying tramp of ad.
vancing columns-in the excitement of battle
even after the peaceful occupation Of the largest
Southern cities-those flying historians Of the
war, the, army correspondents and reporters,
question. We may form some general idea of
how 1t stands on learning that tea 10 selling at
va pound, and calico at 81 yard; but Of the
widespread misery under which the South has
suffered We shall learn no definite particulars
until the domestic history Of the Rebellion shall
have been written. y -
| History, however, enables ~ to conjecture
what misery the South is yet to undergo from
the collapse OF it paper currency. We know
has issued, but, from al the information obtain
| able through her newspapers, We presume it to
| be at least $500, ,00O, 900. A fraction Of the
first issue was taken by her citizens in the early
| Juror Of the outbreak. Al the people held
| back, the banks were coerced into subscrip.
tions, then into exchanges Of their notes for
Rebel bonds. These resources exhausted, the
leaders issued without limit and forced it on the
people in payment for supplies, the armies car
rying with them millions Of unsigned scrip to be
| used whenever and wherever It might be re.
quired. The true basis for redemption was the
success Of rebellion. We have had other rebel
lions in this country, but this ID the only one
which attempted to manufacture its own money.
Its artificial basis was the cotton crop and re-
demption was dependent on success, because
without the latter the cotton crop would fail to
reach the European market. But treason has
run its bloody course with rapidity that has
sstonished the nations. Every basis, real and
artificial. has disappeared. Conscious Of thia
the cotton foundation for its bonds Is ordered to
be destroyed. This act il the dying confession
of the discounted traitors The millions of pa
per they have issued 10 left to perish in the
hands OF the Southern people. It Was in every
ones possession. As coin disappeared into
thousands of private boards, its place WAS sup
piled by paper, which Immediately filed the |
channels of circulation It was that or nothing. |
Both terror and necessity compelled its adop
tiou. Those who hesitated to receive it were !
suspected, while those who refused it were |
stripped OF property and imprisoned. Real |
money, in fact, ceased to be known in business |
transactions, and the day of barter returned, the
bartering of merchandise for paper. A51]
But even this compulsory currency was insuf. |
hcient to gorge the community. Every indivi- |
dual was at liberty to issue whatever he could |
circulate. As there was no small change, 10 |
each man made it for himself. BARRIERS issued |
tickets good for q shave, groggeries such -
were good for drinks, undertakers such as we're
redeemable in cof6ns, and even the gamblers and
faro bankers issued similar tokens. The entire
fractional currency of all the Southern cities was
made of this irredeemable trash. From them it
spread into the country, and as it was there ab-
sorbed, the makers issued more. So pitiable
was the Southern destitutiOn-sO humiliating
her dependence on the North, that, shut out
from fresh supplies by blockade which it was
thought facetious six months ago to sneer at,
these myrisds of tickets we're printed on brown
paper, backs Of old letters, shop cards and bon.
net boards. The world has never seen . cur.
rency to equal it for rottenness. The Cont
mental currency had value at the beginning
even the French assignats we're the representa-
tives of a vast tangible property-but this whole
Rebel currency has been the most stupendous
swindle from the start that the world has ever
beheld. 1t falls dead upon the hands of every
man who holds it, and $500, ,0O0, 900 of loss can.
not be 30 distributed in any community a. not
to impoverish thousands by the explosion. What
other generations suffered from Continental |
notes and sssignats, the South must suffer with
No history Of the Continental currency has
yet been written, and what We know concerning
it must be gathered up from cotemporaneous
records in which IL 10 incidentally referred to.
Neither has . history of thee Colonial paper cur
rency been written; but enough has been pre-.
served to give US some idea Of the wide spread
ruin which has 10 every instance swept over the
community which may have plunged into great
issues OF irredeemable paper. Even cautious,
prudent Massachusetts, was compelled, in 1851,
to redeem fl, ,7s2. 1856 of her paper, at q loss Of
90 per cent. to the holders. In l7l2, South
Carolina issued 94s, 900 in bills, which depre-
ciated one third the frat year, one halt the sec.
ond, and gradually sunk to almost nothing
Only SIX months after the Declaration of Inde.
pendence, public confidence In the Continental /
money was seriously impaired The Tories
sneered at it, and the British counterfeited il.
In October, l777, it had deprecated to three
for one. The belief was that, Steven If indepen.
dence were secured the country would be found
mics declared, and the army unfortunately be.
lieved, that, if ever able to pay, it did not in
tend to. Up to September, l770, Congress had
issued $l60, ,00O, 600 Of paper, and then resolved
that the Issues should ct no time exceed 5000.
O0O, 900. But once entered on the career. its
issues soon exceeded this limit, and the next
year its paper sunk to seventy five for one. Coin
was impossible to DO had, and taxes could not
be collected. In 1851, Congress had issued
9soS, ,0OO, 900 Of paper, and At that date .he ear
lier notes had sunk to Ave hundred for one of
hard money. Thenceforward, the depreciation
went rapidly toward utter worthessness. It 10
known that millions Of this paper we're never
redeemed, and that depreciation and Reputation
combiued inflicted untold distress upon the
people. Taxation followed, and this culmina tied
in the Whisky Insarrection in Pennsylvania and
In Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts,, with
alarming symptoms Of an outbreak in New
Hampshire and Connecticut II
All American history 10 tull of warning ~ 10
the certain ruin TO follow the gorging of com.
munity with paper currency for whose early
redemption no certain provision may have been
made. The South can hope for no exemption
from similar tate. Her currency began TO de.
preciate from the moment it vas issued. The
Continsntsl Congrsss bese up for eight years
under the waning value Of its currency, but
aiuple wear has heen m, ,fcient IN ~ino s,e h,,cA