The Portland daily press., 1863-01-12
The sDecliue and FaIl,, Of Gold.

just after the October elections in Penn
sylvania, Ohio and Indiana, it may be recol-
lected that American gold, which had been
quoted as high as 140 or more, quite suddenly
declined, until it touched the comparatively
low figure of 129. Then it was that the fol-
lowing paragraph appeared in the Newbury-
port Herald, finding ready and accordant re-
Spouse in the Boston Commercial Bulletin. and
other papers antagonistic in their proclivities
to the administration, but more or less favor
ing compromise and peace with the rebel
States.
GOLD is FALLING.--Why has it gone down
six per cent? Some say the spectators in
gold have been defeated by the operation, of
the banks. Not so: the spectators in politics
have been defeated; the radicals who would
give us war OF forty years, which in the end
would leave the country thousand times
worse than 1t is now, have heard the voice of
the people-the voice of condemnation. The
men who have voted are not traitors to the
country; none have done more and better
than they to carry on the war, but they will
have the war for the Constitution and the I'M
ion-to suppress the rebellion, and not to sub
jugate States and overthrow the government
thereof, aud in rising against the mad radical
= ism that proposes such schemes they show in
shC dtctuuSS uioDduutu tItf1ltS, the gathering
OF national convention, the reunion of the
States, and the peaceful prosperity of united
country. Let it be decided that fanaticism
shall rule the country, and gold will go up
steadily fifty per cent. higher than it has vet
touched. Let it be seen that we are returning
to reason and gold will fall, and -four will
cheaper, and government stocks will go up.
1t was not wonderful that such clap trap
should find ready endorsers among the self
styled peace Democrats, but it was not to be
expected that papers pretending to be reliable
expounders of the laws of finance would de-
scend to such worse than useless rigmarole.
The New York Herald had the candor and
fairness 20 attribute the decline in gold to
other than political causes, thus rebuking a
class of papers that have been accustomed to
point to Bennett as the embodiment of all I'M
fairness and villany. We laid aside the above
paragraph from the Herald at the time, think
ing events would vindicate themselves. and
show the folly Of the means used to bring
about such results at the polls as we have
since witnessed.
According to the argument drawn above,
gold advanced because of the "fanatical" rule
~ bAo ooViftiohfoSc. III vi Tic htpuDltpcH
party. The Conservative victories in sever
nj OF the States in October, it is affirmed
caused decline in gold, because in those vic
tories was seen "disbanded armies, the gath
ering OF national convention, the reunion of
the States" DC Well. in November, with
gold at l29, we had the still more signal "con-
servatiye victories" in New York, Illinois and
Wisconsin, and had the argument been sound.
gold should have continued to decline until nv
this time it would have touched ITO, or lis at
most; but instead of that 1t commenced an
upward course Immediately following those
victories, until now it is quoted at 1877, thus
showing the utter absurdity of the idea that
the fluctuations in gold have been the result
oil political causes, or that such causes can
either greatly increase or diminish its value