The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1863-02-09
The Portland Daily Press has the largest
regular circulation Of any daily paper in
the city.


The Currency North and South
If in a time of grave national peril the pub
Tic mind were filed with gloomy forebodings
of impending disaster, vast and underlined, the
more terrible because underlined, some great
and imminent danger, not to be measured and
met, but shrouded in vague obscurity, its caus-
es and its results alike escaping all computa-
ton. left only to dismal conjecture, 1t would
be the duty Of every true man TO strive, ac-
cording to the measure Of his strength, TO
break the spell OF mystery and drag the spec
ter forth into the light OF day. That such a
mystery does envelop the financial questions,
which In this moment Of peril compel the at
tention Of this nation, Is beyond question true.
Intelligent men hold Numerically opposite
opinions on the fundamental question, wheth-
er our currency has suffered depreciation.
This mystery, so favorable 10 the propagation
Of causeless but hardly less injurious alarm,
must be dissipated by fall and free discussion.
For the present then, approaching the fun
damentzl question named above, let IL be as
samed thai money, As money, has no value Of
is own. ln value Is simply A. q means Of
procuring objects 81 desire, ofexchanging what
we are willing to part with for what we desire
20 have. Money simply represents these val
ues. The man who attributes value 10 money
itself h regarded a. demented and called mi
ssr, plfiable wretch.
But the relations between money and the
various articles Of trade are constantly chang
Ing. II takes more money 10 bay barrel Of
tar. Cor example, now than IL would have tax
en- two years ago Shall we say then that the
tar has risen, or that the money has deprccia,-
eds Here Is an opportunity for some confn-
sion. II Il easy to discriminate however. If
the value Of the commodity Is changed by the
operation Of la own laws Of price, a 10 this
case, where the enormous advance In tar may
be referred directly TO the effect Of the war
upon the Csrolinas, il Is only putting the fact
into words, 20 say that the commodity has ris-
en- II on the other hand the representative
capacity OF the money is 10 some way dimin-
ished. II Is right to say that IL has suffered de-
probation.
A depreciation Of currency can only arse
from one oftwo causes-a distrust ofthe source
from which IL issues, or an undue expansion Of
the currency itself At present only paper
Is liable to be affected by either Of these causes,
though they are entirely distinct, and in the
time OF Ferdinand and Isabella the enormous
accumulation Of gold and silver in Spain, the
result Of unwise legislation, occasioned a de-
probation Of the precious metals fatal to Span
ish prosperity.
Waving the discussion of these two causes,
as affecting our own currency, simply because
such discussion would necessarily be more
general and less conclusive, let us apply one
or two practical tests. Thus, if it can be shown
that the advance in the price of any article of
commerce is fully accounted for by reasons az
fecting its production, it is evident that the
supposed depreciation Of the currency cannot
be admitted The argument is demonstrative.
Now the cost Of the raw materials from which
ton Of pig iron is made, is thus given by
correspondent Of the Philadelphia Press:
3 tons iron ore in the ground. at SOC. 81 50
tons coal in the mine, Mt SO c. / 90
Ia tons limestone in the mine, at 10c. Is
Iron per ton s2,es
All the rest is labor and the manufacturers
profit, which is also labor of another kind.
The cost Of labor at the furnaces was always
from eight to ten times the cost of the
materials. Taking the latter estimate and al
lowing nothing for profits, we shall find the
cost of the manufactured iron, $29.15 1t is
now worth $50. But the duties on iron have
been considerably increased under the Nor
rill tariff, and hundreds Of thousands of labor
ers have been Withdrawn from the labor mar
ket to 1ll the Northern armies. After a rea-
sonable deduction from the difference of $2.S5
ton, for these causes and for profits, how
much can be fairly charged to a depreciation
Of the currency? In the same way the ad-
vance In the price Of lumber must be referred
to the absence of so many lumbermen, increas-
ing the cost Of labor, by far the largest ele-
ment Of Its value; and In the same way il
would be easy to go on, adducing reasons for
the advance Of every article which shows an
upward tendency, SO ample and satisfactory
rs 10 exclude the idea of depreciation OF
the currency. II ir enough however TO have
brought forward single proof of this kind.
One demonstration Is rs good rs twenty. A
depreciation OF the currency would affect ev-
cry article alike.
To see the effect Of an actual depreciation,
We must turn 10 the Southern Conspiracy.
Labor has been almost undisturbed in the
South. II must be remembered. Slavery has
proved an element Of strength TO the re-
bellion. We will say nothing of the ivefold
and tenfold advance of manufactured goods
OF Ill kinds; that might be attributed to the
blockade; but there is no possibility of mis-
understanding the ruling prices of agricultu-
raj products. The South, with little disturb
suce Of labor and boundless fertility of soil,
pays to-day for the products of her soil prices
which measure her financial weakness The
following list Of prices before the war aud
nov, presented to the Virginia Senate on Fri
day, the 30th of January, by Mr.. Anderson,
needs no commentary except our own market
prices:
BEFORE fHE WAR. NOW.
agricultural Products.
White Wheat, per bush. 81 so "a so
Flour, per bbl $50 200
Corn, per bush. 90 $50