Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-03-21

gather from the relsO>pect lesson Of wisdom
before the record l. hiddeas We Ieave for .
moment the question OF military aud political
successes or rsverses. TO catch a glimpse OF the
nations financial progress Has this been such
= marked success as Is -cl2ined for il? Let Us
look at it, not with view % criticize the author
or advocate Of any particular scheme, but with
the honest desire OF learning someihing from our
costly experiences.
Has n0t tie system Of legal tender. or Gov
eminent paper menes. beeo after al great mis-
takef We opposed it from principle before the
exDeFiment MAS inaugarated; the trial i rot yet
concluded bnt what i its present aspect We
DO not Ask whether the best has not been mads
Of il; but has it 90 far commended itself to the
sober judgment Of thoughtful menl II the
country could 20 back as IN dream, 20 the
starting point. would sensible meH choose i
again. With all The light now thrown upon itf
Could these questions ne submitted to-day 20 the
governing majority, the condemnation of the
scheme would be far more unanimously than is
generally supposed.
Still there are some who see the mischiefs il
has worked aud is working. but " DO choke down
their own and Others opposition TO il with the plea
that il was after all, necessity, the choice of
evils.
Suppose Il has not been adopted2 We should
have had, first of all. universal frugalty. Who
does not remember. at the outset of the war; hos
ever one began the WORK Of economy and re-
trencbmentl This was step IN the right di
rection. A large portion of The productive in
duslry OF the country was TO be turned IRON the
pursuits Of ordinary industry, and consumed in
the waste OF long and expressive conflict Ii
the specie basis had been preserved. it would
have possessed a tNO-fold advantage. While
pressing the need of economy upon the people,
it would have simulated, with irresistible force.
the national industry. The power of a contrac
ton TO bring the latent energy in a commu
nity not taxed 20 its utmost strength, Is prOdlg
iou- " no has not seen it, when. after two or
three years Of speculation and luxurious living
there comes a erashl How The blood starts
anew in sluggish veins. the indolent muscles are
strung to a fresh tension. and hands that
deemed too delicate for labor grow once more
hard and rugged, in honest toll. There is moth
ing like this pressure 70 bring the lazy, the idle.
and the thoughteSs, of both sexes, to the duty
which il Is well for the nation that none should
escaye-that of earning their bread in the sweat
Of their brows The necessity for economy
would be an incentive 70 labor, and this in turn
wOald deepen the lesson of frugality. Make the
dollars scarce. and only 10 be had bv deiving,
and the quickening impulse would be felt in every
channel Of industry. The land would be taxed
with more energetic hands, giving larger crops.
and cheaper food There is no addition to wealth
but through labor. and the productive power of
the nation would be doubled by such an energiz
ing force.
The specie basis would also have kept the
balance of trade in our favor. With every hand
at work under this stimnlant, our Increased pro-
ducts would have cost Us less. while they would
have purchased for u IN exchange far more OF
the labor of other nations W e should thus have
more % spare in the way Of surplus, and less Of
either need or desire for costly imports; while the
goods ne did import would be sold at prices
greatly in our favor IL is a seeming paradox
but nevertheless true that products which go
from a cheap market to he exchanged ia dear
one, have always the advantage; and this il
more than ever important for US to secure when
we needed 20 reserve all our strength for the
great struggle TO maintain the nations life.
On the specie basis. we should have found it
easier both TO raise aud equip large armies for
the held. The necessity which we have quoted
as a stimulant for industry. would have turned
many more active men 10 the fied and have
male the rewards there presented TAR more iuvit-
ing. The expense OF supporting the army would
have been greatly diminished The same ecOHO-
ms would have been enforced here by the out
working Of an irresistbe law, and the national
debt would not have rolled up in such huge pro-
portions. Instead of accelerated speed. the vol
ums would have moved with ever diminishing
velocity its weight slowly increased
We have purpOsely made no alluSOn 10 the
most Obvious incidental advantages of maintaiT-
ing the specie basis. including such as are com
mon TO ordinary seasons, our object being TO
show It's effect upon The nation in lhe particular
crisis through which we passing.
But il mas be said that there still greater
advantages on the other side. whrh justify The
resort to the paper money system. What are
theyl Facilities for carrying on the war? How
do We obtain theml Is there any more capital in
the cOuntfyl l. there any increase of wealth.
Dies the excitement which comes from an un
substantial dream nerve the arm Tor patient la
bort HIS the inf rtiOn encouraged productive
tOilr h rs il induced economy of resource,I The
natiuh has nothing which il does not earn. Has
1t ettne,l more less tor this enormous imitation
OF the currencyl Would there not have been
far les wa>tei. and far more produced, if
everything had been kept down the hard money
stsndardf
The evil OF unsubstantial wealth is not simply
in the Incidence IL besefs but in the squandering
of resources 10 which leads At first sight il
would seem that man whose ten thousand dol
lars sNeiis TO twenty thousand under an inf q
tom. with no actual incre ise OF substance would
be just vel off when the eou.r Icti0n comes as
his fortune has Only shruuk 10 its original uimen-
siOHs. But this Is not the ordinary result The
effect of the expansion is To lead him to spend as
it he had twenty thousand instead OF ten; and
thus when the contraction comes he is short of
has original capital. Ii he contract debt that
does not shrink too, and he may thus lose all
that he does not expend
The effect of the ind ltiOn on foreign exchanges
works a still greater disaster. IT man whose
ten Thousand dollars has sweled twenty thou
sand. undertakes To spend half of il abroad, he
has nothing left. Startling this may seem, il
is literally true. The Intuition is confined AT
home. and only the real capital will pay the
foreign debt. OF this nominal twenty thousand,
he has ten thousand real, and ten thousand more
which is but its shadow The real goes, and he
has its shadow only LETT This is not a SUPPOSE
tiOus case In spending only half his expanded
capital abroad he is bankrupt. IL IL Whist this
country is actually doing at this present moment
We are so sex up by this imaginary paper money
wealth, that We are buying enormously OF foreign
Injuries in seeming forgetulness of the fact tnat
every dollar thus paid is not given proportion
of the inflated millions, but an actual dollar ont
OF the specie basis on which this whole expansion
rests. In plain words. if we have three hundred
millions in gold, aud seven hundred millions of
paper, then one hundred millions sent abroad is
not tenth. but third. Of ell our money
Wehase only sptce to remark, IN conclusion,
that this apparent prosperity based on the paper
money imitation. is not only unreal. and Of evil
influence because it discourages industry aud fru-
gaiity and turns toour great dsad -antage in for
eign commercial intercourse, but apart from its
economic relations IL il also i'll timed, and iniu-
rious in its effect on the morals of the people.
Here and there an orator is found who decIaims,
in well turned periods. about the great accessous
20 the nations wealth from the prosecution of
the war; bat all sensible men feel that the preva
lent exhilaration is unnatural, and that the sure
reactloa must be disastrous We hear much OF
tie scarcity Of labor, and the price Of wages is
constantly advancing: but there are more hours
Of deBess % ", in proportion the number
ofhaBds employed. than at any time before since
die great ereifemanl of 1871 Snecnlnfinn Il