Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-03-17
turning Another Leaf.

a marked success as Is claimed Tor II! Lei US
look al It, not with view to criticize the author
or advocate OF any particular scheme, bat with
the honest desire of learning something from our
costly experience.
Has not the system OF legal tender, or Gov
ernment paper money. been after all great mis-
tAkeg We opposed it from principle before the
experiment was inaugursted; the trial Is not vet
concluded but what Is is present aspectE We
do not ask whether The best has not been made 1
of il; but has il so far commended itself to the
sober Judgment Of thoughtful menf IL the 4
country could 90 back. in dream, to the 4
starting point. would sensible men choose il /
again with all the light now thrown upon III
Could these questions he submitted today 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 and Is working but who choke down
their own and others opposition to il with the plea
that it was after all, necessity. as the choice of
evils
Suppose IL has not been adopteds We should
have had, first Of all, universal frugality Who
does not remember. at The outset OF the war, hos
everv one began the work of economy and re-
trenchmentl This was step IN the right di
rection. A large portion of the productive IN
dustry Of the country was To be turned IRON the
pursuits Of ordinary industry, and consumed in
the waste OF a long and expressive conflict. IL
the specie basis had been preserved. X would
have possessed two-foid advantage. While
pressing the need OF economy upon the people,
il would have stimulated, with irresistible force.
the national industry. The power of contrac
ton 70 bring out the latent energy IN commu
nity not taxed TO it, utmost strength, - prodlg
iou- no has seen it, when. after two or
three years of speculation and luxurious living
there comes crashi How the blood starts
anew in sluggish veins. the indOlent muscles are
strung 10 a fresh tension, ami hands that were
deemed too delicate for labor grow once more
hard and ragged, in honest toll. There Is moth
Ing like this pressure 10 bring the lazy. the idle
and the thoughtless, of both sexes. To the duty
which il j. well for the nation that none should
escape-that of earning their bread ia the sweat
of their brows The necessity for economy
would be m incentive u labor, and this in turn
would deepen the lesson of frugality Make the
dollars scar-e. and only TO be had BY delving,
and the quickenn. impulse would be ielt IN every
channel of industry. The lani would be taxed
with more energetic hands, giving larger crops.
and cheaper food. There i no addition To wealth
but through labor. aud 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 slmulant, our Increased pro-
ducts would have cost Us less. while they would
have purchased Tor Us IN exchange tar more oil
! the labor OF other nations. We should thus nave
more TO spare in the way OF surplus, and less OF
either need desire for costly imports while the
goods We did import would be sold at price,
| greatly in our favor. II is "A seeming paradox
but nevertheless true that products which 70
from cheap market tO he exchanged IN deal
one have always the advantage; and this ii Wa:
more than ever important for to secure when
we needed To reserve all strength for the
great struggle "a maintain the nations life.
On the specie basis. We should have found II
easier both To raise and equip large armies fol
the field. The necessity which we have quotes
as a stimultnt for industry. would have turnet
many more active men 10 the field, and have
made the rewards there presented far more invit
ing. The expense of supporting the army woulC
have been greatly diminished The same ecoho
my would have been enforced here by the out
working of an irresistible law, and the natona
debt would not have rolled up in such huge pro-
portions. Instead of accelerated speed. the vol
ume would have moved with ever diminishin;
velocity as its weight slowly increased.
We have purposely made no allusion to tn
most obvious incidental advantages of maintain
ing the specie basis. including such as are com
mon to ordinary seasons, our object being e
show lis effect upon the nation in The partlcula
crisis through which passing.
But it NAV be said that there are still create
advantages on the other side which justify TN
resort 10 the paper money system. " hat arr
thew Facilities for carrying on the war; How
do we obtain them? Is there any more capital Il
the counIry2 Is there any increase OF wealth
Does the excitement which comes from an un
substantial dream nerve the arm Tor patient Ia
Dor? Has the initiation encouraged productive
toll? Has it induced economy of reS0urce.l Thu
nation has nothing which it does not earn. Ha
ite,rned more or less Tor this enormous initiation
OF the currency? Would there not have bee
far less wasted, and far more produced,
everything had been kept down to the hard none
standardf
The evil of unsubstantial wealth is not Simpl
in the Incidence il hegets but in the squanderln
of resources to which II leads. At first sight
would seem that "A man whose ten thousand do
lars swels To twenty thousand under an intia
ton. with no actual increase of substance. woul
be lust AZ well off when the contraction comes, a
his fortune has only shruuk to its original dinner
sous But this Is not the ordinary result u
/ effect Of the expansion IS lead him spend
If he had twenty thousand instead OF ten an
thus when the contraction comes he is short
, his original capital If he contract debt tn
. does not shrink too. and he may thus lose a
y that he does not expend
The effect OF the inf alton on fOrei IN exchang
u works still greater disaster. 1t a man who
ten thousand dollars has sweled 10 twenty tho
sand undertakes To- spead half of II abroad
- has nothing lett. Startling a TINS nay seem,
= i literally true The imitation is confined
: home and only The real capital will pay q
% foreign debt OF this nominal twenty thou-au
he has ten thousand real, and ten thousand mo
- which i but It's shadow The real goes, AID
: has it, shadow only lett. This i not a suppo~
= tous case Ia spending only half his expand
% capital abroad he Is bankrupt. lt l. what 81
= country i actually doiag at this present. momer
m We are 50 set 40 by this imaginary paper mon
!. wealth. that we are buying enormously OF iore
I, Injuries in seeming fOTSetiulness OF the tact IN
ar every dollar thus paid Is not gwen proportr
- of the inflated millions. but IN actual dollar q
! of the specie basis on which this whole expansi
rests In plain words. If We have three huudr
a millions in gold. and seven hundred millions
= ntner then one hundred millions sent abroad
i'll not a tenth. but a third. OF all our money
20 We have only space 10 remark, IA couciu>io
:, that this apparent prosperity based on the pape
- money imitation i not only unreal and of e
:, influence because it discourases industry and II
~ caiitv aud turns u our great disadvantage M Il
ei.u commercial intercourse. but apart from
economic relations 1t l. also I'll timed. aud nj
u rlous in rs effect on the morals OF the Peep
M Here and there an orator i found who decaiu
m. in well turned periods. about the great accessit
20 the nations wealth from the prosecution
the war: but al sensible men feel that the prev
ne lent exhllaration i unnatural anu that the -
pt re,ction must he disastrous We hear much