Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1864-01-08
CONEIDENCE.

at |dfnf: rc9RcTtoR cf tc"F". o.. tfe oef',
.tiatioa ot' his If credit. WEBSTER :
Der.
rhare is much III word many rlan has
died WHO vas killed by word; many are
living who were saved by nothing more than
:, vord, Some words are indeed niurderous,
,hr;r rower is - terrible one: such are those,
the strength Of which, is Of character that
II imparts to the meaning Of the word not
only the power Of stating the actual condition
NJ > thing or person. but also to originate or
:lssrarate sleideawhioh it'eonyeys.
\, shown by the above quotation from
Webster. the meaning Of the word "deprecia>
,iln" is ca|iue Ga well rs pas$ite, II we can 50
-xrrcas ourselves. Definition No. l does -
thinr. No. 2 merely states it. Which OF
rhass two words TOR thsy are distinct in their
rover, arc We using when we talk end pratt
10 ,hont,h depreciation of our currency
Suppose We deny that our currency il de"
,re,;atea, how is the depreeiatiVe Judge Of
car currency 10 prove the justice Of his sen
,onya and make good his point? Very likely
i,y taking us to -, broker. where he will ask
=. - 5,.g \ nne dollar gold picrc, for which
we will, perhaps. be asked twenty dollars IL
our currency, We pat down our twenty dol -
lar nor lake our dollar gold piece, and re-
tire; cur adversary, who Witnessed the trans-
acton in silent triumph, naw turns to MS anu
savs-'seu have the proof.
~, I h.,l II N
yc knew it: 10 has lead and everything
else. metal OF no metal. We never expected
when the prices of all merchandise have Just
* or uniustly been enhanced twenty times,
that gold, = hish is itself o merchandise, anu
Il privileged one, should have remained sta
1ionary. We bcugh. gold to the amount OF q
certain quantity, and now we have it in our
,,ukct-herc the operation is ended. Blu!
oar friend will, perhaps. not agree to it: he
,.ils .un that we have bought good sterling
money by paying for il in deprecated Con"
f,.isr:te currency: that we can sell 1t II We
choose, and il hiulsclf ready to buy it from us
for the same price that we paid for it. for he
knows that he caunot get it any cheaper
Again we agree, we take back our currency,
aud find ourselves neither poorer nor richer
than hci.re. We bow, in turn, ask him the
uucs.;o-,. sincc it comes to the Same thing:
why are you.so anxious for that gold dollar
piscc i, will no. 60 any further to pay for
your beard or clothing tEau your Confederate
note would have gore:' We have come to
the vital yoint, to the reason why. What
can Il be? We know but OF four reasons
were there ten Of them it would make
no difference with our augmentation which
., citizen of the Confederate States may
he induced to huy gold. I'VE dwell upon the
word i,.,y, for it shows the. fact Of gold being
. merchan,li1ei The first, is ~ be able to
send il to a SOD. brother, or friend of his, now q
prisoner in the United States; the second, TO
buy II share in q steamer for carrying on the
blockade running business the third to put it
by IN place Of safety, either insideor outside
Of our lines, as provision for the futHre;
the fourth to pu, himself, gold and all, in a
place of s.fcty, 0utStde of onr lines, in Yam
keedom or in Europe-anywhere, except in
this Corfederacy, for which he does not care a
stray. llcre are all the uses of gold-to do
nothinc ut ell with it. or to carry on bust
nes=. which does not amount to any great deal,
wLan we consider the whale business OF the
country Is carried on with our 'dcprcelated
currency, and which does, after all, all tho
wa7.. AMI, strange to say, we permit that
identical small quality Of gold, which con-
sti.utcs our gold market, and is never used lis
Al currency within our lines, to bs held up t"
as the standard for treasury npte currency,
which has become, in fact, the universal cur
rency Of cur people.
We, therefore, do not find that our transac-
ton at the brokers' counter is any proof Of the
alleged depreciation of our currency. Gold
is no currency amongst us--it If Either trcn-
.,r. q level, or merchandise, intended 10
lo used in other time. or in other countries.
To chow ls Il what degree our currency is
d.preciated. come other currency should lie
IN the market and exclude it trcm the transac-
tions Of trida.o Or reduce il =, the necessity Of
entering the market at Il heavy dis count. 1t
ia not gold, COR gol! is IL" found current
amongst u.: it is no, the notes OF our banks,
for they are sccretcd with Almost the same
shyness as gold itself. What is it, then !? If
we are not mistaken, it is the currency OF
grossly exaggerated apprehensions about ones
own interest; and notions Of political economy
which are ,nisafpl;eG as 10 time and place.
We all know that, according to political
economy, paper currency is deprecated when
it is not convertible into gold. Such prin-
chile is recognized to be true when applied to
trade under known circumstances: but our
circumstances are such that no parallel to
them, in point Of fact, can be found in the
financial crisis either Of France nr England.
France or England, in their times Of trial,
wera noe cut Of from the rest Of mankind, as
we arc in every respect. We are the ouly ma
ton fighting for its independence that ever
was completely and -ntiftly thrown upon its
own resources: Our condition is almost that
Of four millions Of Robinson Crusocs attacked
and blsekat!ed by q mu"h larger Nunber of
millions Of savages aud foes. This confne
1ncnt Of an entire natioo, and the incipient
state Of our national industry, rive TO our
situation q peculiar character ne! 10 he found
in tho records IF history. THEY throw upon
intrinsic.l high prices almost rhe whole Of the
difference which exists between the prices a,
they are now aud what they used to be, that
,iifers..ae being tho same which others call
depreciation. If this is to be the word,
1T least lat it be explained. Thus,
we will say that in California and
Australia gold was deprecated when boots,