Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-06-16

hurtful To doubtful money than the rivalry OF
manoy OF winch the value j. ui'diSguied. The
one il boarded ani kept back frum circulation.
while the other "fers itself ia abundance aud l.
thus dis .rediied
Like our own Congress. the Convention vainly
attempted impo-sibIIities by attempting TO pre-
vent IL. depreciation. Upon the m0iinn of some
J4css,in &ho answers 20 the Jscobin Line OF the
Federal Congress- the Convention. in April OF
that vear. decreed penalty Of SIX yeais impri
sonment against any person who should traffic az
the sale Of spece aud. 10 the same spirit. it de-
cree,i a punishment against any o:,e who asked
different prices for comm 'ditie> with reference TO
ia payment in -pecie oF as-ignsis.
THE KYFEcT OF TIE D. PROBATION
In September OF 1893 there Was in circulation
900 Uli0 ono francs IN ss-ignats--a sum equal
10 about $50 .bOU 900 lts value, as compared
10 specie. was IN proportion of six TO one IL
examining the effects OF this upon the people. We
fnd an almost similar state of ,hngs 10 that
vhich exists IN this country az the present time
While general production was not diminished.
sIld grain aud rag and wrought materials were
abundant. prices rose much TO produce
great distress, aud. IN many cases. famine among
the poorer classes Allison SAYS that Debtors
of every description FASTENED TO discharge their
obligations and the creditors compelled 10 &C
ceut paper at par which Was not worth a fifth, a
tenth, and, at last, not hundreth OF It's nominal
value. were derauded Of the greater part oil
their property.
The people inveighed bitterly against this state
OF affairs La speaking OF this. Theirs gives us
glance at French ''copperhe I'd couspiTaces" 20
raise the price OF gold De says:
The people inveighed bitterly against the
Stockholders, who. they said. raised the prices OF
goods by Specializing in assiguats. gold, silver.
h.
created m0usters, and every where discovered in
veieraie enemies. where there were only eager.
gamblers. profting by the evil. but not producing
10, ami most certainty not having the power TO
produce H."
This Is precisely the style Of the modern spec
ulatOrs and the "cOpperhead cOnspiracies' which
TO day keeps 40 the price of gold IN Wall street
The effect OF the depreciation was everywher
apparent Capital sts would not keep their funds
Ia the form of asslgnats, because. when in that
for m they constantly wasted away; and a. the
only resource LETT. they sought 20 invest in for
eign securities To procure these securities they
gave enormous prices. ami thus still further de-
preciated the sssignats The gu, eminent having
declared m ximum price for grain. which wac
subsequently, extended 10 all articles shop keep
efs either shut up shop and refused to sell, or else
kept very poor article. which they sod openly
ut the mgrimum price. aud superior ore. which
they sold secretly aud At high figures Cipiral
| became stagnant. and finally sought activity in
speculations ut the Stock Exchange.
have ~ present. in this country. many such
operations A. the following, described by nm en-
nrut French writer Speaking OF these specu-
lators, he says:
Having their capital ready. they procured
specie before the rise and M soon 40 IL hid risen
| la COMPARISON with the as-ignats. they exch anged
il for the latter. They had. oil course, greater
quan'ly. aud a. merchandise had not time TO
ri-e too. with this greater quantity of assignat-
they bought greater quantity OF merchandise
aud sold il again when the saIce het " e, n then,
~ns re-tored. Their pnrt consisted in holding
cash or merchandise while one or the other rose
| ~ preference To- the as-ignst. They prnf'ed b,
all the accidents that could produce these iuctu-
atOns--a motion. "A false report Thee
lei dissolute lite With actresses aud CT decaRt
nuns
This hint ~ deb,uchery among these men ap
plies equally we'll to the modern shoddy patriot
AMI Others of his class
According Allison. the French Bourse ~
crowded with advettuters at every description
WIN sumelines m,de enormous gains. and pass
ell lite OF deb ,uchery with abandined women :
aud this Is true Of the stock gamblers OF OUT
larger cities.
Many at the members Of the ,tionnl Conven
ton not only speculate largely in stocks but also
lived publicly with mi-ttesses; which c-cnm
stance also hnds parallel in modern DAYS in our
own capital
THE AssloNATs RALLY.
Before the cl"se OF the year the National Con.
venlion hal ,sken a course ~hirh. for shpr
tme. brought the assienat neArly 10 a seeming
par with spe,ie. Among these operations was n
forced loan from the rich. by which thou sand
million assigndts were retired from circulation
Stringent acts prevented people from boar ting
specie. aud they began finally 10 be afr,id 10 keep
Il; aud there was. ~ consequence. demand Tor
the assgnNt tor daily use Stock-joDbing. me
naced by he guilloinc, was fiuslly stopped for
egn paper WAS no longer allowed to circulate:
the India Company WAS suppressed: so that final
". for limited time the assignat was appar
emily on par. simply. however. because specie
WAS not tolerated. aud because government
liked the maximum price upon all articles Such
state OF things could not long last and there
soon came a change
TIE AssIGNArs co DOWN AGAIN.
The temporary value given to assignats by the
forced loan and other measures. including the
terrible laws which rendered the possession OF
traffic IN specie 20 dangerous ouly afforded relief
Tor short time. la the tegnning OF the next
year. 1874. the sum total of the issues was
doubled. lnJuue ofihu yer the entire amount
IN circulation was about 1000 ,OO0 ,O0O lsancsY
This year the arms of the Republic we're every
where victorious. and vet the assigna,s went
down ~ an eighth oi their nominal value
In March. 1875. there we're some {. 0nD, 900 900
assignats ia circulation, which passed at one
twelfth their nominal value Two months later
Government having abolished the m xmum AMI
allowed as>ignats TO take the natural course.
they declined With rapidty. Stock obbing sni
other specu'siions ragged with gre ter violence
than ever Speculation went to al lengths
Says Thers
with the horrors of scarcity. the scandal OF
unbounded gambling Was combined The gam
blers bought gonds. which rising in relation 10
the ns-ignat With singular raphiity. increased in
value In their hands. and procured them IN ie~
momcn,s considerable profit 1 hese were
articles which were sold and rcsold = ,hnu-snd
times without ever being remoyed, People even
specnlaied with What they did no, pos-e-s They
bought commodity OF seller. who had il not
nut WIN engaged Ia deliver IL a. a specified time
When that time arrived. The seller could not de-
liver IT, but he paid the difference between the
prize "a which he sold and the current price of
the d,y IL the commnditv had risen He re-
ceved thpi difference IL il had fallen"
Saws Allison OF this period;
The r,piiity OF the decline OF the assignst
gave rise TO numerous speculaiiOns on the ES-
change Of Paris: mud the people. Ia the midst OF
The horrors OF famine. were exa-perttei bv the
sight OF fortunes made cut OF The misery which
thev endured
These things With only sufficient alteration ~
10 locality, might haye been written of New