The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1865-03-11
uev . Contract The Currency.

IN the pI09cut NSkJSCt Va An0 A0axACcs VA
bur National Government, there Is much
cause, paradoxlcal as it may seem to say
10. both for ccngratulation and for well-
bonded alarm. On the one hand, the
il bursting with wealth: almost
every branch Of business yields large prof
its manufactures were never more pros. |
porous; there is abundant employment,
though heavier rates of taxation have been
than any person, four years
300, could have dreamed Of, Heavier even I
than in Great Britain, which has long been
the Issachar Of natione, STOPPING under
double andreven triple weights tho peo-
ole have submitted to them not only with.
out u murmur, not only with cheerful and
coutended faces, bnt loudly called on
Congress 10 increase them. il necessary. !
Enormous as the burden Oft four years
civil war has been, God be thanked tnat
our countrymen have Deen aole ana Will
ing stoutly to shoulder it and march on
with as even and rapid . tread As II 1t were
only feathers weight Nv We nav nave Roolea
3 good deal more 10 bes.ow before either
can he expended.
On the other hand. We are sunk almost
to the chin in the waters Of depreciAted
currency. Having lost our hold on the
firm ground of q specie standard almost at
the outbreak of the war, We are now drifted
far away with the tide, with no land in
sight. with no chart or compass to show
little on the crest of awave, and then sink
ing deeper than ever In the hollow-and
content 70 learn. with the coming of each
successive morn, that we are not actually
and totally submerged. The greatest mis-
fortune az all is the general unconcern
with which this perilous state Of affairs is
viewed. md the numerous illustrations by
which it IL surrounded. Our people have
been made reckless by the very magnitude
Of the struggle in which they are engaged,
by the greatness Of the sacrifices 1t re-
ouires OF them. and by the invincibleress
OfihA il determination to do ana endure Hi
in order TO bring it to successive issue.
Under the Influence. OF stcn ieenngs, TOO
many OF them are disposed 10 shut their
ewes TO any teedlessness in the conduct of
the finances, though on tie proper man
agement of them nearly as much, perhaps
ae on the valor and proper guidance Of our
armies in the field, our ultimate success
depends. Others are over-sanguine IL
respect to those tokens OF general prosper
i.7 to which have Just alluded. forgetting
tina. the depreciation OF the currency
proves that q portion at least OF this pros
perity IL fictitious, Vast fortunes have
been made through the lavish expendi-
lures of the war, and by the great rise in
nominal value of stocks Of commodities on
hand. Many persons reso deluded q TO
count their wealth thus obtained IN dollars.
But they are wrong; they ought to reckon
it only a. so many sAalf.dollars; for the
paper dollar with which all goods are
bought, all values estimated, and all pay
naents made, il now Wnrth less that fifty
cents in coin. And the delusion, if it can
be called one, on the part of the Govern
ment is still worse. Though all ito receipts
from loans are in paper dollars, on some
what the larger portion OF them it has Gov
enanted to pay interest in gold dollars,
worth twice AS much, and has thereby
voluntarily doubled the rates Of interest
against itself. Az the whole loan must be
repaid at some future day in specie, or its
equivalent, it is now actually binding
that it borrows; and this, too, on q debt
already 90 great that the industry Of our
children. and perhaps Of our chiidren's
children, may be said to be mortgaged for
its repayment. Il 10 the Governments
own act which has deprecated the curren-
cy t,' this sad extent, thereby doubling the
price of all commodities, both those which
are needed in vast amounts for its own
services, and those which are consumed
by every private family in the land. BY
the same act 1t is deeply wounding its own
credit in the money market, both at home
and abroad, and materially lessening its
facilities for borrowing, lust at the time
the last eight or ten months, We have run
into debt twice as much as would have
been necessary if the currency haG been
kept within proper limits. At least two
hundred and nifty millions of dollars have
thus been virtually thrown away, being
double the amount that would have been
necessary, or il even now required, TO
bring down the premium on gold to about
one-ionrth ofits present amount.
freely admit that the first stop, TO which
some have wrengly attributed all these un-
happy consequences, was unavoidable, and
would have peen laudable and polite
act. even il it had not been necessary. The
suspension of specie payments In Decem-
her, 1861, was an Indispensable preparation
And -. .1 probabie long duration Of which were
then Just beginning to be recognized. The
immediate result Of the Suspension was to
Give steadiness to the course Of trade, and
10 relieve the country from the danger OF
sudden panics and violent perturbations
in it's finances. II also released two humid
& red and fifty Mullins Of specie from earcn.
eum. without interest, to the nation's re-
sources. Unhappily, the currency which
!, was to take the place Of this specie was Is
sued in excess: instead Of two hundred and
fifty or three hundred millions, which
might have been borne without any iDJu-
rious depreciation, over four hundred mil
large amounts Of legal tender Treasury
notes were added, under the unfounded
expectation that, as they bore interest, they
would not pass into general circulation.
and therefore would not aaect prices. o.
coarse, time was reQuiled before these
large issnes could be put forth and produce
their due effect by permeatins every artery
, and vsinsof the Commercial organism. It
w. lomeeaRo remarked that currency and
prices do not ct once find, but are always
seeking their level. Throughout 1852 the
d6prsc1ation was moderate, hardly ever
rising to 90 per cent. and most Of the time
heine far below this amount. Even in 1855
Il did not become alarming TN The autnmn
vhen eold reached s. per cent. advance.
Even then the evi might have been stayed
By s very moderate contraction Of the our
rsncy, and the gold prsminm might have
auctuated. seldom exceeding 80 per cent.
for rnany years, . il did IN England after
tho bsnf suspendsd specie psZmsnts' dur ss
Ing the long confess ~ ~ ~ ch, aas
did The uaiechief. Under the stimulus Of