New-York tribune., 1869-06-19

and
larger quantity than ne is able to pay for a III
many would like to obtain them on credit and 80"
for them out Of the proceeds Of future harvos,s
earnings. Such people have little money al tho o.
set and very little produce to spare for years WIZ
with to procure more their labor being larooI,
if not mainly. devoted to clearing away for.
building, fencing. &C., which yield no instant saI.
BILE, exportable return. The more rapid the Orou,.r
of such community the stronger its tendero, :.
send away its scanty stock of Money in EXCHANGE o.
metals wares fabrics, Of which it is in constant ana
pressing need Hence, the ability Of its baDks 70
banks it has, to maintain specie payments il OFF,
sorely tried and unless they be managed with gna,
probty and crcumspection, will sometimes be ovo.
borne. If Paper Money be forbidden by its laws IN
terest will rule high, usury will devOur the substano
of its masses and the sheriff and the constablsL ~
constantly at work among them, selling propertv a,
heavy sacrifice, and paying debts in runons
fashion through the medium of judgments and execu
tions There are counties in this State whose Mon
GERS wrestled forty years with the great forests which
formerly enveloped them, suffering meantime senou,
intellectual as well as physical priyations, which
might have been triumphed over in half the tims
had they they been fairly supplied with Money or
could they even have borrowed it on ample seeur;tv
| and at reasonable rates of interest
Now it does not suffice TO say that what they need
| ed was not merely Money, or a medium Of exchange
but Capital for they suffered from want Of Money
independently of their lack Of Capital The farmer.
the wheelwright. the manufacturer of woOden-ware
&C., each having his scanty available capital in.
vested in the implements Of his industry or
the products of his own labor, are often exposed
| to great difficulty and delay in exchanging what
| each has to spare for what he most needs be.
cause of the dearth of Money. And it is hard
1 ho,r; fra1 otI Al.
| are beginning TO produce somewhat TO sell, 50 as
satisfy their most urgent needs to be obliged to give
considerable part of it for counters for such the
use of Money as Money wherewith TO effect their
exchanges Hence the utility aud the pOpularityiR in
such communities of well managed Banks and ther
i~a1es
i'1 I,,,n.t a., - - General and deeply grounded
| hold tnat the ven T.ods ryho,.h
depreciation of an adverse Balance 0, "N''eg .
Money is carried out of the country and its rel1.-
precluded, is sound and wholesome. The evil con.
temned may not be clearly apprehended-the pOpu.
lar instinct may not find adequate or accurate e1.
preston yet the uncultured masses are on thshead
| wiser than the philosophers who have graciously
condescended to illumine their darkness and dspel
their vulgar prejudices 1t is not well for anation to
buy more year after year. than it's surplus products
will nav for; it is not we'll to import uxuries and
fripperies that perish in the using" and export
specie, or bonds, or any kind Of mortgages on pos
| terity, to pay for them. The nation which per-
ssts in so doing inevitably plays the part of prodi
gal and nyokes the heayen-sent penalties of cupabe
folly The dissertations of the Free Trade econom-
lists in contravention Of this truth conditions
which do not exist, and pummel men Of straw Of
their own creation. To my mind they miss point
! entirely.
Bastiat says:i
be much or little cash in the world II there mneh
much Is required II there Is itte little IS wanted iOt
| each transaction. That's ALL
Mill says:S
"The uses Of Money are in respect promoted by IN.
creasing the quantity which exists and crculaes in
country the service which IT performs being as wel
rendered by small as by large aggregate amount"
Now have misread history If the steady dminu.
ton of the aggregate of Money circulating IN the
Roman Empire through the constant, insensble
draining off of Specie to India and China in payment
for their Silks Spices and other luxuries coveted by
the rich was not among the most potent causes Of the
decay and ultimate downfall of that colossal fabric
And am sadly in error if the rapid and vast aug
mentatiOn, after the discovery of America by Coum
bus, of the volume of Gold and Silver circulating
throughout Europe did not powerfully conspre with
other causes to improve the condition of the masses
to increase their comfort intelligence, energy,
power. throughout the civilized world.
But the real matter in debate is not touched by the
assumption that the instant humiliation Of half the
money in The worId would be no calamity-the half
that remained answering every purpose, performing
every function, that the whole now does True /
demur to this proposition; but dissent still more
strongly from the constant assumption of the Free
Trade economists that for country part with hall
its Gold and Silver in payment for foreign fabrcscan
work that country no serious harm. They say, The
bushel Of grain that formerly cost dollar now sells
for half dollar butt the rural days work that for.
merly commanded dollar now costs but half dol.
lar Likewise; and so with everything else: hence
(except to debtors) the change wrought Is nominal
only; who is harmed by tl'
Ianswer Great damage accrues to all the indus.
trious and thrifty but especially the workers for
wages, when, through whatever cause paJuat "a
money is generally sUpTsoded by payment in commodities
that is in farm produce, store orders dc, DC And
this change almost uniformly follows natural re-
suit rapid and serious diminuIion Of the volume Of
the currency.
My distinct personal recollections on this head 60
back to the period of industrial arrangement busi'
ness collapse, and widespread pecuniary rnn'
which closely followed the close, in lS5, Of our Last
War with Great Britain. Peace found this country
dotted with furnaces and manufactures which had
suddenly grown up. during the few last preceding
years under the precarous shelter of Embargo and
War. These-nOt yet fairly established, in country
whose commerce was almost wholly external or con-
fined to the seaboard-Steam navigation being yet
in its infancy, and canals or railroads unknown
among us-found themselves suddenly exposed toa
determined and reSstless competition from abroad
Great Britain under the egis of her vast naval ariaa
ments, had pushed her fabrics into almost every
corner of ASIA Africa, South America. and the Isles
of the sea, meeting no competition but from lne
nrodnets of the rndest and most ineicent barbaran