The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1871-01-26
WHY IS MONEY scARcEe

The Chicago Tribune, Republican,
but anti-protection, answers thisques-
ton very clearly and eonclusively in
the following article:
There is plethora of money in
New York. The banks are full, the
sub-treasury is full, and the brokers
and speculaters have more than they
know what to do with. The rates of
discount are easy and exchange on
Europe is down TO par. While this is
true of New Y ork, the case is reversed
at the West. We are short of money;
our banks are drainedaand exchanges
is scarce There are several causes
for this, but they are mosdYincidental
to the fact that we have purchased as
heavily as usual from the East, at I'M
diminished cost, while our shipment
of exchange products have been sold
at an average reduction from last years
prices. The balance against US we
have had to make good in cash. It is
a plain operation of natural law. Last
wear we exchanged commodities. This
year our productions were only worth
say, ninety cents on dollar compared
with last years prices, and having
purchased like amount this year, we
have been compelled to pay the differ
ence in money.
This brings the people of the entire
West to direct appreciation of the
effect of our tariff laws. We raise
grain, and provisions, and exchange
them for iron, cloth, glass and crock
cry, cotton and WOODEN goods. The
value of our productions is fixed by
the foreign market. The producer
can only receive the price paid in Liv-
erpooi, less the cost and charges for
transportation. If the foreign crops
be large, our prices recede and we
must sell at whatever prices rule du-
ring the season. But when we come
to purchase our supplies this rule is
versed. The strong arm of the law
is interposed, and we are compelled
to-pay prices fixed by a tariff. We
have no choice of markets. The Eng
lish merchant only buys American
grain when he cannot get other at
lower rates, and never pays farthing
beyond the price at which other grain
and provisions, he has the whole
world to choose in, giving, of course,
the preference to the countries that
ldhC AlS III 1OI
theirs. The result is that he only
deals with the United States upon
compulsion, and never when he can
get what he wants elsewhere. But
when we come to buy our iron, cotton
and woolen goods, glass, cutlery, boots
and shoes, the government interposes
and tells us we must do one of two
ngs--either buy what we want at
home, paying 60per cent. more than we
can get the same for elsewhere, or pay
fine of 60 per cent. for buying in
Europe. We have been submitting to
this outrage for SO many years that
most persons had settled down to the
belief that it was fixed policy, and
so long as prices of bread-stuffs re-
NAMED unchanged they paid no spec
ial attention to its operation. But the
fall in bread-stuffs brings the case
home to US in the most telling manner
The price of cotton and woolen goods
of iron, and of the necessaries ef life
which we have to buy remained fixed
by law. While the Englishman is al
liberty to buy, and does buy, all he
needs in whatever market he can OBJ
tain it cheapest, we have no choice.
The government has a Gordon OF
officers along the frontier to compel
us to buy at prices arbitrarily fixed by
law. We produce and send to Cadiz
| to Spain, slaves and headings, to the
value of S1,000000 annually. The
price of salt in Cadiz is about II cents
per hundred pounds. This shipment
of slaves and headings would, there
fore, purchase in Cadiz as many hun
dred pounds of Salt as twelve cents
are contained in 100000. But the
| government interposes and prohibits
! the exchange of slaves for salt, under
"a penalty of Is cents in gold, per 10(
ponnds. IF the shipper persists in
making the exchange, as he must do.
| or bring back his vessel empty, he
must lay aside Is cents in gold to pay
| the penalty for every twelve cents he
expends for salt, and, instead of bring
| ing home the value of his slaves in
salt, he brings back 100000 worth oil
that article, and 100000 in gold to
pay the tax thereon 5i-4l3 'ss4s
Producers of grain and provisions
are subjected to precisely the same
process. We send grain abroad, and
are compelled to take such prices as
we can obtain. If we send 81 600, ,00C
worth of bread-staffs to Liverpool,
| we are not permitted to purchase that
amount of cloth or other articles we
need, or, if we do, we must divide
our money, SO that for. every dollars
worth of goods we buy we shall have
from 60 to 80 cents in gold to pay the
penalty of making the purchase. If
as is the case now, the price of bread
stuffs has fallen, say 20 per cent, then
we must bear the whole loss of the
reduction, and have only $S00,000 to
purchase goods and pay the tax. 1855
Since 1868, in the short period OF
two years, the price of bread-stuffs
has declined 40 per cent. Under the
operation of the tariff we have to
produce 40 per cent. more IN 1870 to
purchase the same quantity of clothing
and hardware that we bought in 1869,
or we must, i'll addition to our crop,
forward 40 per cent. in cash. se We
have reached that point now. Taking
the average needs, of our people, in
clothing, furniture, iron, and all other
manufactured goods, to be the same as
in 1859, it requires 40 per cent. more
of our productions to purchase them
now than it did in 1869. The 40 cents
on the dollar has to be made good by
that much drawn from previous saw
ings. -a tEtoa =" 3lS u
Those who wonder why. it is that,
with our increased population and in
creased production, we are expending
all we earn, and in addition are COM
PEELED to eneroach upon our accumu-
lations, wil1ifnd the true explanation
in the fact that the prices of all we
have to buy are upheld and main
tanned by arbitrary enactments; and
we are compelled to sell what we pro-
duce for whatever we can get. If the
barriers which congress has erected
against our trading with the people
who buy our crops were removed; if
the law which confiscates so per cent.
of our earnings to subsidize were re-
pealed, we should find immediate re-
lief, and the property which is now
flowing away from us would remain
in tho hands of tho t,iUIsf fI11 oxuparr