The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1873-12-02
THE FINANCIAL SITUATION.
.-. LITER III.

Aside from tho inexpedieney AID i'm
probability Of a present resumption OF
cash payments, considered wholly apart
from the i'll and wishes Of the people, 1t
10 perfectly certain that the will and
wishes Of the great majority Of the peo-
pie are decidedly against resumption.
These intuitions are better thaa the elab-
crate conclusions OF the financial philoso-
pliers, Of whom the great Napoleon said.
THAT IL his empire had been made of
granite, these would have ground il into
powder.
Though it be quite impossible to deny
the evils which flow from the use Of ire
dsemable paper, We wisely enough shrink
from mourning those other and greater
evils which must result from those meas
ures Of violence which must VI necessity
prscsde resumption, il it be immediate, or
even 10 the near future. When the snor.
nous taxation pressing upon tho people is
reduced, for all purposes, from its present
yearly sum Of At least nine hundred mil
lions, TO four hundred millions, when tho
vast army Of tax-gatherers 10 disbandcd,
and . real republican economy is prsc.icsd
10 ell departments Of the public service,
both state and federal-then,
and not until then, can
cash payments DO resumed without
widespread suffering and disturbance.
But il paper money is attended with
great evils, it has also performed great
services. In ancient times NJ 10 modern
IL has saved states from invasion
and ruin. The contest between
Rome and Carthage was determined
by . sudden expansion Of the currency
at Rome IN . system of credit, and tho
government contracts were discharged IN
paper. SO rays Livy. Some of the
greatest struggles between European ma
tions in the past century have boen de-
cidsd by an extension OF the paper crcu-
istion. The as,ignsts saved France from
her invaders Q7s2-l7ei). The indepen-
dsnce OF the United States was effected
BY the use o: paper. Tho stay of Eng
land during the French revolutionary and
Napoleonic wars was paper money. The
sovsrsigns OF Europe in ls,s,i issued on
joint security paper notes which were cur
rent not only throughout Europe, but even
in Asia; and we're enabled by their use to
crush Napoleon. (See the Decree Of tho AL
lied Sovereigns, dated At Peterswsldon,
SsKony, September 3Oth, 1872 In Spain,
during the Peninsulsr war, Wellington
was reduced to dreadful straights for want
Of money, but his paper notes
carried hun on. Without fur
Their multiplying ins:ance', we may
see its powerful effects, when it is sde-
quately guaranteed and is uniform in its
value, by referring to the history Of our
own people. From tho adoption OF the
constitution in 1889 to 1864 period O,
seventy ysars-the accumulated public
wealth reached sixteen thousand millions
Our monetary systems were, during thos,
three score and ten years, fuctuating anC
vicious; and the current money Of tn
country WAS in bad or uncertain credi.
But from isei 1t has been steady and uni
form in valve, and, although We sufTere,
vast losses by reason Of war, the incress
In the public wealth in the decade endin,
1870 was not less than ten thousand mil
lions here deluc,ing four thou,An
millions from the estimate made BY III
able and careful superintendent
census, Gen. Francis A. Wake
This 10 . very Astonishing fac. probsbl
unprecedented in the history OF nation
No doubt there has been great corrup,io,
but would the corruption have been 10
under . strictly cash.psying money ~
TEN The English financial system h
been . paper cusrsncy constantly CONVEX
IDLE into coin, but there have been Il
fearful psnics since 1925, -"due," %
AcGilbsrt ("The Principles and Prscti,
Of Banking p 1853 ito many distin
causes. Thus, the panic Of 1875, HI
been sscribsd to anticipated profits c
working foreign mines; tina, Of 49,
chiefly 70 tho rapid extension
Joint stock banks that OF lsi
TO excessive railway un iertakings tba,
1857 10 reckless overriding; and the les
that Of 1856 (maiuiy due 70 mistaken G,
innate Of the advantages OF the Llmits
Liability Act, which led to the too rspi
formation Of financial companies) b,
been styled banking panic. But altho'
ts true that each issue Of the Kind is 1
large part produced BY . distinct proxj
ms.a cause, yet the primary cause OF esc
and oil 10 inordinats speculation bsgo,,e
Of the lust OF gold. Men are Ia haste /
b rich. Honest