The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1874-05-15
NECESSARY INITIATION.

! thoughtful and worth caretu
! perusal:
That a large proportion of tn
: American people believe it essen
. tial to the interests of the countr,
, to increase the volume of pape
money cannot be denied. Bust
ness is not lively, and manufac
turing interests are not as prosper
Gus as desirable. Railroads ar,
also suffering, and speculation il
everything and everywhere is dull
In Wall street, fancy stocks de
elined when the Imitation" bill
passed Congress, and they declin
ed still further when the Presiden
vetoed that measure. The pros
pect of the so-called imitation die
not enliven trade, nor has the veto
affected it one way or the other
There is something the matter, nc
doubt; but what that something
is is the question. Is it scarcity
OF currency? Money is not scarce
in England, yet trade is dull there
Money is not scarce in Berlin
trade is dull there also. There is
an abundance of ir-edeemable pa
per money in Vienna, but business
is dull in Austria. Money is
cheap in the United States, still
business is not satisfactory. The
temporary dullness that prevails
IN all the commercial and manu-
featuring countries of the world
is causing an accumulation of idle
capital at all the financial centers.
There is trouble, and because of
this trouble capital is timid, and
much of it therefore idle. To at
tribute the prevailing inactivity to
a scarcity of currency, therefore,
must be a mistake. If currency
were really scarce, loanable funds
could not be plenty, as they are in
Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London,
New York and Cincinnati.
Another evidence of the super
abundance of money is the high
price paid for undoubted securi-
ties. United States skies are sell
ing at 118 to 12O. That is to say,
bonds bearing six per cent. inter
est in gold, equal to 81 in curren-
cy, sell at a premium, excluding
accrued interests, of Is to Is per
cent. These investments net 81
per cent. in currency. Now, if
money were scarce, as is alleged
would people loan it at 81 per
cent? II ordinary business were
attractive, would not idle capital
be used in the channels of trade
rather than invested in bonds at
3 per cent? The fact that gov
eminent securities are very high
is conclusive evidence that more
paper money is Aot the medicine
the patient needs. Trade needs
strengthening, but for this an ex-
ira dose of psper money would
not avail nor would an extra
supply of gold, if that were our
currency, avail. Berlin and Lon
don have gold in abundance, but
there is a depression in those
countries as there is IN this.
Even gold medicine, therefore,
would not be effective.
When we say, then, that infla-
ton is necessary, VIC do not refer
to paper money or money of any
kind. Nor can the imitation that
is needed be afforded by banks or
by Congress. Legislation cannot
give the relief that is needed. If
Congress could make trade active
and create a demand for articles
that are not wanted, and give bus
mess to railroads and steamboats,
that are only partly employed,
and put up prices of speculative
securities, it would no doubt do
so, but it cannot. 1t might be in
flating the currency and thus de-
preciating its value and impairing
confidence in its soundness, create
a furry in the market for a while,
but this could not last, and the re-
lapse would only make the situa-
tion worse.
The imitation that we refer to is
the Imitation Of the crops. This is
what is needed, and to the farmers
of the United States, we must
look for relief. Congress cannot
relieve the farmers, but farmers
can, with a favorable season, re-
lieve the country.
England imported last year food
to the value of flee hundred mil
lion dollars. That hurt. OF that
the United States supplied large
proportion. Had we produced
more we might have exported
more. The heavy demand from
abroad, coupled with inadequate
supplies, put prices up in our mar
kets, and food is now dear in all
the markets of this country.
This shows that there is a de-
ficiency, and the high prices show
that we have lived and traded be-
yond our means, and here lies the
difficulty. We have consumed too
much and produced too little.
Agriculture underlies all other
interests, and upon the prosperity
of this branch depends the pros
perity of all other branches.
Hard times are sure to follow
short or inadequate crops. Every
bushel Of grain or pound of meat
produced is so much added to the
wealth of the country, while paper
money is not wealth but the rep
resentatiVe of something else. II
the issue of paper money is in
excess of the wealth it ought to
represent, it is to that extent q
sham and q fiction. Congress
may create paper money, but pro-
ducers only can accumulate
wealth. The latter is what is
wanted, then, and not the former,
and for that we must look to the
hardy sons of toll and not to the
non-producers who compose the
Congress of the United States.
Those, therefore, who depend
upon good crops for q revival of
business rest their hope upon q
solid foundatin, while those who
think more paper money the right
medicine will be disappointed.
The imitation Of the crops being
in our opinion the true remedy, it
is encouraging to notice that the
wheat crop promises well, and that
the ground occupied shows an in
crease, generally, of eight to ten
per cent. as compared with last
year. Farmers are now planting
other crops, and every acre they
add to the area, as compared with
last year, will be 50 much toward
the relief of the country, II
every farmer would plsnt "just one
acre more it would accomplish
tor the country what can not be
secured by legislation, or the most
learned discussion of financial
problems.