The Grange advance., 1874-04-29
L Curious Problem that 6omobely
Must Solve.

M0Ot 0V1VOs
Every body says, and what every body
seys must be true, that the whole Nation il
suffering from the effects Of panic. The
newspapers tell Us that throughout the
Eastern States, that tens if not hundreds
OF thousands of workmen of all classes are
thrown out Of employment, have suffered
and are still suffering from privatio4 apd
want. !
A panic is not an unusual th{se among
us. When gold was the measure of values,
and men, not contented with sound cur
reney based upon gold, multiplied banks
to furnish vitiated currency for Wild ad =
ventures, Of course these spurious concerns
always gave way sooner or later. bringing
loss and ruin upon all who placed trust in
them.
But why the country should suffer q
Prostration Of business At this time, when
1T is flooded with sort of National paper
money from one end to the other, with the
rates of interest continually diminishing is
strange problem.
Twelve years ago the rates Of interest in
st. Paul ranged from two to FIVE per cent
per month, now it may be had on long
loans at 10 per cent. per annum, in New
York at five and six per cent. Notwith-
standing this decrease in the price of money
there is no spirit Of enterprise Business
is not actually at stand still, but it drags
heavily as if it carried with it feeling of
uncertainty.
Here are questions men should ponder
over. Is it because the currency is not re-
deemable, and in consequence always con-
siderably below par? Did any people ever
prosper with a deprecated currency as a
medium Of exchange? The Romans tried
it in the Decadence, which fastened their
ruin. The French tried debasing their
coin, which overwhelmed the nation with
disasters. The English also tried it with
such evil effects that the step was speedily
retraced. Napoleon the First found
France flooded with paper money which he
removed as quickly as possible, rettoting
the circulation Of gold and silver. France,
Of to-day, has just paid Prussia 1 sum equal
to our war debt, never changing her ME-
talic currency, and yet France has had no
panic. ~~
If the evil Of stagnation in business is
not discovered to arise from deprecated
currency, perhaps it may be found to grow
out Of excessive speculation, and as an aid
to the comprehension Of the subject, it may
not be amiss to examine the subjoined re-
marks Of an earnest statesman:
Whenever an imitation occurs, such as
has taken place, the first rise in price takes
place in stocks, worthless and otherwise 4;
the stocks upon the market in Wall street,
that are shuttlecocked between the battle
doors Of the "bulls - and "bears" The
next thing to rise in the country is personal
property, fabrics that men can speculate in
and the operations in which can be closed
within brief periods. The next property
to rise is city lots and rents Of every de:
scription. You see your city property
figuring magnifcently on the assessment
rolls, and men spending their anticipated
AASOAASo avn VAC ACuLo VI SuCu P1VPCIty.
The next thing that rises in price is labor.
The last Of all that rises is agricultural
lands.
Now mark what the census tells u.s. In
1860 there were thirteen hundred thousand
people engaged in manufactures in this
country. The wages paid to them amounted
to about $378, ,OOO, 900. In dealing with
figures give round numbers. and do not
pretend to be entirely accurate. because
am speaking from recollection. The capi-
tai stock Of the manufacturing establish
ments of the United States was about
$1,000, 100000, the product was $500,
100000, and will say that during that
year our exports were much larger than
our imports. We were exporting Of cotton
fabric, about $12,000,0OO, believe, ITO
China
In 1870 there were about two MILLIONS of
people engaged in manufacturing. tThey
received about SIZE, 600, 900 in wal hes. In
other words. about so per sept. more were
engaged in the business Of fm&nufaetures
than in 1860, and they received about
double the wages. The capitol used in
this manufacturing business WIS about s.,
Ion, 600, 900. One would suppose that the
product would be about SO per cent. GER
tainly not m<re than" Is per cent, above
that Of 1860; but the product, instead of
being ST., 800, 600. 900, was So, zoo, ,OOO, 600.
or nearly $50 per cent. more than in 1860.
This increase was in the price Of the pro-
duct and not the quantities produced.
These figures seemed to show extraordi-
nary prosperity in the manufacturing in
terests; but the panic Of September dis
PEELED the illusion. The tremendous super
structure Of credit upon which this appar-
ent prosperity rested was based on too