Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-03-19

We print in another column Of ,hi.

issue communication from " ~. \
e." Of Moline, Illinois, on the sub.
ject Of the currency. 1t il temper
ate and Ingenious letter, and entities
the writer to the courtesy Of a refu.
tation Of his arguments If they are
mistaken or false. We pass over The
brief history Of the war, graphically
sketcfed by IN. Y. e." and come
directly to his first position, namely,
that in september last we had cur
rency of sl7.79 per cdpita against
1870 per- capita In 1861, "Uith far
6etter .)aciiities for making erchanges
no,o than then" No conclusion Is
deduced from this premise, but the
implied Inference IL obvious, name
Is: thatas we had a larger per cdIita
In 1873 than In 1861, we bad enough
In 1873. Now the volume OF the cur
rency Of country must not be made
TO depend whollyeupon population,
bat to certain extent upon popula-
ton, wealth and business. What
were the facts IN regard to the wealth
and business of the United States In
1861, as conpared with 1873? Its
wealth IN 1861, in round numbers,
was 4l5, 600, D00, 900, while In 1873 II
hid risen to $37, 100000, 900, repre-
3enting an increase Of fWo hundred
aud mn per cent. That the increase
in the volume OF business was In the
ratio Of the increase OF wealth, Is n
fair conclusion so that against per
cdpHo increase of circulation OF Uttrty
per cent, we have an increase Of
business of two hundred and fifty
per cent.
Our correspondent cites Webster
To show the evils OF a." disordered
currency" and refers to tho incre ase
Ia the volume Of currency In 1897,
1917, and 1857, ~ the canse Of the
money pan lie and commercial revo-
luton OF each Of those years, in Illus
tration OF his position. The curren-
cy Of those periods Is rightly describ-
Oh AS " usordered," for in neither
instance was it good in the hands Of
the holder. Particularly il this true
OF 1857. The money Of that period
was Il specie basis currency, promis-
Ing redemption, but violating the
promise, aud leaving the bill holder
to pocket loss Of from one TO u hun
dred per cent. The cases cited are
not parallel TO our present situation,
with greenbaek and national bank
currency absolutely secure, and
therefore furnish no guide to sou-
ton OF tire pending problem. IN.
Y. r." says: fhe history Of prev
ivus commercial revulsions In this
country proves that It Is not contract
cd currency but expanded credit that
CAUSES then.p Undoubtedly it is
expanded credit that causes them"
bat 1t il well settled that contracting
the currency causes an expansion Of oil
other credits. The larger the volume
ofeurrency, the larger the aggregate
Or cash transactions, aud by conse-
81 uence the smaller volume Of inferi-
or on bank and commercial credits.
In 1865 we commenced TO contract
our currency. AS the currency was
Withdrawn the volume OF other
credits was expanded. This IL strik-
ingiy shown by the loans and dis
counts Of tile national banks. In 1865
they aggregated sis7 ,0DO,0O0 but In
1873 they had risen to 1914 1000, 900.
OF course, AZ bank loans and dis
counts Increased in volume, all other
forms OF credit were likewise expand
ed. All interest is a tax on the bus
mess OF the borrower. Estimating
tho average rate Of interest AT eight
per cent, the business of the country
WIS paying nearly s40,00O,oOO more
interest 10 the taqks atoae In 1878
Than In 1866. Ii the interest calcuia-
ton be extended SO as to cover the
expansion Of credits in every branch
OF commercial andl industrial enter
prise. IL will appear TINT the tax paid
by labor aud traffic to capital, in the
shape OF interest, during the contrac-
ton period from 1866 TO 1873 was
sufficient to cripple every industry. !
From these facts it will be seen how
erroneous IL the conclusion that cit
" not IN unusual scarcity Of the cir
e;sias'ag medium which produces
nancs, and that credits expand with
every expansion Of the currency"
Nothing Is more certain than that |
contracting the CURRENCY OF a country |
tends 10 consolidate its wealth---to |
make the rich richer aud the poor
poorer. With small volume of
t,f,yrpflcv. tsinital may make liza nsyf /