The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-01-19
Governors Message.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
CHARLESTON, January ID, 1875.

Gentlemen Of he Senate ,p,La ANNA.
dadot he House 81 Dslegdtes:
You assemble mt time Of general de.
preston in business, and although you
can do nothing by legislation, to mitigate
the evils incident to this state Of affairs,
vet in communicating to you the Condi.
ton Of the State, rs required by the Con-
.tilution, | cannot ignore a fact 80 far.
reaching in its effects. The best minds Of
the country have inquired into the causes
Of and remedy for this prostration Of
business, but have reached widely differ
emit conclusions. Tho cause Is certain.
ly not to be found in the dimi-
mutton Of the productions Of the
country, for the farmer, manufacturer,
and miner have from year to year gradu-
ally increased their products. This waA
especially the case in our own State dur
Ing the past year, where the crops have
been abundant, and mining and mnnulac..
turing facilities have been enlarged. And
II Is a matter OF Congratnlation, and ut
the same time an evidence OF the SUBJ
stantial basis and conservative character
of the business OF the State, that there
have been few, II any failures among our
manufacturers, bankers and commercial
men, Notwithstanding the general I'M
satisfactory condition OF financial affairs.
Are we to trace the financial depression
to falling of in the accustomed demand
for the articles produced, or in other
words, to the want Of the usual market
II ia n fact that the demand for tho va.
riOns articles that make the wealth Of the
country, has declined, and many hold to
the opinion that this wunt Of demRnd IL
wholly due to IN insufficient supply Of
money; that the circulating medium Of
the country is not large enough to effect
the exchanges between producers and
consumers, and hence stagnatiOn in bIsi'
ness. Their remedy Is simply 10 enlarge
the volume OF currency by additional Is
sues Of paper currency. y
The amount Of money that may bC
needed at any given time Gun never be ne
rnralely estimated; itsquantity and value
arcgoverned by thesanIc rules that apply
to I'LL other things Of value. The com.
merce Of the world supplies II where It Is
insufficient, and takes II away when In ex.
ress. Commerce alone can regulate and
adjust the relations between itsSupply and
demand.
Legislation can neither create money,
nor for a long period disturb itsnatural
relations, or establish artificial yalucs.
The civilized world has accepted gold and
silver as current money, ind no single
government can substitute anything else
Tor them No matter what cxpedients
may temporarily he rGsorted to, incOurAe
Of time all market values must be esti.
mated In tho precious metals; they CON
stitutu the standard by which all wealth
L. measured, and paper currency Whether
issued by banks or governments, cannot
escape the memorable, inevitable rule Of
being measured by this standard.
Therefore, no stable financial system can
exist that has not gold and silver for its
foundation; and any policy that may be
adopted, must look to this end. How
Mia object Is to be accomplished without
Injustice to the debtor Cla0s, is the grave
problem that 10 yet to be solved by tho
country. ...--..,
conceive, however, that our present
evils must be traced to more remote
causes. The necessities Of the general
government during the late civil war
compelled II 10 issue large number Of
lie notes to circulate as money, and IN
order TO compel their acceptance ny tlle
people, Il made them legal tender tof
debts, public and private. They were not
rcdeemablc in specie in any definite
time, and this became practically an en-
forced loan. The national bank notes
were subsequently Issued indirectly IliI
substantially for the sane purpose. The
enormous mass u these two classes Of
notes was far too great to BIO absorbed ny
the regular and legitimate business o.
the country. The consequence was not
only a rapid rise in the prices Of oil
property and commodities, but with :
large surplus Of currency aiioat tle
spirit Of speculation became rife. Men
under Inc bewildering and bcwitcliinG
hope Of suddenly acquiring colossal Tor
tunes, projected vast schemes, which II
ordinary times would require the acct
INFLATED MEANS OF many years labor Y
execute. The ordinary pursuits Of liz
sympathized with the speculative. spirit
people were not content with the allow &c
modes Of securing competence or wealth
and embarked In holder enterprises
Speculative Investments not only thu
Kent pace with the large issues Of cur
rehcy, and absorbed II from time tC
time, but ultimately went far beyond aht
sought still larger means by borrowing
abroad, Under these circumstances TIL
country seemed to make rapid strides II
wealth; IN decade Its resources mp
peared almost doubled, notwithstanding
the existence OF devastating war Bu
II IL too often forgotten that in the mean
time vast debts, national, state, county
municipal, corporate and individual
we're accdmulating. And II an actoun
were stated with the increase OF wealth
on one aide and its Indebtedness on tht
other, | fear the balance shown would M
accord with current opinions.
But the time came when there were NJ
more Issues Of paper currency, and wher
no more money could be borrowed; thu
utmost limit Of credit had been reached
reckless speculation then first received
check; artificial values, created ~ II By
magic began to disappear, and the ital
fabrics Of business founded upon suel
values toppled over and fell with a crash
But 40 interviewer arc all human affair
that the shock which shivered these mer,
visionary speculntiOns, was felt il al
channels Of regular and Legitimate bust
ness, and affected them more or less dis
astrously M they were dependent updl