, 1875-08-07

two yours after issue, they wcro worth 'si.l2,
to tho 81 ani in tl,rce yeara cacl, 81 Of
faco valro represented Fl.10. They co,tltl he
sold at very ncnrly these rates at any brokers'
otl1co. Under theao circumstances, tho nyer-
agc American wna not foolish enough to ray
hia debts with compounl-intcrcBt notes.
Tho last item should DO stricken ont Of tho
tabc. Tut In order to meot all cavils, wo
will adopt tho Encyclopedias figures without
reserve md consider the currency outstand-
ing Oct 81, 1866, a. amounting to $751;
2i3,O:,
II Ia important to remember TINT tho
$-tnark uscd hero does not NOM constitu.
tional, hard notey, par dollars, but wnr-meas-
t1ro or grccnback scrip. A circulating me-
dium is to be rcckoncd, mt by the number or
denominations Of bits of papor with NOM
inal vnlues stamped upon them, but by pur-
chasng ro,rer. If the money circulating in
mn Illinois county in 1911 will buy loo, 1000
bushels Of wheat, while tho amount circunt-
ing in 1874 would only buy 5000 bushels,
tho county haa more currency this year than
1t had Inst, no matter whether ita inhabitants
aro handling more or less bits of papor. The
use Of money "--of no rnattor what kind
Is rs medium Of exchange. Therofo:o, tho
moro the currency Of a country will exchango
for, tho greater Its a1nount is. In order to
compare tho currency outstanding Oct 81,
1865, with that in circulation now, wo must
reduce both amounts to the only common do
nominator, gold value. On the last day Of
October, ten years ago, gold WAS quoted
at l45a to 14G} (Now Am. Encyclopedias,
1865, p. 847>-sny lag. Tint Ia, tho green
bnck was worth G8 cents on the dollar, A
dollar bill would servo a. the medium for ex-
changing or purchasing GO conts' worth Of
food, fuel, or clothing, or any othor com.
molity.- nothing more. The $.mask Of the
table stands for GS, not 100, cents. The
?'73+, 218, ,o3s.20 in circulation Oct. 81, 1906,
therefore amounted, in purchasing power, to
$499, ,2G8, ,2G5 LOT, md no more.
In order to discover whothcr or not there
has been imitation, We have only to find out
~ The asnount Of currency now outstanding
and (2) its purchasing power. Tho follow
ing table gives the first Of these data:
United States notes.. &375, II, $4,000
tIect.ohaI .t43a ao3.10
National Bank notes 49, ,Sa9t t0O8.oo
500 7a3, ,98l. 10
These figures aro for July /, 1876. We
have not the amounts for Aug. i, but they
arc known to be little moro. July l, 1876,
the graenback dollnr was worth SIS cents.
Gold was quoted at 1lG3 and III, The cur
renoy in circulation, therefore, had purchas-
ing power Of :sG53, ,4G8, ,0s3. .o3.
As the result of this investigation, wa have
the following trustworthy tablo:
Circulation Oct, 3t, 1875, WORTH. $.po 25s ais
Circulation July l. 1875. wofth.......,.. Ga3 4Gs033
Which shown N expansion Of .alue Of $1s4, 81e
There are other items still which might be
givon in order to show that the net expansion
has beon even grentcr thnn this. Thus tho
change in the National Banking law a year
ngo released some eco, ,ooo, 600 Of grconbacks
previously locked up in tho bank resorvcs
transferred them to the active circulating mo-
dunn, md so practically expanded tho cur
rency to that amount. But we nre content
to cast aside these points of expansion for
the time being. We havo thus demonstrated
an expansion Of over $l6o,00o, GOO Of curren-
cy purchasing powor sinco the close Of the
War, instead OF tho contraction Of $780,
000, 900, as the reckless Cincinnati Enquirer
asserts, or 81 900, ,ooo, 900, as Bloomington
idiot afirrns. As thore has been no contrao-
ton, will some one rise and e1plain how con.
traction caused tie panic Of 1879 and plunged
the country into hard times2