, 1875-07-13

NEEu 4cAAEcA HuE.lAHA W UftG-uAlLt "ti1U
Thousands hnvo been thrown ont Of employ
mcnt; tho workmcn are re.lnced to poverty
and wnnt, roaming from place to place
begging food; machinery is iila; furnaces,
rolling mills, mines, anu other property des.
tined before nnotl1or yoar to pass into tho
hands Of tho Sheriff. This is hia own picturo
Of tito results Of fifteen ycnra OF high protec-
tive tariff aud Of deprecated paper cur
roncy.
The "ora Of prosperity" according to Mr..
KELtEr, begun with tho issno Of gresnbacks I:
that H. the period Of M awful war. That
WINS tho period whom wo were adding
million of dollars to tho national debt every
dny, and were burying on an nvcrago 20, 600
Of our young men, North and South. Oh The
battle-nclds every month. That wns tho po-
ROD when two millions Of men wcro with
drawn from productive industry, md tho
country WAS engaged iu tho work Of national
destruction and annihilntion. That wna
Mr. KE1LEY'a period Of " unoxampled pros
rerity,' because money was "cileap," md
productions scarce, and prices high. Wo
question whether thero in a eRne man in tho
United Statea besides himself who will cIaim
that the period covered by tho War
was not ono Of horror md tlesolation, OF
individual misery aud suffering, and Of gen.
ernl loas aud destruction. While all mnn-
kind hai1od with g1atlness tho return Of peace
and tho closing Of tho bloody and destructive
scenes Of desolasion, here is this man pro-
claiming TINT the period Of the War was one
Of scarcity Of production md high prices,
and therefore tho most prosperous that tho
country Ind ever been blessed with. It is
true TINT in these days fortunes wcro mado
aud property accumulated by tho few, but
these profits were stained with tho blood Of
the men falling in the War or dying in tho
hospitals.
1lo claims that 1t was prosperous because
persons owing debts paiu them with
currency at 10 10 co cents on tho
dollar; that in this way hundreds of
millions Of honest debts were spongel
out; and, while ls canuot hope for another
civil war, ho insists that the groen-
back sf.all be ngain wntered md reduced in
value by initiation until, with legal-tanders
worth 30 cents III the dollar, the indebtedness
Of the present day may be again obliterated
This III his ilea of good times and commercial
prosperity.
Next to tho restoration Of peace he insists
TINT tho distress Of tho country has bcon due
to contraction. Unfortunately for his argu-
mont, there hns been no contraction in the cur
rency since l866-'G7. The oorginal issue Of logal-
tenders was :450, ,No, ,000, ,of which, $50 ,00o, 600
WINS temporary by law. Since then, for every
dollar Of nationM currency Withdrawn, there
has bcoa several dollars Of other curren-
cy issued. Moreover, the currency hos been
expanded by tho increase iu its value. The
volume of mouey, if computed by it's value
instead Of by the number Of ita pieces is *.
panded or contracted by tho rise or full in its
purchasing power. -Four hundred millions
Of groenbacks worth 10 cents on the dollar
nro really only 2oo,oo0,ooo Of pnr dollars !;
but the saino number of notes worth 90 cents
on the dollar aro oqual TO $500, ,O00, 600.
Every per cent added to tho value Of the
$3.50, ,N0,0o0 Of currency now aaoat is an
expansion Of the real value Of that currency
OF 81, 500. 600, and the currency Of tho coun.
try hns been actually expanded since tho
War in tho proportion that its vnlue on tie
dollar has beon Increased Tie talk of con.
traction is thus shown to DO m abaurlity,
negatived by th8 facts, md contradicted III
every sonso.