Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-01-28

The FINANCEs-The editor of Serb
aer's Monthly dashes ut our present
business stagnation as follows:
we have to-day, in this country, all
the ordinary conditions of prosperity
and wealth. The granaries Of the land
are filed to overhowing. The earth
has yielded bountifully her products;
the means Of intercommunication by
rivers and railways are all that can be
desired; we are at peace with other ma
tions; we have unparalleled mineral
resources; we grow among ourselves
the products of all climes; and, in finan-
cial circles, there is little debt, and no
undue stretch Of the credit system; yet
VIC are not prosperous. TIE farmer gets
no adequate return for his labor, while
wheat sells at the Western centres for
eighty cents a bushel; manufacturers
are shut out, or working on half time;
building has been greatly checked or
almost entirely stopped in the cities;
laborers by thousands are out of work
and living idle; the goods of the mer-
chants lie unmoved upon their shelves.
and the business of the country is
stagnant. What does this mean 2 1t
means, simply, that the legislation of
the past has been unwise. 1t means.
simply, that the men who have man.
aged our national affairs have not un.
derstood their business. 1t means that
the affairs of the nation are in the
hands of small men who are not up to
the emergency. In short, to come at
once at the root of the matter, it means
that the richest nation will, in time
starve to death OH diet of paper lies
This is the long and the short of it
Our financial system is rotten at the
core
Upon this Agplaon's Journal thus
comments:
All our troubles, then, are due tc
paper-money, or rather, as the phrase
now is, paper lies One would like te
have an argument or two in support o,
this sweeping assertion, but none arr
given. 1t is true that no one finds an,
difficulty in exchanging these lies fol
merchandise; it is true they serve every
possible purpose of money; it is true
that, while at discount for gold. thi.
discount is so evenly maintained thai
no Inconvenience to trade arises there
from; it is true that under these paper
lies we have seen active and prosper
ous years; it is true that the certaint,
of their early redemption by speci,
grows daily more assured; but thes,
facts are nothing-wc are assured tha
all our calannties come of this on,
cause. Now, papeT-money can worl
: mischief only by being either unstabl,
in value; or by being greatly in excess
of business needs, and thereby inflatin.
prices; or by a prevailing distrust as T.
its eventual redemption. Our paper
money is amenable to but one of thes
counts; il has probably inflated prices
but it is not quite certain how mucl
the currency and how much the tarif
is responsible for this condition O
things, and until this is ascertained, i
is scarcely Just to lav the whole blam
upon the currency. High prices kee]
our own merchandise at home an,
: bring merchandise from abroad in ex
cess; let us knock away all the artif
cial helps to high prices, then, and be
gin with the tariff. Perhaps paper
money is not the worst criminal. Blu
at least herein is the extent of the il
effects of our paper-mcney. Most peo
: pie discover In the immense destruction
of capital during the war, now in tn
form of debt. the interest of which j
drained from us to go abroad; IN tn
locking mp Of 50 much Of our surplu
earnings In unproductive railroad prop
erty; in the apprehensions Of create
distress in the approaching return {,
specie payments, BY which capital i
rendered tinid and enterprise Paralyze,
in these things some of Us imagin
: we discern the causes of our busines
; stagnation, not denying that the eondi
: ton of the currency has It's measure Q
resronEitility.