The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1876-04-27

preciate as compared to the prices Of prop
eriy, and ultimately fail 10 circulate .
money.
ECONOMY OF FINANCE
is made difficult to adjust, owing to tn,
false idea entertained BY some as TO tn
| true object and purpose OF money. None
is public vehicle OF trade, Instituted 70
the exchange of the products Of industry
and 1t Is this exchange Of commodities tina
creates wealth. There is no wealth il
money, it is only speculative. the wealth
Of an individual or country is meaanrsd b,
the power and capacity to feed and cloth
Ito command the comforts and luxuries o
life.
This very high estimate placed upon til,
value OF money serves to benefit the none!
classes, enhances the value OF fictitiou
wealth in the hands Of the few, and depre
ciate the value of real wealth to the grea
injury and distress of the producing and la
boring classes. In order that this high Is
innate Of the value Of money be sustained
the volume Of the currency must be KEEP
| below the actual wants of business anl
| trade it must be made scarce in order Il
increase the rate OF interest and add TO tn,
wealth OF the money power.
MONEY THE STRING TO ENTERPRISE.
Tis tine blood OF the nation, 1t moves u
to action and to business life. Let it flow
from the heart of the Republic, free and
without tribute 10 the advocates of centra
power.
At the close of the war, we had two
thousand million dollars circulating me-
diums Of various kinds, all serving the pur.
pose OF money. 1t was not too much
The South needed money; the four mil.
lions OF freedmen needed money. Ii the
volume of currency had been kept up to its
full maximum, the South would have been
supplied with money, and she would have
been to-day as rich and prosperous as
France, and there would have been no
Southern outrages. 1t is poverty that en-
genders bad blood.
CURRENCY NOT DEPRECATED.
That the currency was deprecated, the
prices OF property inflated, We deny. 1t is
not true. Farms, houses, lots, horses and
cattle, this that constitutes the real wealth
Of all countries, were lower in prices during
and Immediately after the close Of the war,
than the same kind of property in any
other country. Good farms within eighteen
miles of the city of Leavenworth were
selling in ls64-5 at twelve dollars per acre.
l attended sale of stock in 1864, when
gold was worth 81 s.. and saw good three
and four-year-old cows with calves, sell at
from fifteen to eighteen dollars; good farm
horses from ni.ety 10 one hundred dollars.
Now, If the theory be true that gold is the
only standard and measure of value, then
there cows sold for about five dollars, in
stead of fifteen, and horses and farms in the
same proportion.
1t is true that during this period many
articles OF production ranged high. But
this was owing to other causes. The de-
mand was great. Our commerce had been
swept from the seas by privateers. Trade
between the States was interrupted. The
supply OF cotton and tobacco was cut of.
which formerly sustained our foreign COM
merce, and kept up the balance of trade.
Two millions of men had left the ordinary
pursuits of industry and gone to war, there
by lessening the supply OF production and
adding increased demand for war purposes,
Yet the highest price paid by the govern
ment for cavalry horses was one hundred
and sixty-five dollars in currency-in gold
the price would have been less than sixty
NoAAoAss AhS So"C SihSs VI IOIsts was
worth then and now, on the continent of
Europe, two hundred dollars in gold, or its
equivalent.
BOND INDEBTEDNESS REQUIRES LARGE
VOLUME OF CURRENCY.
We need a much larger volume of cur
rency now than formerly. The municipal
Indebtedness has doubled within the past
ten years, and the public collections for
annually increasing This large amount
when collected, is necessarily idle, unem-
ployed more than half the time, locked up
by the collectors awaiting payment TO tie
bondhOlders, producing slight annual con-
traction or, as termed in Eastern States,
Fall Pinch" The payment of interest on
bonded Indebtedness is pernicious in anoth-
respect. 1t gives the facilities for boarding,
causing, as is often the case, heavy pres
sure upon business enterprises. The volume
of currency should therefore be relatively
large, in order to avoid these evils, and
should be regulated in just proportion to the
public debt of the country. Hence, the
government ought to retain absolute and
control over the circulating medi-
um, and cannot delegate this power in part
or whole without great injury.
Thomas Jefferson, the founder Of the
Democratic party and the friend of the
people, said: Bank paper mus be sup
pressed and the circulation restored to the
nation, to whom it properly belongs. Let
banks continue, if they please, but let them
discount for cash alone or pay treasury
notes."