The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1876-07-28

suffering; 1t is the same cruel
and wicked policy OF contraction that 10
eating up the vitals and destroying the
commerce. and prosperity of the great
metropolis. Let Inc call your attention
to very stricking fact. Since the work
Of resumption began. the currency has
been cont acted about thirty-fve millions,
and no important impression has yet
been made upon the price Of gold. But
see the utter and universal prostration OF
all our industries! IL so small q cOntrac-
ton has eXerted such powerful effects
upon the commerce and industries of the
people, what will be--what must be-the
consequence of the tremendous contrac-
ton of four hundred millions of dollars
still inexorably necessary to be accomp-
lished before a system of convertible
notes can be finally established. In an.
swer to this question, | repeat what
said at the beginning. that so enormous
a diminution in the money Of the country
involves all the evils. moral and physical,
that attended upon the work of suppress
sing the rebellion. as many human lives
must 5e sacrificed, as much physical sui
fering inflicted, and as much property de-
stroyed.
10 sustain his position Mr.. SchucKers
here referred to the disasters to the in
dustries and commerce of England
and the distress which follow
ed the resumption of specie
payment by the Bank of England in 1921,
and takes the testimony OF admitted au-
thorities TO show the actual consequences
of the act j
1.-The apparent prosperity OF the coun-
try" wrote Robert MuslIet (said Gen.
Garfield in a speech delivered in the
house of repres entativcs IN lSGS, to be
one of the ablest of Englands ablest
writers OH finance. As he was), "seelned
to vanish with the first measure of the
Bank of England to effect resumption"
Bank Of England Issue, by II. Mushct,
p. 80: and he proceeds to show how
a contraction OF fifty per cent. took place
before the work was done, and how
enormously 1t elected commercial inter-
ests OF the kingdom 1.-The effects OF
this extraordinary piece of legislation"
Says Sir Archibald Alison. were
soon apparent. The industry of the ma
ton was speedily CONCEALED as a flowing
stream is by the severity of an Arctic
fects OF contraction were soon apparent
and rendered the next three years Pc
riod of ceaseless distress and suffering in
the British Islands," (Alison's History
of Europe. 81 series, vol. III, chap. ~
Said Lord Landsdowne (as quoted by Sir
A. Alison). Wages tell i'm all the great
stations OF the cotton manufacture one.
half in period Of six months" after the
resumption act was passed; and before
resumption was effected. says Sir Archi-
bald Alison History of Europe, I'd series.
vol. ii, chap. q. 1.-THE fall had extended
10 wages in all the operations of agricul-
ture and manufacture Great numbers
of artisans aud laborers were thrust out
of employment and the suffering they
endured finally brought them almost TO
the madness OF open rebellion. The
prices of all comodities, said Matthias
Atwood, in a speech in the house
of commons in 1872. alike of agriculture
and manufacture. were broken down up
on an average fifty per cent: and iac-
tories and lands stood idle and untitled.
Mr.. Alexander Barring speech in the
house of commons. Dee, 1871 said that
the suffering extended to all classes, and
that the condition OF Great Britain in the
sixth year of the peace was unparalleled in
the history of any nation or time. Lord
Brougham speech on the corn laws,
made in the House of Lords, February 10,
1889 said that the restoration of the cur
reacy was almost as bad as the deprecia-
ton; and that although he had sup
ported the resumption bill. he had always
deeply regretted having done so. 1.-The
bitter fruits of the act," says Sir James
Graham lin his celebrated pamphlet on
C07n and Currency, page 40. were tasted
by all classes, save that in the midst
Of the rain inflicted upon farmers
and manufacturers. and the insur-
rections of a populace without bread and
without employment; the flndholders
and tax-eaters proiited." They profited,
he said by..what the producers lost. "The
distress. ruin, and bankruptcy that took
place" says Mr.. Doubleday Financial
History OF England, p. 21ll, ''by reasons
of the relentless narrowing of the cur
rency, were universal and extended to
ali the operations Of land and trade
THAT the resumption act put burden
upon industry" says j. II. McCulloch
Commercial Dictionary, article Banks
and Banking), land in so far was hostile
to the public interests it is impossible to
doubt" Lord OyerstOne (rracts on Me-
tallic and Paper Currency, p. 1881 says
that the restoration Of the cur
rency in lSl9-20 produced ex-
tensive private suffering, de-
rangement of property, disturbance in
the operations of trade, and injustice to
extensive classes OF people. Jean Bap-
tiste Say. the eminent French economist,
after reviewing the period of the suspen-
sion and the consequences Of resumption
(Practicdl Political Eaonony, ed, of 1928.
printed at Paris, p. Gl.) sums up by say
ing that 1.-THE privileged classes, the pub
lie functionaries, the pensioners of the
state, and the fund-holders, profited by
the enhancement In the value OF money!"
but adds that lit laid burden
upon the masses of the people
and upon industry: burden
that so rich and industrious nation,
and so admirably administered in other
respects, could alone support" DR..
Thomas Chalmers political economy,
p. 209). writing in 1862, took great pains
to show that the condition of the British
labOring classes was seriously worse
than it had been up to the year 1914: il
was about that time, he said, that theii
progress was first arrested and then
turned backward and the Hon. George
&. Brodrick (Cobden Club essays, 1879,
speaking OF the deterioration In the state
of English yeomanry, says that, by
the reign of William the Nv (who
succeeded to the throne i'm lS30) the de-
scendants of freeholders who once sat as
judges and Legislators in the courts OF
their own county hundred and township,
had sunk into day labOrers, but one de-
gree ren1ored from ssrfioal, dependent on
individual landlords for the humblest
dwelling, and on landlords assembled at
quarter or petty sessions, for the security
OF every civil right And let me here