The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-05-05
Ghtqmtellgettrer

Mr, JAMES NJ. LAlDLEY, Of Kauawhu,
il the most incorrigible inaationist that
We know Of. We observe that he is ont
in A letter to the Washington, %. C),
Chronicle, airing his views afresh in favor
gilmore money" He, with simplicity
that is refreshing, remarks, by way OF
preface, that "the most valuable adjunct to
Intellectual distinction is common sense"
lie then observes that common sense Ia
not ty any means common endowment
among men, but, on the contrary a SCARCE
commodity. By this remark ho means
we presume, to account for the iact th"'
imitation views are not generally under
stood and appreciated among eve" peOP'e
Of intellectual distinction" lie is par
,icular to mention members OF Congress
and editors Of newspapers as class oil
persons who ought to (but do not lay
aside their prejudices and take COM
mou sense view OF finance. Mr.. Laidley
contends that the man is blind
0Who does not see that the money fam
inc now nj the hearthstone of ninety out
oi every hundred families OF the land is
proying to be the dircst calamity that
ever betcl US as a people, causing vast
inr Of individual and national wealth, the
deIapidatiOn Of manufacturing establish
menis, the sweeping away Of private for
tunes, the prostration OF the lite.giVing
homes and energies OF the most active peo-
pie on earth, while their representatives,
In Congress seem to be solving the prob
Ieat Of how far endurance can be tOlern-
fed under unexampled suffering while ex-
perinlcnting upon another problem-that
Of legisIating greehbacks into gold, and
gold, which has no existence, into COM
mon use."
II is quite evident taat Mr.. Laidley
thinks that the only thing necessary to
start business up lively in the Kanawha
Valley is to let on steam in The printing
department Of the Treasury at Washing
ton anil roll out the greenbacks in indcf'
mite quantities, say rs thick rs leaves
in the vale Of Valambrosia. Then
Kanawha coal lands would be in demand,
and there would be regular old time re-
vival Of swarming speculNtors and cap
iIalists visiting that Valley on the hunt OF
something to buy. The panic dispClled a
great ,many insubstantial dreams Of sud-
den wealth in the Kanawha Valley,
rs 1t did in numerous other localities.
Had it held of for years to come, that is
to say, had the elastic string oil our mort
gaging aud borrowing only proved more
elastic, 80 that our obligations would
have been renewable and not payable,
everything would have been IA lovely rs it
was at the "Corners" during the first
months existence Of Nasby's "onlimitcd
Confidence and Trust Company" Butun-
fortunately Bascomb could not buy whis'
kyin Louisville with the money OF Mas.
by's bank, and. thus was wedgcdrivcn into
the prosperity Of the"Corners" that burst
it all into smitherecns.
The bearings Of this observation lies, OF
course, like the famous opinion of
Runsby, in the application OF it, and The
application is this: This country Us a
nation, and as States. municipalities,
corporations, and individuals, had
made regular business OF going
in debt for years preceding the
panic; so much so that, rs whole, they
had succeeded to the tune OF say some
irelre thousand millions Of dollars. The
census OF 1870, six years ago, placed the
public Indebtedness OF the States, cities
and towns Of the country at 5000, 100000,
and this did not include the railroad in
deb,edness OF the country and ofcoursc not
the individual indebtedness. This i'm.
mensc load OF debt called for an annual
payment Of interest OF fully $40, 900, ,00O'
We had TO pay this interest or go to pro-
test, and we had to pay n great dca! OF it
in specie. Jay Cooke & Co., who were
over head and ears in debt, went to pro-
test, and their failure to pay their inter-
eat precipitated n sudden burst OF popu'
lar dislrust on thousand and one other
concerns similarly situated throughout
the country, and one by one, as fast as
YOU coald count them, they went toppling
to the ground. And there nearly all oi
them have lain ever since. Tho fall ot
these concerns gradually weakened SO
many other more or less connected and
dependent concerns, that they zoo have,
one by one, topplcd over and gone
under, This remark applies to rail-
roads, banks, every variety OF joint
stock concerns, and an infinite number oi
individuals. They went under because
they were depending on a purely ticti'
tious state OF things for prosperity. AS
long as Jay Cooke Il Co. could sell bond'
enough 10 pay interest on millions oI
bonds previously sold there was nj
trouble. They were carrying on al i'm
mcnsc speculative enterprise on credit
building long railroad from nowhere L
nowhere, that was altogether unproduc
tive, and when they fell short OF mean
to keep up the popular delusion abou
their solvcncy tho whole iictioI
collapsed like bubble. Then it wa
that The country suddenly awoke to tn
consciousness that the whole business @
the land was honey.combed in the sam
way, and as one keystone after anothe
dropped out a thousand similar archie
commenced caving in. In other word'
Nasby's "onlimitcd Confidence and TrnS
Company" collapsed,
Now, according to Mr.. Laidley, ther
was very simple and effective romed
for all this. All that was necessary wa
tobriug Nasty back from his hiding plac
in the swamp and put the "onlimttc'
Confidence and Trust Company" on ii