National Republican., 1877-08-16
THE EFFECTS OF A DEPRECIA TED
CURRENCY.

avoided by remembering that nearly all the
troubles which now alilIct the country are
the result OF unwise legislation which has
interfered with the operation Of the natural
laws of business II cannot he too often
repeated that the prime cause Of many Of
the evils from which the people are now
suffering was the policy adopted by Sccrc-
tary CHASE Of issuing an irredcomable
paper currency. jus, such Il st,re OF affairs
Us we now have was iOrctOld by several
iiuancieIs and statesmen, Who had learned
the simple lesson that gold, being the uni
vcIsal measure OF values, no currency not
rcdeemable in II on demand can ever he
used by any civilized nation without dam
aging business to a greater or less degree
owing to the extent TO which the abuse may
be carried.
In pursuance of the policy adopted by
Mr.. CHASE, the issue Of iIrcdeemLbe cur
rency was carried to dangerous extent,
but the evil did not end with mere imitation
of the value OF real and personal estate. 1t
had the effect which always follows ihl
tion, of begetting spirit Of speculation
which built up vast system OF values
which were to gcat extent fictitious,
The speculative, unreal character of much
of the business Of the country may he IL
lustrlted by reference to the history Of life
Prior To the war there we've very few life
insurance companies in this country, and
they were generally prudcnlly conducted
upon sound business principles. The COM
panes were prosperous, and the insured re-
ceived the benefits their contracts entitled
them TO.
A popular impression having gone abroad
that this business was exceedingly prolita-
BILE 1t attracted the attention Of reckless
speculatois, and great number Of new
companies were organized by men who had
little OF no knowledge of the business.
These new organizations had apparently n
wonderful degree ol prosperity. and their
assets accumulated with marvellous apidity.
This was in part owing TO the fact that
during the flush times the business was ex-
panded in an unhealthy and artificial man
ner, and people were induced by false rep
resentations as ~ di di,dends and by over
hopeitllncss to take much larger policies
than they were able to carry. The assets
of companies which were extracted from
the pockets OF people by all sorts of means,
fair and unfair, were then loaned to the
favorites of the officers on real estate mort
Cages NJ q valuation, in most eases, far i'll
excess of the real worth of the property
Thus the Investigation into the affairs of
one Of the companies which recently failed
in New York revealed the fact that the real
value OF nine pieces of land on which the
company had made loans was $4,000 less
than the amount of the mortgages.
The same spirit of wild and reckless spec
ulation characterized the management of u
great many other departments OF business,
particularly the building of railroads and
coal mining. In the latter business more
mines were opened and mere coal lands were
;,,tn rG II, tb. ITnitaA Stata
than will he required by the necessities OF
the country for the next hundred years
One of the incidental consequences OF TIN,
over-development of the mining interests o
the country was to attract to the coal re
gions great crowds of laborcrs from Europe
The inevitable consequence Of opening NOR,
mines than the business of the country re
quired was, of course, the production o
coal far in excSs Of the demnnd.
spesoh @h hs N ,nisR been a ths
the suffering inflicted upon the laboren i
terrible. A correspondent of the New Yorl
Times, who recently investigated the condi
tion of the miners in the Scranton coal dis
trict, draws gloomy picture of their condi
tion. He found them living in cherries
huts and feeding upon potatoes, sod
crackers and water. The average wages o
miners do not exceed eighteen dollars pc
month, four dollars OF which goes for house
rent. The families on an average, contain
six persons. Women whose husbands ar,
sick subsist only upon charity, and some
are upon the verge Of starvation, and tn,
dcad are buried by public contributions
.cw have more than enough clothing :,
cover their bodies. Columns might b.
'illcd with the heart-sickening details o
The sulierings which the miners of tha
region are now enduring
The immediate cause of their suffering
Is very plain. They were brought to tina
region to dig coal for which there is no de
mand, at prices which will enable tn,
owners of the mines to pay their laborer
fair wages. Too much coal land has beer
brought into market and too many mine
opened, and there is consequently q surplul
OF that sort of labor in that region. Now
inasmuch as the speculative spirit which
produced this unnatura, condition of affair
undoubtedly resulted from an inflated cur
rency, 1t seems to be but dictate of com.
mon sense that there can be no perinanen
cure for evils of this character except to re
store the currency Of the country to nor
NAL gold basis.
Meanwhile it is vain for the miners TO ex
pect that any means for their relief can b
devised except for them to seek new occu
pations. They have been advised to 90 b
the South and West, where their labor
needed on the farms, where crops are goin
to waste for lack of hands to gather Hlem
But ii is very obvious that people who ar
reduced to such an extremity of povert
cannot pay for the transportation Of them
selves and families to the distant region
where their services are needed. Inasmuc
as great deal of suffering which the labor
ers are now enduring results from the fac
not that there are too many laborers in tn
country but that they are not properly dis
tributed, II would therefore be expedicn
that transportation should be furnished I
the unemployed to enable them to reach tn
places where their labor is needed
The lesson which the American pcopl
should learn from the present condition {
the country is that it is dangerous to al
tempt to build national prosperity upo
arbitrary and artificial maxims of politici
economy. The vain effort to make pap,
dollars equivalent to gold ones has brougl
unnumbered woes upon the land, and III
end is not yet
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