The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-05-25
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Puzale
Kansas City Journal of Commerce.

Kansas City journal OF commerce.
When greenbacks were abundant
and our panic came with all its woes,
a certain class OF economists pointed to
hard money California, as the land of
sound finances and "real money"
When the traveller from the states
stopped at one of her palace hotels
and presented a greenback to pay his
bill, the polite baliion clerk would look
at the price quotations for gold of the
day, and cocliy hand you the amount
of your currency less the discount.
Then you were permitted to ask for
your bill and when told, you paid it
in gold-'Fwe take no paper here" So
when our panic came, California laugh
ed and pointed to her wise system of
ttreal money!
But alas for them, and for financial
prophets, and for wise noodles in social
science and political economy, her day
of calamity has come. And when in
fdels as to mental worship point to it
and ask for the reason-"Oh, it is over
speculation !" Yes, and it is as fatal
with gold as with greenbacks, and the
argument is worth just as much in one
case as the other-only the greeaback
men have this advantage,t that, Califor-
ma shows that gold will not prevent
such things.
But this is rather off the purpos e
this article, which was begun to show
| the depressed condition of affairs in
the golden state of the Pacific coast.
A letter to the New York Graphic
says:
s.East of the Rocky Mountains, you
have no idea of the terrible depression
upon this coast. We are suffering
from q complication of disorders. The
great mining bubble has bursted and
has ruined every one. / mean this
literally, for not only have the rich
or the middle class suffered, but the
mania for speculation has spread down
to the very servants, and they are all
to-day out of pocket and In debt. Men
who bat three or four months since
supposed they were rich, are to-day
begging fer employment; and probsb-
Iy three persons out of every four are
now making their first acquaintance
with extreme poverty"
Here is the situation, and shows that
as big bubble can be blown on gold
| and silver dividends as upon those OF
watered railway shares. AS they
used to say, there is not q dollar less
in coin than there was of Greenbacks
but it is blocked up"-th8t is every
body has not got it, and those who
i
hand-an3 of course credit stops.
And 1t stops because the miners do
net dig as much metal out of the
ground as they did year ago.
But the worst part Is not the bank
ruptcy OF the epeculators. The flush
times made the spectators resort tC
efforts TO increase immigration, and
the state was filed beyond its sustain
ing capacity by men who wanted to
till its soil and engage in mechanical
or agricultural labor. And to sup
plement the financial crash there Is q
failure of supplies from the soil, by
reason of enc of those disastrous sea-
son to which the Pacific coast Is eli
naticaIly liable. In regard to this the
letter continues:
tThe whole community seem to b
beggared, and to add to our Affections
we have Just passed through Q great
Idrouth; our cattle. are dying by the
hundreds OF thousands. Their car.
casses cannot be sold for any sum
however small and in the rain Of the
cattle dealers we Inevitably bring &
great deal of the land now held In
masses into the market to be sold fol-
3 song.'
Every one sympathize with this dis.
asteF, for 1t Is Of the nature that can
not be anticipated or provided against
But perhaps it may results in good In
the end, as all calamities do when
thoughtfully improved. II It brings
land into market, and result in in
creaeinIng the land owners, it will be
3 blessing In disguise. In California
even agriculture has been carried on
Is speculation.