The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-04-09

An exchange reprOduces In the following a
passage from Diedrick Knickerbocker's His-
tory Of New York:
According to this account, William the Tes-
ty one Of the Dutch Governors, got up
scheme to make money plenty, or, in the par
He did not print paper, but adopted as his
medium what was called Indian money or
wampum, which consisted Of strings Of beads
made OF CLAIMS, periwinkles and other shell
| satisfactory manner In traffic with the 1ndi-
ans, the Governor could not see any good
reason why 1t should not pass current among
his people and make them all prosperous.
Not being capable Of understanding why the
as good money as gold and silver. he ordered
that to be legal tender and proceeded to its
manufacture. But let the learned historian
describe the result:
81 s ssn p p.pE s 81 y the
government in strings Of wampum. He sent
emissaries to sweep the shores Of Long
Island, which was the Ophir Of this modern
Solomon and abounded In shell fish, These
were transported in loads to New Amsterdam
now New York;. coined into Indian money,
and launched into circulation. And now, for
. time, affairs went ON swimmingly; money
became as plentiful as In the modern days Of
paper currency, and, to use the popular
public prosperity Yankee traders poured
into the province, buying everything they
could lay their hands on, and paying the
worthy Dutchmen their own price In Indian
money II the latter, however. attempted to
pay the Yankees in the same coin for their
tinware and wooden bowls, the case was al
tered. Nothing would do but Dutch guilders
and such like metallic currency What was
worse. the Yankees introduced an inferior
which. they deluged the province, carrying off
In exchange all the silver and gold, the Dutch
behring's and Dutch cheeses. Thus early did
the knowing ones OF the East manifest their
skill in bargaining the New Amsterdamers
But William the Testy was gathered to his
fathers, and Peter Stuyvesant, known as
Peter the Headstrong, governed in his place.
Now Peter was kind Of ancient Rutherford
and had some Anticipated views OF currency,
which he at once proceeded to enforce. The
historian goes on to say:
But the measure of the valiant Peter
which produced the greatest agitation in the
community was his laying his hand upon the
about gold and silver, which he considered the
true standard of wealth and medium Of com
merce; and one of his first edicts was that al
duties to government should be paid in those
precious metals, and that seawant or wampum
should no longer. be legal tender. Here
was blow at public prosperity. All
those who specialized on the rise and fall
Of this fluctuating currency found their
calling at an end; those, too, who had
boarded Indian money by barrelfuls found
their capital shrunk In amount; but, above
all, the Yankee traders. who were accustomed
to flood the market with newly coined oyster
shells, and to abstract Dutch merchandise in
exchange, We're loud mounted in decrying the
tampering with the currency 1t was clip
ping the wings OF commerce; it was checking
the development Of public prosperity; trade
would be at an end; goods would moder on
the shelves grain would rot in the granaries;
grass would grow in the market place. In
word, no one who has not heard the outcries
and howlings of modern Tarshish at our
check upon paper money can have any idea
of the clamor against Peter the Headstrong
for checking the circulation of oyster shells.
"In fact, trade did shrink into narrower
channels. but then the stream was deep as it
was broad. The honest Dutchmen sold less
goods; but then they got the worth of them
either in silver and gold, or in goldfish, tin
ware, apple brandy, Weathersfield onions,
wooden bowls, and other articles of Yankee
barter