The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-07-20
How ''More Greenbacks'' Affect the Rich
and the Poor.

| anu tuc fOOTs
| One of the commonest claims of the adyo-
Gates OF the Greenback heresy is that an in
| fation of the currency is for the advantage
| of the poor man and works against an un-
equal accumulation and distribution of riches.
| 1t is indeed upon this ground that the
Nationals base their appeal to the mechanic
and the farmer. Now the logic of facts is
| conspicuously against this claim. An in
fated paper currency tends. to use the COM
| pact and forcib!e statement of Benton, "to
| aggravate the inequality of fortunes, to make
the rich richer and the poor poorer" That
is the lesson Of history. That is the expert
ence of all nations who have tried the ex-
| pertinent. We see it liz our history since the
opening of the civil war. There is today a
| far greater inequality of fortunes in this
| country than existed before the war. The
number of poor men has alarmingly in
creased, while wealthy men have greatly
| added to their possessions. 1t is asserted
with great plausbility that the landed prop
erty of the country is passing from the hands
OF the many to the hands of the few. That
| is direct result of an inflated and irredeem-
able paper currency. Yet the Nationals
would have US continue this condition OF
affairs, to further initiate the currency, and
thus to aggravate our bad estate.
That upon the poor man must fall the loss
resulting from the use of an unstable STAN
dard of value is practically demonstrable.
Suppose Congress on reassembling next De-
cember should yield to the demand of the
Nationals, should repeal the resumption act,
| and should issue a hundred millions
or more. of greenbacks. How would
| this initiation of the currency affect
| the rich man and the poor man ?
| The rich man, knowing that the premium
on gold will soon rise and that the purchas-
| ing value of the greenback will decrease. at
| once takes advantage of the fluctuations in
| value which are sure to come. He at once
calls in with rigorous severity all the money
due him. He has to do this to save himself,
for he sees that the hundred dollars owed him
| by his neighbor will not buy so much. that ia
VIII not be worth so much, by third or a
half in few months. He knows that the
prices of all articles will go up and that his
money to-day will purchase far more than it
| will year hence, so in order to avoid depre-
| citation he calls it in. Then, with this and
the money he has on hand, he invests large
ly in all articles of necessity. He foresees
that thing worth fifty dollars now will prob
| ably sell for hundred dollars in six months.
BE is rich, he is not compelled to sell his
possessions, he can hold on to his goods until
they have doubled in price, or buy and wait
for rise. Or if he chooses, he can contract
| large liabilities, put part of the money thus
| gained in government securities which he
buys at low figures because of the deprecia-
ton of government credit, but which will
| rise in value as that credit improves, pay off
his liabilities in money of less value (for the
paper money is steadily depreciating) than
that in which he contracts, and then
wait. Having enough to live upon, he can
afford to wait, and only sell at a great ad-
vance. In the end he multiples his riches
many fold.
| How is it with the poor man? The laborer
for time gets the same wages for his work,
but the cost Of living steadily goes up. He
pays more for all he eats and wears, but re-
ceives no more. His expenses increase while
his income is the same. The only thing he
has to dispose of is his labor, and he cannot
afford to wait, like the rich man, until the
| price of what he holds advances. He must
work or starve. Ifhe has been fortunate or
frugal enough olay something away he per-
haps has to draw upon his accumulations to
pay his living expenses. Or ifhe can leave those
accumulations untouched they depreciate on
his hands. The sum he put by was perhaps
| sufficient to build him little house or buy
HIM small farm. But prices of everything
rise so that he finds when he seeks to use his
money it will scarcely buy an acre of land or
build a wood-shed. Alter time his wages
may advance, but never so fast as his living
expenses; and all the time the money he
may save is losing in purchasing power. 1t
will not buy SO much next year as it did this,
nor so much two years as it can one year
hence. Thus while the rich man is constant
| ly growing richer the poor man is constant
| ly growing poorer.
| Finally the crash comes, as it always does
come. What is the result? The employer,
the rich man who finds his sales diminishing
and his profits shrinking, at first cuts
down the price of labor-and this while the
price of living is full as great. That loss
falls upon the poor men, those employed.
Then the employer, alarmed at the lessening
| profits, goes out of business altogether. He
can do this, for he has a surplus to live upon
| until business revives. He discharges his
| workmen. And his workman is the poor
man with no surplus who depends upon his
daily work for his daily bread. There is NO
work for him, and he is left to starve. He
cannot wait for better times.
| That is the story Of irredeemable paper
money, as it has been told in this country
during the last few years. Does the poor
man wish to have it repeated? Is it for his
interest to have another initiation of paper
currency, or to return to the good old times
| of stable prices and fixed rewards for labor /?
i