Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1878-11-06

of the medium. To every 20 per cent.
of depreciation of the Medium there is
Is per cent. of appreciation of prices.
Hence business is 5 per cent. worse OF
than before-or less volume by 8 per
cent. to effect the exchanges with than
before. And so it goes on, as the me
dunn depreciates prices in still greater
ratio appreciate, strictly causing the
paradox that the more you have the less
you have, till the medium loses all pur-
chasing power, and the collapse comes in
the form of universal ruin. / have very
little patience with men who 80 misrep-
resent figures and facts, or who are 50
ignorant that they cannot comprehend
them. The truth is, what every intelli-
gent man knows, that We have an abuld.
ance and superabundance of so-called
money in the country to-day-m0re than
can possibly be used in the business
transactions of the country; that it If
piled up in vaults and in money centres
till there is plethora, and it cannot be
loaned out. Hence banks have been
winding up because there was no use fol
their funds.
has been lower the past few years than
at any previous time in our history. II
has gone begging at almost any rate
provided satisfactory security was of.
fered. And one fact alone will give q
fat contradiction to all that our green.
back orators utter on the subject Of
scarce money and hence high rates Of
interest, and that il the simple state
meut that our own people, in utter des
peration of getting their funds invested
at any remunerative rates, are investing
daily equal to 81, 100000 in our new
bonds, drawing only per cent. interest
and these investments are not made BY
large capitalists, but by people of small
means in bonds of small denominations
But the senseless cry is raised that thi'
money is not among the people; that the
people have not got it, What people
Certainly some people have, and Ameri'
can people, too, or the money would moi
be here. What people, then? Let them
answer, and the only answer they can
give is, that class of people who proba'
I. bly are needy, but who have no ade'
ouate security to offer. Whose fault il
this? Certainly not the fault of the
money-lender, but the misfortune of the
money.borrower. If q man has No go
curity to offer, will it make any differ
ence with him in efecting loan
whether there be more or less of money
in circulation? Which of you having
money will loan it On the mere asking
Will YOU not ask some kind of security
that it, with the interest, will be paid
back to you on the day specified,
whether you have little money OF
whether you have much? Then how
can an additional amount of cir
culating medium help these people
here already being more than can
be loaned on satisfactory security offered
Unless you make . law compelling one
man to loan his money to another on
such security as he can or will offer there
can nothing be accomplished ir this di.
rectioh. 1t will not be in GU day that
such law will be enacted. All tall
upon this matter of lack of money ii
| senseless twaddle. It was never &
abundant and never 90 cheap, and it il
within the reach of all who have securi
ties to offer; and without those securi
ties it could not be obtained were the
circulation doubled or trebled from what
it now is.
We are triumphantly pointed to
WHAT THE GRKENBACK HAS DONE.
Well, love the greenback for itself, and
for what it has done, and also mourn
greatly for what it has done. 1t il
the best currency We ever had; no one
desires to change it. It is said it carried
us safely through the war, and hence
ought to carry Us on in peace. But this
does not state the question. Admit that
there was no other way of meeting our
expenses during the war but by the
issue of paper promising to pay money
on a future day-a loan, call it q forced
loan, if you will-then it is clear that
greenbacks carried US safely through the
war. But it was not the quantity of
the greenbacks that fought the battles
and carried us safely through. Were
this the case, graybacks ought to have
carried the confederates through with
still greater safety, for they had more
gray backs than We had of greenbacks.
But the greenbacks were q resort OF
necessity alone-a necessity that knew
no law and knew no other alternative.
The necessity was upon US. Like the
ship sinking at sea, the necessity of the
raft was upon the sailors and passengers.
The raft was contributed and the lives
placed upon it, and after days of buffet
ing waves and storms, they are rescued.
The raft saved them; it carried them
over the threatened destruction. They
blessed the raft, and had good reason to.
But would one of those rescued men
and women start on that raft on q vOy-
age across the ocean instead of a staunch
steamer, notwithstanding all the love
they had for it as being the means Of
having saved their lives?
THE GREENBACKs SERVED A PURPOSE,
though irredeemable and badly depre-
ciated; but is that reason why it il
still desirable to have them irredeemable
and deprecated. Like the raft still,
the 9reenback had its bad a. well - ita