The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1879-07-12
THE OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.

phrase in the eloquent Frenchman's mouth
that "to succeed in this world we must b
, content to learn many things from peopl
who know less about them than we do our
selves' This meant, of course, that tn
highest compliment we can pay man is t.
accept instructions from him. But we cal
add that if we really desire information
on any subject we can take the lessons from
people of leas information than we pos
sess.
To get at all the truth we must be care
full to look at a subject from all sides, fol
it is often given man SO see fact that il
obscured to us by our position.
We are reminded of these teachings by {
revelation that came to us last summer
while looking at the subject of finance from
the popular side. Iu the Mac-a>cheek val
ley, rich agricultural +, gion, we had OBJ
served from boyhood up that there was
little or no money in circulation. Nor did
there, in ordinary times, appear to be any
use for a circulating medium beyond few
cents or nickels that were donated the
preacher ON Sunday, as the only source of
amusement vouchsafed the rural inhab-
itanat.
We noted that the farmers and the farms
er's wives and daughters bought in the
maple shaded village of West Liberty, all
that they needed, and such purchases were
duly charged against them. In like man
ner the industrious and gossipy mechanics
did such work as the grangers called for,
followed by like book account.
Now, while the good wives and rosy
checked daughters were busy carrying in
butter andeggs, and otller products of their
homely labor, and getting credit or goods
for the same, the larger amounts charged
were left until the crops came into market,
and these, delivered at the warehouse of
Messrs. Taylor Il Fisher, were paid for in
checks upon the Logan County Bank. With
these checks the farmers liquidated their
book accounts. And SO the year went round
apparently easy and prosperous.
When the panic struck us, however, this
system came to a sudden end. There was
q general loss of confidence, and frantic
attempt to do what is known as a cash
business. The storekeeper said: Il can
not get trust for my goods on east; can
not therefore give trust to YOU The poor
farmer was at his wits end. He had no
money - he never had any money = the
prospect was dim as to his ever having any,
And 50 wide, distressing money famine
fell upon the people
We were brought up in the school of the
G0chjadjres who knew all about 1t. We
had been taught, and were prepared to die
at the stake in the belief, that coin was your
only money, and of consequence your only
circulating medium. Being granger,
however, and suffering with the rest in this
money famine, we got view of the subject
from the other side, that proved to be a
revelation and a revolution.
We saw, for example, that it was not
only necessary to have fixed measure of
value, such as coin affords us, but that it !
was also necessary to have medium of
exchange found in circulation, and we
saw why it was that in all commercial COM
munities this coin had been supplemented
by paper that was measured by the coin
precisely as any other commodity is meas |
ured
From this it dawned upon our journal |
istic intellect, stimulated by granger neces-
sity, that the attempt to make gold and
silver serve both as standard of value and |
a circulating medium to facilitate exchange
was attempting the impossible.
Coin is the standard, because of its scar |
city. The scarcity that makes it safe meas |
urer of value efTectually prevents its use as
a circulating medium.
How cruel, then, appears our Govern |
ment, that after nearly sixteen years of neg |
lect in caring for its currency, selects the |
day of panic the hour of money famine,
to contract the currency that it might
force us down only to the use of gold and
silver.
We embraced our Greenbacker and we
embraced his principles. We said, "Verily,
your instincts, oh! granger, are better than
Benton's wisdom. Where is the venerable
Peter Cooper, that we may embrace him
ais ?"
We have financial system that explodes
every ten years with more or less violence
and loss. In this last the land has been
covered with wrecks and the world itself is
Let us change it. Instead of
this system of trust, let us have money
enough to dos cash business, and by money
we mean the promises to pay coin issued
directly by the General Government, and
known under the fascinating name of green
back. Washington Capital