Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1880-09-25

ever, to take alarm at this issue,
among whom was Benjamin
Franklin. who deprecated the is
sue OF a food of irredeemable pa
per money.
But the flush times caused by
SUCH a flood of paper money seem
ed to make better times and high
nrices, and the Congress could not
res st the demand for more paper
money.
Money was plenty, business
br.sk and the specie men were
silenced by the popula. c.amor af-
ter more money Prices were
high and all business rushed oman
imitation food, as ours did during
and at the close of the late war;
Theseeret was out. Every body
could be made rich by tie Gov
erpment issuing more paper lon-
ev, and on May 6, 1916, it issued
S5,000,000 more. Those who be-
lieved in fiat money ow had con-
.rol Of the Congress. Blu. law
could not keep the va ue of Jonti-
mental currency up, any more
han it could the Greenback id
1918. The currency began to
depreciate. The .nvariable laws
OF trade began to be too much for
the law of Congress, and it began
to go down, and people began to
rofnso ~ folya Gont;popfal o,,rrop
cy at its. free value.
The Congress was then called
upon to make the people take the
money, andto issue its fiat max
ing IL good as gold and silver
The Congress, believing it had
full power to fix the value of pa
per money, passed resolution re-
citing that, Whereas, certain evil
disposed persons, in order to de-
feat and obs,ruct the united efforts
Of he colonies, have attempted to
depreciate the bills of credit emit
ted by authority of Congress: Re-
solved, that any person 80 lost to
virtue as to refuse Continental pa
per money shall he deemed, pub
lished and treated as an enemy of
his country" This was a pretty
strong fat. If an act of the Gov
eminent could arrest the depreci-
alton of paper money this one
ought. But history shows this
did not arrest the depreciation
of the paper money. Yet the cry
was for more money, and in No.
vember, I776, the Continental Con-
gress issued $5,000,000 more paper
money, and it also issued fiat
more severe than before. This
was a military fiat, and directed
Gen. Putnam at Philadelphia,
where the depreciation of the
money was greatest, to issue an
order, that "if any one refused to
take the Government notes in
payment Tor goods, the goods
should be forfeited and the person
refusing thrown into prison"
If this did not make good paper
money what could? Yet history
shows that this order only increas-
ed the decline. Just after this or
der was issued Robert Morris
wrote in a letter to friend, that
"9250 in Continental money is
given in exchange for 9100 ster-
ling" The Continental dollar was
down to where our Greenback dol
lar was when Early drove Hunter
out of the valley and attempted
the capture of Washington. The
Continental Congress got alarmed
and laid it to the Tories in the pa
pers and in the debates, as we laid
it to the gold spectators in Wall
street during the war, and deter
mined to issue one final Legisla-
tive fdt, which should make Con-
tinental money as good as gold ;
so it resolved that, "Whereas, all
bills of credit emitted by Congress
ought to pass current and be deem
ed of value equal TO the same NOM
inal in Spanish lniled dollars, every
person asking more in said bills
for any houses, lands, goods or
commodities, than they would ask
in Spanish milled dollars, should
be deemed an enemy to the liber-
ties Of the United States and
should forfeit The commodities. y
The respective States were asked
to pass srcn laws and impose such
pernicious practices" The Con-
gress recommended to the several
States to make Continental curren-
oy a legal tender for all debts,
which the States did.
Now, what was the result OF
such legislation? 1t did not ar
rest the decline of Continental
money, but Oh the contrary caus-
ed it to drop 10 per cent more.
These very acls of the Continental
Congress and States confessed the
Observation-Disclosures of paper
money Vet thew enabled q great