New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-02-24

detail II is enough 10 say of It that by an intric
system of borrowings and payings ~ co'np'cae e,
hewiidered great mass of the people, ana cor
WINGED them that by Mr.. Vanslttarts nanlpula-
tions the debt in forty-five years couid DC cui rs
pefely wiped ont without increasing the Dnruen VI
faxatjon. The inanceTS hffcd up tneif 'uI0oo
against il i'm vain. They were regarded either us
d0ctrnaires whose kingdom was that OF ihe ar,
OF as SPECTATORS whose motives and methous WIZ s
omen TO dstrust. 1t is singular TACT that some W
the SIMPLEST laws of financial economy can NC
learned only by experience. Men do not need 10 oe
Taught that an old and successful farmer khoWe
more of farming than does DaDker, Vi ,I i
blacksmith can shoe q horse more sKllluny
than could a Judge editors and yet tney seq
never able to learn that man whose BUSINESS ~ &c
10 studv finance theoretically and practically knows
more of its laws and methods than does the ma y
who keeps his accounts successfully ~ ueals ~
notches cut i'll pine stick so MI. Nans,tIa iei
scheme in spite OF all the demOnstTatlons anu Po
dictoDs of the nanc1crs, was adopted. It's lnsIiCa
cies concealed its faacics from the eyes Oh ~
populace and il was in vain that the econoiuisls
tried 10 make way against majority OF tne oraoi1
ON the sump 1t was not until long after the ciose
of the war that the people learned now utteTlN tncy
had been deuded. At length they iOund 10 Inc,i
horror that the debt which they supposed nad ou1
rapidly approaching extinction, had not only no'
been diminished at all, but had constantly Deeh M
creasing. The folly came to an end only aiter 'nii
lions had been lost
COMMERCIAL VICiSStTUDES.
While the Government was making these deluslVe
governments. the commercial condition of the coun-
received every encouragement. The great Issue OF
paper money had raised both prices and wages anu
had caused ictitions prosperity In the Summer
of 1909 the heavy rams and consequent oad mar
vests carried the price of wheat up to 1O2s I'd. a
quarter. or about So a bushel. In the following
Snring the rains we're excessive. and the pnce
wont m to 116s A period of fine weather ensued
and hroucht the price down TO 0ts. Many OF the
large grain dealers failed. and general crash anu
panic ensued. One of the heavy banks IA Lohuph
closed lis doors. and vast number OF country Dahs
were brought down by the tall. In Manchester,
houses were closed. not only every day, bui every
hourD The " Commercial Report for $50, de-
clares that "the stoppa9es and compositions were
equal to half the traders IN the hlngIom 90 tic-
mendous crash lad never been experienced.
OF course at such time tue most IeNeIisn anu n
coT,upt spcculations aboun1cd. That the Govern
meut did what il could To arrest the Hood -
abupdantly proved a member of the House OF
Commons, Mr. Joseph Hunt, was expelled ny unah.-
false prctenccs. Lord Grey, IN a most gloomy
speech, moved for an inquiry into the expenditures
of the Government, and into some gross abuses anu
cOrruptons. The cmbezzlemcnt bil a. a result,
WAS passed, which threatened al cuprts oi the
classes named with the tremendous penalty oi trans
porfatiOn. But I'll corrupt spcculat0hs were ho'
checked The measures Of the Government were,
after all only various attempts 10 stop the current
bv dammng II up So long as rhe sources were mn,
touched, the stream persisted IN rising ahoVe an
barriers. Here l. an example OF the devices 10
which men TcsoTtcd. one cold night IN the NlhIci
of 1914 n person dressed in curious uniform ap-
peared in the streets OF Dover lie had iong
beard wet clothes, and the appearance OF eX-
IRENE fatigue. lie declared that he had Just
landed from boat, and must hasten instantly
to- London to announce the death 9i IA
TOlcGn. BY feeling the servants ana paying MS way
a. the to-gatcs with NapOeOns, and byoiher tricks
of the same kind he convinced nearly everybody OF
the aenuincneSs of his mission. The effect on the
stock Exchange was Just what his employers had
intended. The death Of Napoleon was 50 tremendous
an event that It's effect on the markets were 10
throw them into the utmost PANE ana confusion
And the story cOuld not be corrected unlll days
after fortunes had been made and other fortunes
had been lost. When the ailar came 10 be oil,
ciay looked into 1t was found 10 implcate several
persons high IN public esteem. Lord Cpchranc was
c1 Dalled from the House of Commons. aud on
being tried before the Court OF kings Bench
was fined $1,000 was sentenced to the pilloIy, and
was condemned Ia "A years imprisonment. lhus II
the Government could not ARE ( the prevalence 81
theft at least IT. DID not shrink from arrcstng aud
panishng he thief. IL should he often SAID 10 the
credit of England that IN those days Of most fire.
quent pecuatIon not even the pcerage itset al
torded shield from the political and social doom
OF those who were adJudged guilty.
THE INFLtTIoS or THE CURRENCY.
The initiation of the currency was not rapid, but
the evils attending the circulation of inconvert-
ible paper came upon the country faster than any
one had anticipated. As happened later with us.
the prices % commodities rose earlier and faster
than the prices of labor. That such must always
sec. Whenever the amount Of currency in circula-
lion is increased, the Increment is always first in
the hand. of he Government |. b. first paid 10 those
who have To sell what the Government has 70 buy
that is 10 say to contractors ana men employed by
the Government at a fixed salary Ihe contractors
sell under the influence of the new demand having
hon chit their supplies at lower market before the
new demand was felt The contractors therefore
receive the first advantage from The Iise IN prices
Having Exhausted their supplies the contractors 60
TO the Obbers the iObhcrs IN turn 10 the mauufac-
turers and wholesale dealers. and finally the manu-
facfurers ana wholesale dealers To the producers
aud labOrcrs. Nor "A perfectly Obvious reason,
therefore, The producers ana labofcrs are
in condition 10 profit last and least
by whatever increase OF prices may occur.
stated in The simplest general form. II - because
the pces Of what they have to bus lthe necessities
Of fo always must rise before rise can axe place
IN what they have 10 sell thcIr Labor, whereas WIN
the other classes the order il just the opposite" 1t
needs scarcely 10 he said that when prices are IN
crease those profit bv the change who have the ar
ticcs Of increasing price To SELL not those wEO nave
them TO buy. But simple aS TINS ruin II, u H. tnc
secret OF the enormous fortunes which were made III
our civil by contractors and OF the general pros
perty OF merchants. Statistics show that the prices
Of materials advanced with much greater idplnity
than did the Prices Of labor. Thus, 10 take only n
single example. when the cost of LIVING had m
creased 100 per cent The prices % labor had
increased only 60 per cent. And If the draft of la
boring men into the army had not been 80 cnoruo
the amount of labor III the market would have been
80 much greater as 10 have kept the price OF labor
ST I'll lower
Now these principles showed their power III Eng
land nj the time which are considering. Bust
ness of vari0us kinds had become enormously IN
atcd. In 1910, thirteen years alter the suspension
of specie payments, the number of banks in the
country had more than doubled. In the course OF
those years there had been alterations of Hoods
and dearths of money, of oXutatIOu aud OF panic.
At length n crash came, and National bankruptcy
seemed TO mpend. Miss MarlIneau, writing III her
ad vanced years OF the remembrance OF that event,
uses these picturesque words: Those OF Us who
were children III those daes can never forget the IN
cessant talk by the iireslde about probable Ma
tIona bankruptcy. IL seemed by the gravity of pa
rents faces 10 lie something very terrible that was
expected; but children could not help thinking
that there would be something very amusing in hav-
ing no money, and everybody brought 10 state OF
barter and all, except landowners, having to begin
the world again and start fair" 1t was. perhaps,
good thing for the nation that these young Com
munists did not have the ballot
But the fact is not to be lost sight Of that while
individual banks and individual business houses
were falllng all over the Kingdom. no class rs u