Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1881-02-03
WHAT is INITIATION?

Ililldllull, liltI 10, lllC NuSU NUlulllt Ol
money thrown into the channels of
trade by the necessities Of great
emergency, limited only by reaching Il
maximum Of war expenditures, without
any regard to the business necessities
OF the country tended to produce an un-
natural initiation of prices. Everything
was forced up to an unnatural height,
and the fall of 1873 to bed rock, or
hard pan, was only collapse of the
inflated balloon to its normal proper
tiOns.
Hugh McCulloch in his report De-
cember, 1866, said:
"Thc amount issued was entirely AZ
bitrary 50 far as the business interests
Of the country were concerned, and alto
gethcr in excess of the demands of
trade, us is evident by the high prices
borne hy every kind of commodity.
This currency, lgrcenback) cannot con-
tract or expand from natural causes.
There is no element about it in SYM
pathy with the commercial and in
duSlrial interests Of the country. The
power Of issuing notes to circulate as
money is too dangerous to be placed at
the mercy of political parties in a gov
crnmcnt like ours"
1t was said that the abnormal inlla-
tiOn Of the currency volume during the
war bcgot extravaganza and wild
speculation resulting in the ruinous
reaction Of 1873. But what shall we
style the present condition of the coun-
try, Judging from the wall street re-
ports? For weeks flaming headlines
like the following appear each morn
ing at the top of the commercial bul-
IetinS: Blooms Piled on BOOms in the
Stock Market" "AnOthcr Great Ad-
vance in Priccs:" "The Bulls at the
Fr@nt;' ~ Period of Unparalleled
Prosperity" "Wild Speculation in
Wall Street"
The scenes of 1866 are being repro
du;cd, the excitement, extravaganza
AMI wild speculation OF that period are
being repeated on grander scale.
The former was the result of an ar
bitrary increase of the money volume
from $lO0,OO0,00O to $980,000,O0O.
The latter is the result of what is
termed "national outgrOwth of COM
mcrcal movements
In his recent report the comptroller
Of the currency announces that our
money volume has been enlarged since
JanuTy |, 1879, by some S63j,O00000
Of coin and bank currency.
January l, 1879, the circulation was
rs follows:
National banl; notes. ........... S32O,13l,5O0
LcgailvNderS. erS................, HG,6Sl ,Ol6
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. SGGG,Slj,j20
November /, 1880, the comptroller
reports as follows:
National bank notes. ............}S }S3l2, ,0f345l
lrg0l-lrnderS. rS....t.............. I1 ,6Sl ,OlO
G4Id ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. l5l,Ol2,OW
Silver. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. ljS,2Tl,3l7
Iotnl OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. ,3O2, ,O27. .S24
Deduct amount 1879. GGG,Slj,j2O
Total increase in two years. SG3j,2l2,3Ol
. A volume of $9SO,OOO,OOO in 1866
was called initiation, because it was
forced into circulation by the arbitrary
power of the government without any
regard to the demands of business. Its
effects were business boom, high
prices, general activity all along the
line, and an unparalleled degree of
prosperity. The bankers said these
were delusivc, transitory, unreal, the
inflated imagcries to delrious brains,
because they could not exist only so
long as the inflated volume of emer-
gcncy money existed. Well, the coun-
try finally got back to reality in 1873,
but after seven years of dearth and
famine on the sands and husks of hard
pan, its "business men have again
intoxicated the whole country by
doubling the currency volume since
1873. Speaking of this last expansion
Of the money volume, the Chicago
Times say
PRO- fly speaking, there is now
no iDf. f.,CiOn at all That term should
not nc used in regard to such an in
crease Of the volume of the currency as
grows out Of commercial movements,
instead Of an arbitrary act Of Con-
gress."
If one thing more than another is
needed in this country it is a new yo-
cabulaly Of words to express fool ideas
like the above quotation.
The questions involved are:
|. Was il possible to maintain per-
manently the quality and the quantity
Of the currency of 1866, and conse-
quently the prosperity of that period {?
If it was, then there was no unnatural
imitation, but it was impossible and un-
wise contraction which produced the
disastrous results of 1873.
.. Is it possible to maintain our
present volume of money and the pres
cnt degree Of prosperity produced by
our increased volume, when half of it
is oXportable coin, liable to leave us
WhcnYer our market offers superior
Inducements to foreign commodities :?
If ii cannot be maintained,i if prices are
above the worlds level, and have been
made so on account of our having
more of the worlds money than an
equitable proportion then there is inlla-
ton.
Initiation of money consists of u
volume that cannot be maintained
permanently. Imitation of prices con-
sists of rates that cannot be permanent
ly maintained.
If we had initiation in 1866 we GER
tainly have in 1880, and if imitation
with all its attendant and prospective
evils is as liable to result from the out
growth Of commercial movements as
from arbitrary act of Congress, what
advantage does the former offer over
those Of the latter?
Proper initiation never injured a pco-
pie. 1t is unjust contraction that kills
and it matters not whether contraction
is the result of funding paper legal
tenders, or exporting gold ones. The
former can be prevented by arbitrary
acts of Congress, and the latter cannot
be OWNED even by commercial move.
ments.
Isn't it lovely, Mr.. Robinson" said Miss
FitZrOy, as she dnntilv held nm hpr sl,irts