Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1882-03-09
How Venice Discarded Specie and Led
the World.

| nave eSteclal euuOWlnenlS tliI " |
achieve especial destinies.
Thus, the republic Of Athens deyel- |
oped literature and the fine arts TO al
extent never before dreamed Of, and
meyer since excellcd. The republic OF
Rome carried jurisprudence far beyond
its predecessors, and even now some
of its legislation is nCqualled, but it
was reserved for tie republic OF
Venice by disCarding "inyeieling for
eign alliances" resulting from the use
of specie in domestic exchanges, to
obtain and maintain o commercial su-
premacy never yet riTalled by equal
populations and territory, and. hy her
example, to teach the younger rspuG-
lie of France to come out almost
scatheless from "a devastating war
which otherwise would have crippled
her for century IL she had escaped
being obli.erated from the map OF
Europe
The Venetian system Of finance was
a growth rather than creation; an
evolution rather than theory.
Thanked on each side by more veal
thy, powerful and quarrelsomc neigh
bors, she found herself in HI com
PEELED by all dictates Of self-lesleGt 10
retaiate. She found her resources
rapidly being depleted, ard was com.
PEELED to have recourse TO compulsory
drafts on her citizens, not for men, but
mone5. With as stern and inilexible
impeliousneSg a3 in our troubles we
impressed citiz 'rs she impressed cash,
giving credit therefor on the govern
mert books, and promising to pay, not
the principal. but four per cent inter.
est.
Tie Bank of Venice was founded TO
administer these new conditions, and
such wGs the cOnsummate wisdom OF
its course, tempered both by careful
conservatism and iudicious enterprife,
that it soon grew to be the admiration
of The world.
BY its potency in maintaining the ar
mics Of the Crusaders, and thus cnaOl.
ing them to keep the Geld against the
Mohamlnedans, it preserved LuTopc
from Saracen invasion possibly to 10
followed by extinction of Christianity
Anyhow, the Pope of Rome was 50
profoundly impressed with the services
rendered by the Venetian republic to
Christianity in this matter, that in
HI, only six years after the arbitrary |
impres5ment of ducats above recorded, |
ard the formation of the bank, for
mally endowed, its chief magistrate
the doge Ziani, with the dominion OF
the sea presenting him at tho same
time with ring and saying, Take
this as a pledge Of authority over the
sea, and marry her every year, you and
your successors forever, in order that
all may know she is under your ilGis.
dicton, and that | have placed her
under yorr dominion as = wife under
the dominion CT her husband"
For centuries the custom of marry |
ing the sea was yearly repeated with
grea pomp by successive duges, ring
being dropped into the AdriatIc as
| ptlt VI lIt GtltulOllIN'
Two centuries later the commerce
of Venice had been so nuriurcd hy her
wise monetary legislation that her ahip-
ping consisted of 5000 vessels of 100
TO 200 tons each, emrloring HOOO
sailors, 800 ships Of larger size with
5000 sailors, and As war ships with
11,OOO.
She was not ltss active on the land.
Sir Walter Scott, in one of his charm
int pcnsanh,ink pictures, after fully
describing The gOrgeOtS camps and
equipages of the Crusaders, briefly adj |
verts to the effective although less bril-
liant Venetian cavalIF, and puts the
most striking touches by pottraying
the citizen of Venice, to whom mad
been delegated the care of the republics
Interest as devoid Of ornament as was
Abraham Lincoln when in a plain
frock coat he reviewed the armiss of
this republic. SCOTS words are:
"IIis Tthe jeweled leaders authority
was more in show than substance; for
there paced beside him on an amb ing
palfrey Of the soberest mood a tile
old man, dressed eutireIy in black, with
out beard or mustache, and having
an appearance altogether mean aud in
significant when compared with the
blate Of splendor around him. But
this mean.i3cBing old man was one OF
those deputies whom the Venetian
government sent into the caihfi to
overlook the conduct of the generals
ard 10 maintain that system of control
which had long distinguished the policy
of the republic"
The question naturally arose IS to-
what was Che mysterious power which
so developed that repUblic, whose area
was less than that of our State Of New
Hampshire, and whose population
then could not have out-numbered that
of Massachusetts, now, that vested in
her such distinguished leadership in
commerce. and finance, and information
al control.
1t is ascribable to the one fact that,
while all her contemporaries and c)m-
| petitors cireumscribed their exchanges
to specie equivalents, she boldly dis
carded such fallacy, and employing her
! specie resources in loans abroad, Stinu
lated a.d subtained her home industry
!. and commerce by utiliSitg her credit
, as legal tender for domestic trahsac-
D tions:
Fot when as above noted, she had
In I'LL drafted the money 5f her citi.
, gens for the use of the republic, exact
! ly as our republic drafted men IN q
h like emergency, she made the credits
5 resulting therefrom transferable, and
y the sole legal tehaet in her commerce
r She at first granted All ltitetFst OF four
5 per cent on such credits, but soo!), zee
, ing that tet citizens deemed these
. creditors more valuable Tor currency
E than investment purposes, she cropped
(. the interest entirely, and carried her
5 public debt solely BY tresns, Of her
" transferable credits, substantially THE
q same as this republic now floats some
i. hupd-eds Of millions of dollars OF dept]
!, by using greeRbscks as currency
. Savery in his Dictionaty Of Com
|, merce-article Bank, crudely dehnes
!, the operation Of this legal lender lea
!, ture thus: .,,,,