The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1889-02-15
Y, CECIL COUNTY, ND, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY l5 1889.

United States will have superior ad
uantages in her commercial intercourse
with those countris having the silver
standard.
One of the principal objections to the
paper money is that it has no fixed
commercial value in foreign countries
and can not in any sense be money ol
universal use. The same is true to q
certain extent of gold. 1t never can
be universal money. It may have q
commodity value in every part of the
world, but two-thirds of the inhabitants
Of the globe will continue to use the
white metal as money.
The only practicable way to again at.
tain common measure of value
throughout the world is to return to
the double standard. By such action
the relative value Of the two metals
would be fixed, and by the use of silver
as we'll as gold the volume of the cir
culat.ng medium would be largely in
creased. Recent discoveries of gold
and silver mines and improved methods
of mining give reasonable assurance of
a sufficient supply, if both metals ars
used as money, to increase the volume
of currency to correspond with the in
crease of population and the necessity
for the use Of money. No such pros
pect was ever before presented to man.
In all previous ages the want of means
of travel and transportation and the
crude methods Of mining limited, with
few exceptions, the supply of the pree-
ious metals to less than the necessities
Of the people required. Every country
which has had the good fortune to be
an exception to the general money
famine Of the world has exhibited won.
derful progress in civilization and a
marvellous increase in the enjoyment Of
the comforts and luxuries Of life.
HOW MONEY AFFECTS CIVILIZATION.
The researches of Jacob and other
historians into the production of the
precious metals disclose the fact that
the Israelites, at the zenith of their
glory. were abundantly supplied with
gold and silver; that their prosperous
neighbors, the Phenicians, gathered
the precious metals from India, Africa,
Arabia, Spain, and the Islands of the
MEDITERRANEAN; that Egypt. at the time
of the Pharaohs, possessed large accum-
ulations Of gold and silver from the
mines of Nubia. At this time the in
habitants of Greece and Rome were
semi.barbarians, but in the eighth Gen.
tury before Christ the Greeks COM
menced to accumulate and coin money.
From that time forward the circulat.
ing medium increased with the devel-
opment of civilization. When archi-
lecture, sculpture, painting, and litera
ture reached their greatest perfection
in that country Greece was abundantly
supplied with gold and silver coin.
The history Of the rise Of the Roman
Empire is history of conquest and
accumulation of gold and silver. Ali
the mines of these metals then known
to exist we're gradually turned over to
the domination of Rome by the con-
quest of Carthage, Spain, Germany.
Greece, Western Asia. and Egypt, and
all accumulations ofthe precious mstals
which could be found in those coun-
tries were taken and appropriated by
the Romans.
At the time of Augustus the mineral
wealth Of the world was concentrated
in his dominion. The nations of an.
cient times decayed and their civiliza-
ton was destroyed when their gold and
silver disappeared. The decay and
ruin of the Roman Empire followed or
kept pace with the loss of her stores of
precious metals. Jacob estimates the
coined monsy of the empire at the time
of Augustus at about eighteen hundred
millions. The value of the accumula.
tions of gold and silver used as orna-
ments or uncoinsd can not be ascertain.
ed, but it was probably several hun
dred millions.
Following the reign of Agustus in
ternal dissensions, domestic and for
eign wars, abandonment of mining, and
wear and loss Of gold and silver COCA
stoned rapid decrease of the stock of