The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1891-08-14
/ Fnnl,s Paradise.
IFrom the NashvIne Amerlean. J


| TO the people OF the United States an eX-
| ample from the terrible results which
| come from turning government into a
| money extending Institution. The entire
| collapse and ruin OF d thrifty and pros
| per Gus people, brought about by the
| very schemes advocated by Petter and
| Stanford, Is well pictured III an article
| in the Century Magazine for August.
| The article is headed The Argentine
| Cheap Money Paradise. The Argentine
! Republic has a government very similar
| to Jhat OF the L United States. Ihe peo-
| pie are an energetic and pushing race,
| continually added to by Immigrants
| from the Old World. The increase in
| wealth and power of the country has
| been greater prOpOrtiOnately even than
! thai OF the United States. Some years
| ago the people suffered CHECK III tnelr
| development and they conceived the
| idea that what they needed was cheap
| money and plenty of it. They reasoned
! that il land could be used rs a basis TO
issue money on by the Government,
| that the security would be perfect and
business would be enormously in
| creased. The Government empowered
! the National Bank to issue mUrtagage
| bonds to any land owner to the amount
| of One-half of the appraised value OF his
| lands. These bonds were called
| "cedulas," and were traded in on the
| Stock Exchange. During seventeen
years there was loaned out i'll this way
| 1854, ,0OO,000, which amounted to $40 for
| GNOTY man. "OIlldH anu III OhO
country. With the advent of the Gov
! ernment in the nIoney-lendlng business
| Il wild debauch OF speculation seized on
| the people. All kinds OF property ac-
| quiIed fictitious value, and were made
| the basis of loans at that valuation.
| Mushroom banking, building and
| colonization enterprises sprang up,
| designed to boom the value OF property
| and Increase its loanable capacity. The
| country was thickly studded over with
| inint stock cOinD1nl6S. whose business
| IL was to get from the bank loans for
| many times the real value of the prop
| erty upon which they We're based.
| Then came the crash. Bad crops, a
| let-up i'll immigration, men wanting
gold to send abroad. Probably a desire
| on the part of the people to unload on
| one another at the high prices. The
| paper money fell II per cent. in value,
preciated to point whore it took 500
| TO buy 500 in gold. MilliOnaires, many
| time mIlliOnaires, well-tO-do people,
| farmers and mechanics, all found them
| selves paupers together. \ United
| States Minister to another South Ameri-
| can country describes the situation as
| follows: ''ln six months the people
| have passed from commercial activity
| and enthusiasm to depression, from
/ happiness to misery, from confidence to
| despair. They have taken Niagara
| plunge from which they will not recOv-
| or in generation. The worst OF the
| scheme was that it offered lrreslstable
| temptatiOm to bribery. 1t made II pOSSl-
| BILE for any man who owned real estate
| to get almost any quantity OF money II
| he would only swear falsely. An &C
quaintance of mIne had nice farm
| there which he valued at $4,000. The
law would give him loan to one-halt
| the value; that value to be fixed by the
| appraisers. He saw the appraisers,
| and he obtained a loan of Government
| money, 'cedula,' amounting to S250,OOO,
| 4. .y,a WV loan nnrnittp1 hV law to
| one person. Think of it! And the
| money was iEdOrsed by the Earrings,
the great London bankers. OF course
| the appraisers got half OF II, but the
| people have it to pay"
Mr.. E. l.. Baker, United States Consul
| at Buenos AyreS says: 1.-The collapse
has come, and with vengeance. Lands
| uusalable at any price. National banks
| Quilted and with not cent in then
| strong boxes; stock companies with
| fraudulent entries i'll their records, and
without anything to show tor the pre-
| tensions they set up; merchants unable
t. meet their liabilities in bank; notes
protested and extension granted; the
. | renerai business ut II Stand-Still; banks
hositating to discount; nobody able tC
| say whom II Is safe TO trust; Such Is the
| picture which the country presents TO
day. Every business, every industry
| every new enterprise feels and suffers
from the tremendous reaction which
has taken place"
The truth Is Jn6 ATB6uIlu6 ISGpuDllN
! is suffering from a paralysis OF credit
| The FOOLS paradise in which the ArSen
| tine people have been living for the last
| few years must be wiped out. This syS
TEN was advocated and pressed on the
Argentine people with the same argu
ments which are being used III this
country bv such demagOgues as Sena
| tor Stamford and Senator PETER, Simp
son and Terrill. The panic in the Ar
| gentine Republic reacted in Europe anC
This country; 1t ruined the great bank
| ing house OF Barring Bros. and is IL
large part the cause OF the abnorma
. tightness of the money market here
Have any reasons bcen given by the
advocates of fiat money, loaned on lane
or crops by the Government, why the
same causes will not be followed by tn
! same effects hero as in the Argentln
Republic? Are the American people 50
much more virtuous than others ina
; there would be no danger of damaged
cotton or wheat being used as collatera
> to raise money on in a sub-treaSury
: ! Are America an officials so incorruptlbl
= that appraisers all over the cOuntr.
/ could not be "Seen" by the possessOr
| Of land and the excess in value allowed
E divided by the lying owner and the ~
| ing appraiser? Would not the Who'll
= thing be premium to rascality? Thl
e is one of those details which Mr.. Ma
: cune thinks no great inventor OF
, | scheme should be required to trouDl
: himself about. Mr.. Stanford is one G
l the largest holders ofland in the Unlte
= | States. There is much method in tn
e | madness which leads him to adVOcat
a scheme by which he could borrow tw
4 or three times its vain o from the GOV
n ernment on land whi ch he has not bee
n able to sell.