The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1891-05-29
ANOTHER CHEAP MONEY EXPERT
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MENT.

MClNts
The Century for May: At the close
Of the Revolutionary War the people Of
Rhode Island found themselves in ex-
treme poverty and heavily burdened
with their share Of the national debt.
The war had seriously crippled their
trade, upon which they we're mainly
dependent, and in their distress the
people, instead Of waiting patiently for
relief to come by the slow process of
rebuilding their trade, turned to paper
money for relief. They began to clam
OF for paper bank in 1855, and when
petitions for such bank were rejected
by the General Assembly, new party
was organized with paper money as its
chief principle. They went before the
Assembly again in 1856, and their petit
tions for a paper bank we're met with
counter-petitions against it, signed by
the merchants of Providence,9 and the
project was defeated again byla vote of
two to one. They then carried the
question into the elections, and won a
surprising victory, gaining control of
the General Assembly by large ma
jority. This body assembled in May
1887, and one of its first acts was the
passing of law establishing paper
money bank Of one hundred Thousand
pounds. The bills were to be loaned to
the people on the principle of the Eng
lish Land Bank, though on much less
generous terms.
Every farmer or merchant who came
to borrow money must pledge real estate
for double the amount desired. The
money was to be loaned to the people
upon this pledge according to the ap-
portionlnent of the last tax, and must be
paid into the treasury at the end of
fourteen years. Great expectations
were entertained by the farmers of the
beneficent results which were to follow
upon this new influx of wealth. "Many
from all parts of the state" !" says Nc
Master in a very interesting chapter
upon the subject in his History of the
People of the United States," "made
haste to avail themselves of their good
fortune, and mortgaged fields strewn
thick with stones and covered with ce-
dars and stunted pines for sums such as
could not have been obtained for the
richest pastures. They had, however,
no sooner obtained the money and
sought to make the first payment at the
butchers or the bakers than they found
that heavy discount was taken from
the face value" s'-e''.-
The depreciation of the new money
began literally with its issue. Every
merchant and tradesman in the state
refused to receive it for its face value,
and the holders Of it refused to make
any discount. The General Assembly
came to the aid of the bank and sought
oigive Its paper money full value by
statutory enactment. A forcing act
was passed subjecting any. person who
refused to take the bills in payment for
goods on The same terms as specie, or
should in any way discourage their cir
culation on such terms, toa fine of one
hundred pounds and to his rights as a
freeman. This made matters worse
than ever. Merchants and traders re-
fused to make any sales whatever, many
of them closing their shops, disposing
their stocks by barter, and going out Of
business. In fact money almost ceased
to circulate at all. Nearly all kinds Of
business was transacted by barter, rents
were paid in grain and other commodi
ties, and the only people who used the
paper money we're those who had bor
rowed it on their land. The chief cit
les Of the state, Providence and New
port, presented very remarkable spec
tacle. Half their shops were closed
their inhabitants idle, and their streets
animated only by groups of angry ane
contentious men blaming one another
for the blight which had fallen upor
their business and Industries. In ordel
to retaliate upon the merchants and
traders for refusing to take their money
the farmers refused to bring their pro
duce to market. A famine was SO immin
ent in Providence because OF the with
holding of supplies that town meeting
was called to devise means for obtaining
the necessaries of life. To provide i'm
mediate relief for persons in want o
bread five hundred dollars was author
lied to be borrowed and sent abroad t,
buy corn to be sold or bartered by tn
town council. In Newport mol
brought on riot by attempting to fore
grain dealers to sell corn for pape
money.
In August, about two months after tn
establishment of the bank. affairs be
came so desperate that a state conyen
tion controlled by the country town
adopted a report recommending tn