The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-12-23
HOW LONG. OH HOW LONG?
Words of Wisdom From One Of Americas
Ablest Political Economists.

HOW LONG. OH! HOW LONG?
Words of Wisdom From One Of Americas
Ablest Political Economists.
I Ten years ago (and it is good read
ing today. says the Chicago Sentinel)
Henry Carey Baird of philadelphia
one of the ablest ana most eminent
political economists of the age writ
ing from Europe said:
How long. oh! how long are the
fifty millions Of people of our great
country, with their immense business
and other interests their peace and
happiness indeed. their lives to be
made the victims of financial quack-
eryp Will they never rise to a full
realization of the enormous sacrifices
which have been. are now. and in the
future will be demanded of them by
those in power who would make the
commerce among men subserviert to
such volume of money as the stupid
| rulers themselves consider enough.
as If any one could of his own judy
ment properly decide such question?
Pretty close observation over a wide
extent OF territory and under various
governments in Europe has more than
convinced me of the wonderful re-
sources and the power. developed
and latent OF our own country, and of
the necessity under which we stand
of having DONE once and for all
with the petty. huckstering states
manship OF the past and the present
and OF having men in power who will
embody into our national legislation
! and administration broad and COM
prehensive views entirely in harmony
with our capabilities and our aspra-
tions. In nothing else is the new de-
parture more needed than in the man
agement of our money and our finan-
ces involving. as it does the instru-
mem of association-the vital the
| e-giving principle of all the rela-
tions of man in society with his iel.
| low.mer.
Under existing circumstances it
| was right for the secretary of the
treasury to interfere as he had DONE
| because the government arbitrarily
limits the volume OF money! and of
| this limited amount keeps hundreds
of millions in the treasury as useless
as so many paving stones; but what a
travesty on government it is that
| such state of things can arise as
shall require such interference; what
condemnation of the secretary him.
SELF seeing that he has been obliged
to interfere. while congress refused
to adopt his recommendation, made
| less than ten months since to cease
the coinage of silver dyllars and to
| retire the silver certificates of which
| latter there were in circulation on
| September l. 1882, 500, 44O. 21O.
Let me venture the prediction that
| this is but the first of long line OF
measures by the United States treas
ury looking to the same end-the ar
resting of the final and inevitable So
called financial crisis really and only
a collapse of our bank and business
credit systems. Our sage rulers the
McCullochs the Shermans and the
| Garfelds. refused to let us have a..
volume of money in harmony with
the work-the commerce to be per-
| formed and the alternatives were a
Limitation OF that commensurate
tary stagnation and death-or an in
fation of credits which latter have
grown with the necessities of business
| until the superstructure Of the in
| verted pyramid will soon be too broad
for the narrow basis of money upon
which it is reared.
Those who predict early dissolu-
ton of the Greenback party must be
| entirely ignorant of the ground upon
which we stand financially the real
fact being that in spite of the enor-
nous sacrifices by which resumption
was brought about-certainly gagged
financially. over $50. 600. 900. OOO-its
| failure is as certain as any event in
the future Of the United States. The
| Greenback ideas are the ideas of the
future. for a people so intelligent, so
practical. so enterprislng as the Amer
leans who Will refuse to follow a
ruinous theory beyond a certain point
far so that may appear to those who
| do not believe in the theory, and who
cannot but lose patience with those
| VINO follow it. even to their ruin.
When another collapse of the cred
| it system comes it will find in
the United States people who will
be quite prepared to grapple with the
difficulty and put an END to condi-
ton OF things which periodically
brings ruin. misery and unhappiness
| to almost the entire nation. The
mil S of the gods grind slowly. but they
grind exceedingly fine "-only wait!