The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-09-13

labor was employed, money as paens
tisul, and the people were free from
debt. That was the condiion of the
Northern States In 1866. What was
the condition of the South when the
war closed? Trodden down by two
armies, vanquished, Inundated, they
had nothing left but the water and the
air and the land, and as you, my com
TRdee, they did not have fences around
their plantations for we always took
the top rail. Laughter.l The South
was desolate
Where was the money that was in
circulation when the war clOeed2 Tt
was in the Northern States, all with
the 25, 600, 900 people. What effect did
the close of the war have on the money
In circulation in the North9 Let me
illustrate the fact. Suppose / have In
front of me here two reservoirs of wa
ter, large one on my right full of wa
ter and small one on my left empty.
If take down the partition wall, as a
matter of course the water will flow
from the large reservoir into the small
one. When the war closed the North
was e,big reservoir full of money and
prosperity, and the South was the lit
tie one, empty, and when you took
away the line of bay and soldiers
between the North and South, much
money had to flow from the North to
the South, leaving less in the North.
Certainly if there had been nothing
else done affecting our financial stand
ing except the close of the war, that of
necessity would have made money
scarcer in the North, because fair
share of the money had to go South to
rehabilitate that section of the country.
How much money had we in the North
when the war closedq
MONEY IN THE NORTH.
lido not wish to exaggerase. Itwould
not do for man representing this re-
form movement to come out before the
country and miHepresent the figures
or exaggerate, and hence defy criti-
cism upon the facts which intend to
give this audience to night Applause
I have debated this question in Con-
gress and outside for ten or fifteen.
years, and have examined the original
entries in the Treasury Department to
verify my information, and have
brought along with me tonight a wit
ness who will not be called in question.
I hold in my hands speech delivered
by Mr. John j. Knox, the Comptroller
of the Currency after the war closed.
He is Repub lican who had charge of
the question he was talking about,
and he was too shrewd to misstate the
question against himself. This speech
Is published in the proceedings of the
National Bankers Association, held in
Pittsburg, Pa, in 1887.
ca pages 20 and 21, Mp Knox an
sWers the question as to how much
money we had at the close of the war,
About four years after the war had
commenced, to-wit, August, 1865, which
was after its close the public debt
amounted to $2, ,845, 9O7, ,426, and in
cluded In this huge mountain of in
debtedness were ST., $40, 600. 600 of Treas
ury notes, more than 81, SOC, 900, 900 of
which were legal tender. If tempo
rary loans, payable In three years, and
one-year certificates should be included
in the aggregate the whole would
amount to considerably more than.
three fourths of the entire national
debt, or to 81, 707, 600, 00e. Is will be
noted that Mr.. Knox does not include
in this statement the $146, 900, 600 Of
national bank notes then in circula-
tion, and have the report of Mr.. Nc
Cullough to prove that.
Nor does it include $58, 600, 900 of the
State bank notes still In circulation |;
nor does it include 500, 000, 900 or more
in specie which was used to pay the
interest on the public debt, and you
add these three items to the other, and
it gives you over s., 600, 600, 900 at the
time of the close of the war, and every
dollar of 1t was in the hands of the
people. Applause
ISSUED IN LIEU OF BONDS.
That would be $50 per capi.a 25, ,00O,-
900 of people. EApplause.l But, says
the critic, that included $3.50, 600, 900 of
$50 bonds. 1t included z 80 Treasury
notes, and the law expressly says in
black and white that they were issued
in lieu of bonds. Applause Not
only that, but have Secretary McCul-
lough's report here, in which he says
that large quantities of them were in
circulation as money, all Of which went
to swell the circulating medium of the
country. That is the report of the
Secretary to Congress, the first one
after the war closed, December 4. 1866,
and those z 80 Treasury notes were
issued as bank reserves. They drew
Z soc. interest, and the bankers got
hold Of them as soon as they could and
used them In their large transactions
and for bank reserves. But let US sup
pose for a moment that you should ex-
clude the seven thirties
That would still leave 81, 2O0, 600. 900
of currency circulating among 25, 600,
900 of people; which is $48, per capita.
No wonder that times were good IN the
North, that prices were high and labor
employed. What was the real con
dition9 I quote here from Secretary
Mccullough, on page 1873: The peo
pie are now comparatively free from
debt. There is an immense volume of
money in circulation. says Mr.. Nc
Cullough, December 4 1865. Well,
Mr.. Mccullough, were they going into