St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-31
MISTAKEN VIEWS
As to What Causes the Present
Monetary Disturbance.

AS to What Causes the Present
Monetary Disturbance.
To the Editor OF the Globe.
The present state of uneasiness and
depression may well be said to be a
condition" resulting from a combiDa-
ton OF causes and not upon any one
theoretical problem. Such conditions
are not unknown to many of the older
IN the community; some, perhaps, re-
memberIng that of 1887, many that of
1857. and more that of 1878. 1t certainly
seems surprising that, with the history
OF these at our command and the ex-
perlence within our Gn knowledge, the
people of this section will allow them
selves to be hoodwinked into the false
idea that any one thing has brought
about this depression. Great minds
nave at these various times en-
deavored to theoriZe and discover
the great underlying cause OF
these disasters: one SAYS that it is un-
d0ubtedly caused by the sun spots.
Which directly affect the energies and
capabilities of the whole human race;
another SAYS that the cause is the great
oyerproduction by the manufactures:
still another that the great influx Of EN-
lgrantS, which cheapenS labor and
brings about a greater struggle for eX-
lStence; andiyet another says lis caused
by the great spectators in Wall street
and the policies of banks. Now we
nave 1t from some that silver, silver
alone, Is the cause of this condition of
affairs. 1t is the great bugaboo, the
nightmare, that is causing the bankers
ana DeOUle such SippOleSS OiVnfS
All that can De said regarding
these theories is. that it is folly 10 sup
pose that any one of them is entirely
right or that any is entirely wrong.
These depressiOns are the elimination
OF many conditions and circumstances
running over series of years, and it
would be just as sensible to suppose
that the French revolution or our civil
war was the result of some one particular
act OF the government or some immedi-
ate condition of affairs. instead of being
the grand outbursts Of feeling OF years
OF proyOcatiOn.
Sucn crises as these are, as J. Stuart
Mill says, 1.-The consequence of an ex-
cess OF speculative purchases. Its
immediate cause Is contrac-
ton of credit. and the remedy,
not dimlnutiOn OF supply,
but restoration of confidence" it is
the result of a sudden annihilation of a
large mass of credit, such as real estate
securities after boom DAYS, and every
body is boarding his cash. There comes
great desire to obtain money, and a
general liquidation takes place Causing
prices to fall, securities to contract, and
. when these conditions are at their
worst the world looks around tor the
cause. A few wiseacres now start the
cry of stop thief silver" ana away they
go, and poor silver tumble5 for want of
friends. Where was silver in the hard
times of 1897. 1857 and 1879? "Oh, where
was Roderick then? One blast upon
his bugle horn were worth 4 thousand
men," But now it is Obliged, through
the false theories Of those who can but
look at an effect without reasoning out
the cause in their eagcrneSS to shine, To
bear the bruHC of this terrible load,
brought on US through the insane and
unreasonable real estate and stock spec
ulatiVe era we have Just passed through,
and from which erect we are now SUI
fering. We're this condition the result
of silver legislation, we would of c0uIse
expect that a gold country would be
correspondence prosperous; but this is
not borne out in fact. Australia is a
good example. England herself can
not boast of much better times.
while we rarely. if ever, hear of dis
asterS or panic in France or SwItzer-
land, both bi-metalist countries. 10 be
sure. the volume of trade Is not com
parable with ours. yet their conditions
and circumstances could be similar.
1t is absolutely necessary to have a
medium of exchange in civilized
countries for the prosecution of their
trade and commerce, and it is confess
eddy impossible to supply that medium
in gold alone, unless those theorists
who advocate a gold basis want to con-
tinually enhance its value, which can
but be the result of the diSprUpOrtiOn
Of its production with the increase of
population. which can but result
in the great depreciation of other
necessary substitutes for exchange.
The growing scarcity of the gold
medium would necesSltate the SubstiIu-
ton of other temporary circulating
mediums, such as paper, silver, or the
like. which would depreciate in value
in proportion TO that scacrity.
Let us, however, be reasonable. and
take the bull by the horns, and not the
tail, and realize the true causes of these
trying times, and not be deluded deeper
into the mire by any Wlll-O'-t he-wisp
like the silver cry, and do what we can
to help better the conditions by having
and keeping that confidence in the
great Northwest, our solid city of st.
Paul and its financial institutions
which will give moral tone and sup
port to other localities less fortunate.
LEEDnM SHARP.