The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-02-07

they had declined in Europe = lsS 5
than 300, 900; and the %ak9nLlS oru
not come Until fOIIOwingthe lscOV y
Of America bv Columbus, the silver
and gold chiefly the silver, OF the Ne"
World no1red into the lap OF Europe
She then awoke from her Iethargy OF
Centuries and entered upon a career
of intelIectual, commercial n nous
trial progress never before known Inc
British historian, Sir Archibald Ahison,
says; +ho nov in the career
of renovation; when he spread MS sans
Eacross the Atlantic he bore manKlnd
and it's fortunes in his bark. The mines
of Mexico and Peru were opened to Eu-
ropean enterprise. The annual supply
of the precious metals for the use of
the globe was trip}ed; x x the
weight of debt and taxes instantly
wore off under the influence of that
prodigiOus increase in the renovation
! of industry; the relations of society
were changed; the weight of feudalism
cast off, the rights of man established.
| Among the many COncurrlng causes
| which ~conspired to bring about this
mighty COnsummatiOn the most ImpOr-
tant, though hitherto, the least ob-
| served, was the discovery of the mines
of Mexico and Peru" (History of Eu.
rope, volume l. page 1O)
After depicting IN graphic language
| the distress which prevailed IN En- gland
Fand on the continent for much of the
time from the peace of 1916 to 1849,
caused by the contraction of the cur
rency, the value of the continued work
of the miner is recognized by the same
author in the following eloquent word
eff the circulating medium Of the
| globe had remained stationary or de-
| clining, as it was from 1915 to 1889,
| from the effects Of South American evO-
luti0ns and English legislation, the
necessary result must ha e been that
it would have become altogether iHade-
Quate to the wants of men; and not
only would industry have been every
where camped, but the prices of pro
duce would have universally and con,
| stautly fallen. MONEY would have be
! come more valuable, all other articles
measured in money less SO Debts and
taxes wOul1 have been constantly in
Creasing In weight and opposition; the
fate which crushed Rome IN ancient
and has all but crushed Great Britain
in modern times would have been that
of the whole family of mankind.
"All these evils have been entirely
obviated and the opposite set of bless
ings introduced by the opening Of the
or at reserve treasures of nature in
California and Australia x A
fate the precise reverse Of that which
destroyed Rome and SO sorely dis
tressed England is reserved for the
great family Of mankind. When the
discovery Of the compass, Of the art of
printing, and Of the New World had
given an extraordinary impulse to hui
man activity in the sixteenth century,
the silver mines Of Mexico and Peru
were opener by Providence, and the
means Of conducting industry in con
sistence with human happiness was
afforded to mankind.
when, by the consequences of the
French Revolution, the discovery of
steam conveyance, the Improvement
Of machinery, and the vast extension of
European immigration, q still greater
impulse was given to the human spe
Cies in the nineteenth century, the gold
mines Of California and Australia were
brought into operation, and the in
crease in human numbers and transac-
tions wa even exceeded by the means
provided for conducting them. If
ever the benevolence Of the Almighty
was clearly revealed in human affairs
it was in these twodecisiye discoveries,
made at such periods, and he who,
upon onsi3eringthem, iSnOt persuaded
Of the superintendent Of an ever
watchful Providence would not De
convinced though II o from the
dead"
Little did he think that the very
means which made possible the pros
perity which he anticipated for man
kind would so soon be abridged and
sought to be destroyed.
But the miners interest in this cues
ton is insignificant when compared
with that of the farmer, the planter,
and other classes of the country. The
total production Of silver in the United
States last year was about So, 900, 600
ounces. The decline from the highest
price of the past year to the lowest
price of the past year amounts on this
to about $40, 600, 900, which is the ex-
tent of the interest of the miners in
this question. This is probably not
more than the loss upon the years
wheat crop in Kansas alone
It will be seen therefore, that while
their interest in the question may be
moro direct and apparent, it sinks
into insignifcance when compared
with that Of other classes of people.
TO BE CONTINUED.