The sun., 1893-06-26

ill-informed theorists In this section OF the
country the Sherman act has been set up for q
scapegoat, and its repeal is demanded rs q
sacrifice which will at once restore confidence
and prevent further bankruptcies. To the act
are attributed the exports Of gold which have
30 alarmed our banks, and from its repeal Is
expected return flow Of the metal. which will
at once tranquillize the public mind and On
able every debtor to borrow all the money
needed to carry him along in his business. II
is not considered that tho act has added to the
stock Of money in the country an amount Of
paper equal to the gold which has boon export
ed since 1t took effect, and that although it is
still in full operation. the exports Of gold havs
stopped. and small quantities OF It are even
coming this way again. Certainly nobody will
pretend that tho numerous dsfalcations aud
losses by bad speoulstlons which the present
stringsncy Is bringing to light were caused by
the act. nor that It Is responsible for the un-
wise management OF the banks which have
failed through having locked up their funds In
loans upon land. In advances to unsuccessful
railroad and manufacturing corporations. and
In other !llogitim ate ways which made it i'm
possible for them to pay their depostors. I'm
less the repeal OF the act can undo all tho mis-
chief OF this kind which has been done, 1t will
helr very littlo to mend matters.
At the West and tho Southwest the Sherman
act Is viewed as extremely beneficial 30 far az
1t goes. but as not going far enough. There.
tho country is said to be suffering. not from
exports OF gold. but from q eurtailment OF the
supply Of the same silver. which. hero at tho
East is regarded us the chief menace to our
financial safety. while the maintenance Of the
gold standard for which we have praised Presi-
dent Cleveland so highly is there charged
with being the cause OF the financial strin-
gency. Curously enough. this doctrine is
espoused by a number Of British politicians.
particularly those who are land owners. and
who like our own agrlculturists. are losers by
the low prices OF the products OF the soil. 1t
looks. indeed. very much as II tho Tories, In
their cagerness to defeat Mr.. Gladstone who
has com mitted himself to gold monometallsm.
might take up with b,netallism as good cry
against him. especially us the Roman Catholic
Archbishop Of ireland has declared against the
gold standard as oppressive to Irish tenants.
Besides these two opposing theories another
has been put forth by the ultra Republican
protectionists. who. although the Mckinley
tariff is still in full force ascribe to its pros
pective repeal. which is supposed to have been
assured at the last Presidential election. the
present collapse OF mercantile credit. 1t is
truo that coming events cast their shadows be-
fore. but business mon do not usually change
their methods until they have good reasons
for doing IL. Nobody is going to import goods
from Europe year in advance of a possible
demand for them. nor TO cease manufa curing
them in this country because . year from now
imported articles may undersell the home
product Besides, it is quite uncertain
whether tariff for revenue only. which tho
Democratic platform demands will ever be
passed by Congress. much more one framed on
absolute free trade lines
II Ia indaad fruc fhat fha Shorp,on by
the volume OF paper money which it has been
pouring and Is still pouring Into our circula-
tion. has greatly facilitated gold EXPORTS but
Its effect would have been small in this respect
but for the unexpected and unusual demand
for the N etal by Austria Hungary for the pur-
pose OF esta tablishing hor currency upon gold
basis. Nearly every dollar OF the gold shipped
from this country during the past twelve
months has found its way directly and indi-
rectly to Vienna and to Buda-Pe and moro
will have to go to those cities before the drain
upon our stock ceases. 1t is also true that
during the past few years. under the reign OF
the gold standard. the pcices OF agricultural
products have fallen. but this hns been accom-
panied by an increase. In this country at
Least. OF tho quantity produced. and by rise
In wages which makes the low price Of food
and clothing q benefit to workingmsn. 1t Is.
further. possible that some branches OF manu-
featuring industry have been unfavorably
affected by tho uncertainty OF the country's
future tariff policy but this cannot seriously
be set up as causing all over the country the
extraordinary domand for currency and tho
failure OF so many banks and Of railroad cor
porations. All those three agencies combined
are inadequate to account for tho phenomenon
we are witnessing. and We must therefore
conclude that 1t results from something else.
Since the beginning OF our history the DOM
inant financial heresy OF this country has been
the belief In the efficacy OF AN abundant cur
rency to create wealth and business prosperity.
Observing that rich countries have moro cir
culating medium than poor ones, 1T was illogl-
cally inferred that all that was needed to mnke
q country rich was to give 1t plenty OF money,
no matter of what kind This was like In
ferrinR that because the mercury In the thor
momster rises In warm weather, rise In the
mercury produced by warming 1t over a fire
will raise the neral tenn perature. Before tho
Revolution tho thirteen original colonies went
through various phases OF this delus:on and
emitted such quantities OF paper m oney that
the shilling sterling at the close OF the war had
fallen In New England to one-sixth OF a dollar,
In this State TO ono eighth. and further South
to one seventh. As for tho monoy Of the Con-
federation 1t ended By going out OF sight
altogether. Since then the country has had to
endure numerous financial collapses, all
preceded by an excessive issue OF paper cur
rency. Coupled with this deusion has been
IN anil for borrowing money and doing business
on credit. which. while II has undoubtedly
facilitated the efforts Of entsrprising poor men
to develop our natural resources. has also
afforded an equal facility for reckless specula-
tions. to the failure Of which. more than TO any
ethor cause. tho revulsions which we have ex-
perienced before. and that which We are ex-
periencing now. are to be attributed.
At present the currency OF tho country. which
10 declared by so many to be insufficient for
our wants and as needing further Increase.
comprises S346.GO0.OO0 IN legal tenders.
$135. 100000 Treasury notes. S175.0oo.o0o
national bank notes. and about $400. 0o0,0
of silver certificates and dollars, which, like
paper dollars. are kept at par with gold only
because they are practically intereonVsrtible
with gold. This makes sl.05o, 100000 Of
credit money for 0o,oOoo0O people. and all
the gold available for It's redemption when