The Delta independent., 1894-03-28
EVILS or CONTRACTION.

Metal Should Be Restored to Its Natural
Place on n Parity With Gold.
A very thoughtful and scholarly pa
per was published a short time ago in
one of the magazines by Gov. Penney
er, of Oregon, in which that gentleman
traced the cause of the several dark
and miserable epochs of the world to
the scarcity of the precious metals as o
measure of values. The governor went
on to show that if at the crucial periods
of the worlds history TO which lie re-
ferred either one OF the metals had
been withdrawn from it's function rs
measure Of values in exchange, the suf-
ferings of the human family would
have been intensified, and condition
Of things brought about which would
have destroyed all the advances that
had been gained in civilization up to
that time, and forced society back into
condition of hopeless barbarisin.
The governor of Oregon was not the
first public man to draw attention to
the transcendcnt figure which the me-
tallic representatives of value have cut
In the progress of mankind. w. II.
Grenfell, m ex-governor OF the Bank
OF England, has just contributed an
article to the Fortnightly Review for
September on Gladstone and the Cur
rency," in which he takes the same
ground as Pennoyer, and quotes most
significant and conclusive passage from
Alison's History of England in support
of his view. The following is the pas
sage which Mr.. Grenfell cites to show
that contraction has ushored in the
night whenever the progress of human
1tv hnS haan nplat. aaltt,cn I'D fIp
dawn has only rcappeared simultane-
ously with the reappearance of boun-
tiful circulation of the precious metals
in the affairs of mankind. We quote:
"The two greatest events that have
occurred in the history Of mankind
have been directly brought about by
contraction and, on the other hand, an
expansion of the circulating medium of
society. The fall of the Roman empire,
so long sscribed in ignorance to slavery,
heathenism and moral corruption, was
in reality brought about by . decline
in the silver and gold mines OF Spain
and Greece. And, as il Providence had
intended TO reveal in the clearest man
ner The influence OF this mighty agent
on human affairs, the resurrection of
mankind from the ruin which those
causes had produced was owing to
directly opposite set of agencies being
pat in motion. Columbus led the way
in the career of renovation. When he
spread his sails across the Atlantic, he
bore mankind and its fortunes in his
bark. The annual supply of the
precious metals for the use of the globe
was tripled: before q century had ex-
pired the prices of every species of
produce were quadrupled. The weight
of debt End taxes inscusibly wore OF
under the influence of that prodigious
increase. In the renovation OF indus
try the relations of society were
changed, the weight OF fcudal;sm cast
off, the rights of man csta5l;shcl.
Among the many concur-iag Causes
which conspired to bring about
that mighty consuwinatioa, the m5st
important, though hitherto the least
observed. was the discovery of Mexico
and Peru. II the circulating medium
of this globe had remained stationary
or declining, as it was from 1915 to
1S49 from the effects of the South
American revolution and English lcgis-
lation, tho necessary result must have
been that it would have become alto
gether inadequate to The wants OF man;
and not only would industry have been
everywhere cramped, but tho price OF
produce would have universally and
constantly fallen. Money would have
every day become more valuable; all
other articles measured in money, less
so; debt and taxes would have been
constantly increasing in weight and
oppression. 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 blessings introduced, by
the opening of the great treasures Of
nature in California and Australia"
1t will be observed, clearly, that the
dark and miserable epochs in human
history have been the result of the con-
traction Of the circulating medium by
the inadequacy of its volume to meet
the growing wants of the human fam
lily. The measure that would suffice
for the worlds needs in the time of the
Tarquins would have been altogether
inadequate during the Augustan period,
when Rome had the treasures Of the
whole world to draw upon. But dur
ing the decadence Of the empire and
just prior to the twilight that ushered
in the long and dreary epoch OF the
dark ages, the mines that had sustained
the superfuities of the masters of the
world had given out and tho precious
metals had almost completely retired
from circulation.
1t was not till a new continent, with
its almost unlimited stores OF metallic
wealth, had been discovered that the
broad sunlight again dawaed on civil
ization. Since that time every great
uprising OF the people has been caused
by the artificial contraction OF the
money by the classes who held control
Of it. The French revolution sprang
from the miseries Of the people who
were reduced to live upon roots, whilst
the master classes rioted in the luxu-