Mexico weekly ledger., 1894-10-25
The Scarcf,y Of Honey.

l SsASAty oh t9UAtIs
/ The Courier Journal is asked by
8 correspondent how much money
per capita of population is in circu-
lation in the country; whether it is
less now than formerly, and if not,
why Is it SO scarce in some sections
oil the country, and replies:
/ The quantity of money per capita
varies more or less from time to
time. To estimate it, in other than
census years, it is necessary to guess
at the population of the country,
the per capita being obtained by
dividing the amount of money in
circulation by the supposed popula-
ton of the country.
The latest estimate of the circu-
lation which we have at hand is a
Treasury statement for the month
of August, 1894. It gives the total
circulation on the first day of Sep.
tember, 1894, as 81 ,646, ,671 ,841.
The population Of the country at
that date is estimated to have been
6S, ,642 600, and the quantity of
money in circulation, to each head
of population at $23.99. On Sep
tember /, 1898, the circulation per
capita was $25.01.
1t thus appears that the circula-
ton per capita on the Isl of Sep
tember this year was about a dollar
less than at the same date last year.
The present per capita, however,
$24 in round numbers, is larger
than 1t ever was until the last two
or three years. The amount on
July 1, 1860, was $13.S5; in 1866,
$20.57; in 1878, $1S.O4; in 1888,
$22 81; in 1891, $23.41; in 1892,
$24.44. Subject to occasional fiuc-
tuatlons the amount OF money in
the country as compared with pop
ulation has been increasing steadily,
and is now nearly twice as great as
it was in 1860, thirty-four years
ago. The country enjoyed a high
degree of prosperity in 1860, with
circulation of 1885 per capita. In
1898, with a circulation of $25 per
capita, the depression of business
was extreme. We must, therefore,
seek for other causes for prosperity
or depression than the quantity of
money in circulation.
Our correspondent wishes to know
if the supply of money in the coun-
try is adequate why it is SO scarce in
some sections. The Courier Journal
is not one of those papers which un.
dertake to explain everything by a
reference to changes in tariffs or in
the supply of money. There are
often local causes which explain the
scarcity of money in particular COM
munities, such as failure of crops,
on the one hand, or an overproduc-
ton of particular commodities on
the other. By overproduction we
mean the production of a greater
quantity of commodity than the
purchasing power of the people per-
mits them to buy and pay for at
remunerative prices.
So far, however, as the scarcity of
money in particular localities is the
result of general causes, acting upon
the country at large, it is not diff
cult to explain. For a third of
century certain classes in the United
States have been levying tribute up
on the others. The favored classes
have had the use of the taxing pow
er of the Government, and this
privilege has been used, as far as it
could be used, to guarantee profits
to particular industries. Now it has
happened that the greater numbers
OF these favored classes reside in
certain sections of the country, and
SO certain sections have prospered
at the expense of other sections.
This does not apply to every indi-
vidual in one section or the other,
but in a general way it has operated
to interfere with the rightful distri-
button of wealth, and concentrate it
in a comparatively few hands and
to give the advantage to some SEC
| tions over others, owing to the dif-
ferences in the circumstances sur
rounding them. So long as un-
equal and unjust revenue laws pre-.
vail no increase of the circulating
medium can make money very
abundant in the tribute.paying COM
munities. Whoever has the means
OF purchasing money can get it in
any part of the country, and in
money centers there are now grea'
accumulations of money for which
there is no employment at profit,
The reason why this money does
| not flow to the sections where it i!
scarce is that it can not be employed
there profitably.
The Span Fell.
i naAala