The Delta independent., 1894-04-04
EVILS OF CONTRACTION.
What the World Wants Is That the VI hite
E,etaI should Eo Post ored o Its Eaturnl

Metal should Bo Restored to Its Eaturai
Place o., Parity with Gold.
A very thoughtful and scholarly pa
per was published q short time ago in
one of the magazines by Gov. Penney
err, of Oregon, in which that gentlemen
traced the cause of the several dark
and miserable epochs of the world to
the scarcity of the precious metals rs q
measure of values The governor went
on to show that il at the crucial periods
of the worlds history 10 which he re-
ferred either one of tho metals had
been withdrawn from its function as
measure of values in exchange the suf-
ferings of the human family would
have been intensified, and q 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
4 condition OF hopeless barbar.5gn.
The governor Of Oregon was not the
first public man to draw attention to
the transcendent figure which the me-
tallic representatives of value have cut
in the progress of mankind w. II.
Grenfell, an ex-governor of tho Bank
of England, has just contributed an
article to the Fo-tnightly 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. Tho following is the pas
sage which Mr.. Grenfen cites to show
that contraction has ushercd in the
night whenever the progress Of human
ity has been under eclipse, and the
dawn has only reappearea siInultane-
ously with the rcappearance 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 a
contraction and, on the other hand, an
expansion of the circulating medium of
society. The fall OF the Roman empire,
SO long ascris,ed IN ignorance to slavery,
hcathcpism cnd moral corruption, was
in reality brought about BY o decline
in the silver and gold mines of Spain
and Greece. And, as il Providence had
intended TO reveal in the clearest man
ncr the influence of this mighty agent
on human affairs. the resurrection of
mankind from the ruin which those
causes had produced was owing to n
directly opposite set of agencies being
put in melton. Columbus led the way
in the career OF renovation. When he
spread lis sliis across the Atlantic nc
bore mankind und its fortunes in his
bark. The annual supply of the
precious nstais Tor the use of the globe
was triPled; before Z century had ez-
pired the prices Of every species OF
produce were .fuadrupled. The weight
of debt and tl.I:c5 insensibly Wore of
under the influence of that prodigious
increase. In the renovation Of indus
try the relations of society were
changed, the weight of feudali5lu cast
off, the rights of man estaSl.shaL
Among the many coucurriny causes
which conspired to bring about
that mighty contamination, tho most
important, though hitherto the least
observed, was the discovery of Ne&is1
and Peru. II tas c:rcuilt!ag neliIin
OF this globe had renaiiei Stationary
or declining, as It was from 1915 10
1919, from the c1fsct3 Of tie South
American revolution and English legis-
lation, the necessary result rluss have
been that it lyould have becCfne alto
Cether inadequate 20 The wants pf man;
and not only would industry have been
everywhere crardpod, but the PRICE OF
produce would haze universally and
constantly fallen. Money woald have
every day become more valuable; MI
other articles measured in money, lcas
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 OWLS
have been entirely obviated, and the
opposite set Of blessings introduced, by
the opening of the great treasures of
nature in California and Australia"
II will be observed, clearly, that the
dark and miserable cpochs in huinnn
history have becn the result OF the con
traction Of tho circulating medium by
the inadequacy OF its volume to meet
the growing wants of the human fam
ily 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 decadenca of the empire and
just prior to the twilight that ushered
in the long and dreary epoch Of tho
dark ages, the mines that had sustained
the superfuities of the masters OF tho
world had given out and the precious
metals had almost completely retired
from circulation.
1t was not till new continent, with
its Utmost unlimited stores of metallic
wealth, had been discovered that the
broad sunlight gain dawncd on civil
ization. Since that tinc every great
uprising of the people has been causcd
by the artificial contraction of the
money by the classes who held control
of It. The French revolution fprang
from the miscrics of the people who
were reduced to live upon roots, whilst
the master classes rioted in the luxu-
ries which their political system of op-
preston enabled them 10 maintain.
R,t uevot. Iafare In thc history of the