Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1896-05-05


antiquity, Pericles, agriculture,
trade, manufactures, The arts aud
sciences, in fact. all thar make the
charms and sweets Of hie.fourish-
ed and prospered. Then il was
that poets and painters, architects
and sculptors, statesmen and phil
~oaophers, gave 10 the world those
models aud ideas which today
mark the most advanced outposts
Of modern civilization. For many
years preceding this era, Persian
rulers had sent or led into Greece,
immense armies richly clad and
well supplied, in hopes Of subdu-
ing the independent and liberty
loving Hellencs. But like the
glacier, melting at the foot Of the
mountain and depositing its accu-
mutations Of earth and rock in the
valleys, 90 these Persian hordes
went down IN defeat and death
leaving their valuable spolls to en-
rich the Greeks. Marathon, Pla-
tea and Salamis greatly increased
the amount Of gold and silver in
Greece and the trophies IF those
hard fought battles we're in q few
years melted and coined into
money. thereby vastly increasing
the circulating medium. Prices
rose, trade prospered, the arts and
sciences were cultivated, in fine
the great Periclean Age followed.
No impartial student Of history
can fail to sse the benefcent eff
fects upon the Greeks Of the in
crease in the currency before the
"Age Of Pericles."
-Four centuries later the civil
zatIon Of the Romans reached its
highest mark in the "Augustan
Age" caused largely if not wholly
by the influx Of the precious met
ais from northern Europe when
seized by the conquering armies
of a Cesar. About the beginning
of the christian era the holdings
Of the precious metals by the Ro-
mans amounted TO one billion
eight hundred millions of dollars;
at that time the Roman empire
was nearly as large as all Europe.
But from the time OF Augustus
Caesar till the discovery of Amer
lea by Columbus the amount Of
silver and gold constantly grew
smaller, and when Columbus told
Ferdinand and Isabella that there
was gold in the New World the
amount of the precious metals in
all Europe had fallen to two hur.
dred millions; one ninth of what
it was fourteen centuries before
As a result Of the contraction in
the money Of Europe we have
seen the bright sun Of the eau.
GUSTAV Age sink into the black.
est night Of the Dark Ages" anc
the civilization Of the times o.
Cicero and Caesar give place t
the barbarism of FIVE hundred
years ago.
Sir Archibald Alison in his al
mirable history of Europe makes
tho following statement: "Ths
two greatest events that have &C
, CURED in the history Of mankind
have been directly brought abou
J by a contraction and on the othe
hand by an expansion Of the CHI
culating medium Of society. Tn
=.
: fall Of the Roman empire so lon
9 ascribed in ignorance TO slavery
J. egotism and moral corruption wa
in reality brought about by = de
|. cline in the silver and gold mine
of Spain and Greece. And, a
providense had intended TO revea
in the cleverest manner the inhr
fence of this mighty agent on hr
man affairs the resurrection {
mankind from the ruin Whic
those causes had produced wa
owing TO a directly opposite set q
agencies being put in operation
i Columbus led the way in the q
reer Of renovation; when be sproa
his sails across che Atlantic b
bore mankind and its fortunes
y his bark. The annual supplyof th
g precious metals for the use Of Ii
2 globe was triplodi before a centur
na1 e-p..eS shs prices IT ever
species Of produce were quadr'
pied The weight Of debt an
a taxes insensibly wore of und.
the influence Of that prodigioI
increase.
Although some would like
2 SEQ The history Of the fall Of II
Roman civilization repeated b