The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-09-12
Washington Irving's Financial Views
To the Editor Of the Press:

To the Editor of the Press:
When William ]. Bryan lately made q
trip up the Hudson river he invaded the
former domain of "William the Testy''
at one time the governor of New Amster-
dam (now the State Of New York; and
probably caused the shade Of the histcr-
ian Washington Irving who wrote the
vsritable "Knickerbocker History OF
New York" to smile even in his grave.
1t would almost seem as If the gifted
pen of the author had portrayed In the
calamity that befell the first William that
which should come to pass to the second
for each was see king in his own way the
suspens ion of the laws of finance.
In the earlier days among the primitive
Indians gold and silver were only used
rs ornamenSs, their currency or medium
of exchange being "wampum" that is
shells of different kinds strung together
and of different values.
This cheap currency appealed to the
cupidity of William (the flrst) and he at
tempted at once to pay all his private
debts, as we'll as those of the COVER nment
in this, then, new method and kind OF
"coin."
Vessel load after vessel load was dug
from the sands of Long Island and
COINED" into Indian money in New
Amsterdam.
And now for q time every one pros
pered and business was good for
money" was plenty and cheap.
Unfortunately the Yankee traders
swarmed into this now prosperous coun-
try buying freely of the Dutchmen and
had access along the sea shore. But the
Yankees would not sell their tin ware
or merchandise only for "sound cur
rency'', snoh Us Dutch "guilders.
Worse and worse, che Yankees began to
Mexicanize their shells, for they were
abundant, and new mines or beds were
constantly discovered. In fact they could
afford to put on one strong thirty-two
shells " ken formerly there were only six
teen.
The result of this all was that the fore :
eigners carried off all the gold and silver.
the Dutch cheese and she Dutch herring,
but left the empty shells to those who had
called most loudly for cheap money and
plenty of it.
sIt is not to be supposed for a moment
that Irving when he wrote this history
had In mind the present political con-
troversy, but it is hardly possible that
whom william the second visited VOL
forts RoOst that he was fitting, like the
moth, around candle, and might have
been singed.
Irving, too, on his account of tho
"Great Mississippi bubble" which burst In
17l9 after being inflated by Gsorge Law
for nearly twenty years, shows clearly
the results of the wild speculation, en-
gendsred by cheap money and the wide
spread restitution which followed 1t
was the ruin of both rich and poor.
The following are the words of wisdom
written by Irving in that account /:
s'Notlthat he(the King) was altogether
the dupe of LAWS specious projects; still
be was apt, like many other men, un-
skilled in the arcana of finance to mis-
take the multiplication Of money, for the
multiplication of wealth mot understands
ing that it is mere agent or instru-
ment in the interchange Of traffic, to rep
resent the value of che various products
of industry; and that an Increased cir
culation of coin or bank bills, in the
shape,of currency, only adds a properly
increased and fictitious value to such
production.
1t was no partisan who wrote these
words but the wisdom of the sage of
Sunnyside shines through every sentence
and word.
HENRY DENNIS.