Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-03-18
A FEW SIMPLE LAWS.
Poverty and Misery Prevail When
Currency Volume Is Diminished.

Currency Volume Is Diminished.
VIII. Crawford. once secretary of the
treasury, said: "All intelligent writers
On the currency agree that when IL IS
decreasing in amount poverty and mis-
cry prevail"
! 1t is astonishing that the year 1896
should develop a school of economists
who take different view. Their posi-
| ton is as grotesque as was the attitude
! of the late Parson Jasper, who asserted
~ the last that "the sun do move"
! Scarcity. of course, restricts supply,
/ and great scarcity naturally stimulates
/ demand. This is as true when applied
/ to dollars as it is when applied to wheat
! or to corn. 1t is an undertaking law.
/ With general supply restricted and uni
! versal demand stimulated, some, OF
! course. must do without, and doing
/ without is the essence of poverty and
misery.
The refunding act, which greatly con-
tracted the currency. brought on the
panic of 1873. The process was as sim
PIE as \ e c. With no more money than
enough to carry on the business of the
people. the amount in circulation was
curtailed. loans were recalled, debts
could not be met and confusion (panic)
ensued.
Confidence was destroyed, of course,
and we undertake to say that it has new
er been fully restored.
There have been spasmodic revivals
of trade. but, generally speaking, what
we call hard times" have been with US
ever since the first year of Grants sec
ond term.
That is to say, there has at no time
since the suspension Of payment on
Wall street in that eventfuI summer.
been a job for every man who wanted
it. We have seen a steady increase of
the army of the unemployed; we have
seen our children driven into the fac
tories and our women taken from the
hearth to become hired servants OF the
heartless: we have seen our independ-
ent farmers of small means become de-
pendent tenants on large estates, and,
worse than all, we have seen the crea-
ton of parasite class that is disgrace
to the republic.
John Stuart Mills is an authority, and
he says that the most elementary propo-
sition in the theory of currency is this:
An increase of the quantity of money
raises prices and diminution lowers
them.
Herein is found the secret of hard
times" Prices have fallen under the
unaltera BILE workings of this law.
Low prices leave the producers of such
commodities as come out of the soil
worse off at the end of the season than
at the beginning. He has no money
and cannot purchase the output of the
factories; hence they are shut down"
Poverty and misery prevail among
both artisans and agriculturists- The
one does not manufacture because the
other has not the wherewithal to buy
Chicago Dispatch.
SnrinkaEe in Property Values.
Senator Chandler in q speech in the
senate declared that the prosperity of
the United States has shrunk in value
since 1890, from $50. 600, 000. 900 to $50 /
COO 600 600. or oTse-fourth- The cause of !
this shriukage is the goldite policy OF i
contraction. and the subsequent appre- /
citation of the gold dollar, the only /
money of ultimate redemption In its /
relation 90 property The apprecia- /
ton of the value of money is shown by /
the depreciation of property and wee !
versa. There can be no other explana- /
ton. II is the condition thus produced /
that the country is suffering from to- |
day. and the responsibility for II rests /
upon the federal government. legislS- /
tive and executive. which has weakly /
yielded to the demands OF the money /
power.