The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1899-11-10
CONDITIONS OF PROSPERITY.


pcritl Is juuHl H. prices. when price
are rising mdu-tt! aud production are
stimulated, giving employ mrut Am.
Wages lo labor and q profit 10 an lcpil.
jmulr enterprise, Under such a "oUol.
ton production moves toward a may
imum, aud il This condition be ut long
duration il brings the eut5rr energies
ot a nation and people into fun play
in the production and distribution OF
wealth. At such times money is never
found to he In idle boards at the great
money rruters, because money i losing
its power to command other things IN
exchange aud cannot bc proitUhlH
boarded, while On the other hand Il
profit is certain II money is prudcntlt
invested in legitimate enterprise. Bat
II prices are falling enterprise becomes
tn" unrrriug road tn bankruptcy. II a
period Of falling prices he long drawn
ont, bankruptcies and failures viii be
come the rule and successful enter
prise the exception. Under these con
ditiou- money Wilt accumulate in vast
hordc> in the bank vaults at the money
'cnt"rs, and although the rates of ltl-
'rrrNl may rUi" low TIE tau IN prices
through AN increase of TIA" purchase g
power of money ITSELF viii defeat is
profitable use in productive enterprise
ana general ~N'a&N"uoh OF h''Slr'SS VIII
h' 'h' '"''' WIN l"o"F U"'"'ll"\'" IN"
"'N''''5 "H',''>"' "'''"R "'' ''"SS'S'
'A''P' h"h" h"ih'f'' money I'n"'fs ana
SaIlrirH "i1I'InIs. Al Snri times mort"
cages eat up lh' '0o''I'S OF d'itorS'
WINE me burdens OF t'\a'i"l' gro"
p'"'' Impressive o'' '"'"'"N""'''
'lrl' mas never h''n III III" Noriu =
history a period during "hI'h III" il''-
man race mace advances N clN'''|a''"h
ana "'aith, ana the masses "i the pt"-
PIE constantly rose from u lower I" u
higher Ir'rl, except when money supply
was >h'rrhSi'lE' the ptodn'iN'hthS or
q pr"ductiNcneSs OF the mines nm
rrrlngIN mark III" periods of advance"
mrhl or rrtrogression among all ma
li"ns ANA peoples ~ TAR back as we nave
records
MONEY is the unit OF price. Prices are
expressed in numerals and trnrtions
OF the money Unit. Price is an expires
sion of the relation Of the money vol
ume to th" articles bought and sold in
the worlds markets. The number OF
money units that can b" made of gold
~ dependent upon the quantity of gold
In existence, The number Of additional
money units that can be added 10 The
"dfId NuIuin" OF money each year de.
ponds upon the yearly output of the
gold mines, The same il true Of silver.
The only test of Il suilictoncy of
money or an adequate annual increase
Of money supply is found in price lev
els, If ia tn" absence of wars that suF-
pend the production and disarranPc
trndr, or the absence Of famines or
p"sili""rr that iilrw'sr Great" abnor.
maj market conditions, the genera
prl"" Icy"l is falling, 1t is evidence that
'hr money supply Is lhAdcqunt" aud
Insufficient If, on the other hand, I'M
der normal conditions the general level
Of price is firm or advancing, no con-
plants viii be heard Of an !nsutlicicn"y
"I money or the lnad'qnal"ncss Of sup
ply,
So great is the influence Of money
supply that II all other conditions cS-
isl favorable 10 the highest efficiency
in production and money supply is in
sufficient, falling prices, curtaiird pro
duction, enforced idlencsr on the part
of labor. increased bankruptcies and
general bard times will be the prevail
ing conditions.
From time immcmurial until 1873 all |
all the gold and silver that could be
extracted from the mines went into uni.
yorsaI use ~ money, The fact that
nations made their coins Of gold
alone and others coined only silver
caused no disturbance Whatever 50 long
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