The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-07-12
THE. FARMER AND MECHANIC

l poO cSt SSro(
| their fortunes or fate, is the great prln
ciple out of which their peace anu
plenty, or their Embarrassment ana
| straits. must grow, and from when
must proceed their final honors ana
success, or their disgrace and ruin.
In the struggle Of the colonies TOR
independence, our only hope was IN
the army. After the first flush OF
| patriotism had receded, the PROPOSE
| ton reduced itself very largely to a
matter of dollars and cents. Inc
| soldiers must be clothed and fed.
To do this was impossible without
| money. New enlistments a to De
made to place the army on an eTec-
| tive footing. Even as early as the
year 1875 it became necessary for the
Continental Congress to offer
in order to secure recruits and these
were supplemented by bOunties grant
ed by the Provincial Assemblies. This
course was necessary despite the TACT
hat it was almost impossible to sup
ply the troops then in the field with
clothing and provisions. OF all the
knotty problems which tried mems
souls during this memorable conflict,
that of obtaining money was undoubt-
eddy the most difficult.
Some writer's would have us be-
lieVe that the panacea for h a
cial ills of the Revolution was in Civ
ing the 1OHIlIleDldl mgr Iull dlld
complete powers in compelling the
States to comply with the acquisitions
which hat body might see fit to I'M
pose. This no doubt would have al
leViated matters somewhat, but the
economic, fiscal and social conditions
in North Carolina We're such that a
prompt to every deman of
Congress was impossible. There were
irregularities in the financial admins
tratlOn of all the colonies. Poor man.
aS>~oent in matters of finance is an
i~nsepa~oble concOmitant of pioneer
conditions. Allowance must be made
for misaplication, fraud and embez-
clement as they are to every
nation and all ages. So long as hu-
man nature remains as it has been
in the past or is at the present, we
can expect the petty graft of a Puri-
tan Father or the plunde
Of a Tammany Hall.
A study of the fiscal and economic
conditions Of North Carolina, which
is in many aspects the most typical
of the Southern States, enables the
student to understand many Of the
difficulties which confronted the
States from the year 1775 to 1885.
On the 9th Of November, 1875, in a
letter to Richard Henry Lee, who was
one of the most influential members
of the Continental Congress, Washing
ton lakes a plea which is full OF des-
pair and reveals the peril Of his stu
alton. He says: For Gods sake
hurry the signers of money that our
want may be supplied" In this,
one sentence is bound up a great deal
of the fiscal and history of
the colonies. Indeed each colony was
a microcosm in which might be dis
cerned the tendencies which later be-
came facts in the financial history of
the American Revolution.
On June 22nd, only a few months
before Congress had passed a reso-
luton which provided for the ennis
sion of bills of credit equivalent to
100000 Spanish miIled dollars for
the general defense. This, the first
fiscal act Of the Continental Congress,
was a provision for the issue Of
money. The question might be asked
why did the delegates adpt such a
scheme which was to- jrove so disast-
rOuS in the end? This question can
not be in~telligently answered except
a thorough study has first been made
of the individual history of the States
themselves. Paper money was com
mon in all the States. The delegates
to the Continental Congress were well
acquainted with this ~expedient, and
they did not dare to start in by levy
ing taxes. This course undoubtedly
would have resulted in disaster. The
resort to the use OF paper money then,
was the only course open to them.
1t seems that every nation must have
It's experience with cheap money at
some stage in its economic develop
ment The result is invariably the
same regardless of time, place or con-
ditions. In Sweden the experiment
was tried during the reign Of Charles
XII. of forcing the circulation of cop
per coins, which were small in size
and in intrinsic value, on a parity with
dollars The project, Of course was
a failure. The gun money of James
II. Of England is another Illustration
Of the same kind of experiment. Dur
ing the siege of Leyden by the Span
iardS, the civil authorities issued a
kind of card money which was used
as specie. At one time in the history
Of France, the necessity arose for is