WHERE MONEY IS TOO PLENTIFUL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7154, 19 July 1901, Page 3

WHERE MONEY IS TOO PLENTIFUL.

(Ttt^Bits.)

Portugal is suffering from a plethora of money just now. Not gold, of course; nor silvsr : \feut copper. . So vast is the .supply of this. inferior metal that ordinary j people, are exceetHngly chary of changing .such few gold coins, as they, --may come/into >poe?ession of. . .^.Bhe^oppey bpinage is big; l and cumbersome, aintf it is also deprepjated iso tljat, iftborder 'to avoid being burdened j,'!ii?-^v^/%>his-Vb^oi__^v i -t^ i "oustom,: .ii. .tibej larger "cities.- at. .all. events, to. .use 'ttamtidtets,.as currency. ,' In .the {.provinces postage stamps are made to serve a sdniilar ... purpose. Meanwhile the Governmetii at Lisbon goes on serenely minting the ojjjnox- ' iou« coins— wlich nobody will iise— -a,% :tl.e rate of some eighty tons a month. '"- . It is not unlikely that, in the end,. .the authorities will find 'themselves placed in, a siniilar quamdary to that .which overtook, tike United States Government In 1892, when at \ the bidding of ■"•; the so-called "Silver party" it tried. to foTce "up.oix the psople a practically unlimited number of silver dollars. The coins were retUM-ect to the Treasury in exchange for "g^e^ltaoks''' almost as soon as issued, and, as more aud more continued to' be minted, the accumulation grew naturally and rapidly greater, and greater. . ' . * '•'■■> In April, 1892, there were 450^00^000 of these huge: pieces - of, m«tal in the at Wasfliingtoa, Three montlis later^^nd, the number had more than doubled! .Then, <me day, the enormous weig-nt. broke dowp the walls, catching two > unhappy clerks", who were literally . . : .". >;

BUBIED ALIVE-. XTNDER AN AVALANCHE * '

OF MONEY.

It took tihe besb part of a. couple, .oi days to •-% out their mangled trains iihe labourers ..working witji iferr, kj^, broad4)lad%d stovels as though the pr«oo«s stuff was merely so much refuse ivlafl/ou; of a Bhut-dowii blast-furnaice. . After.-. tii|it-. the Government coined only so much, silver money as the nation .couM conveniently absorb. . . . . ...

In Venezuela, during ..the early, daysrof its existence a& 4 free and 1 Sovereign .State, the Government issued guaraaiteed .banknotes .in such quantities that it usedvto T>e said— half jestingly! and- half in' earnest— that at Caracas paper was^ worth Uyrea cents a pound until tihe Government! got hold of it. and started converting, •■it .Usbo money. Then its value immedi-ately. depreciated 50 per cent. T:. .'in. the United States, in 1865, ./towa^da the close of th"& gieat- Civil Wai 1 betwewa l^ort.h and South , an even mow marked dopreciation set in. in Confederate pa.per money. Mt Jefferson Davis, iihe.Pregident of tbe " Southern Confederacy, issued iftaily ohimtmous mimbers of notes of the. f%ce value -of' millions of, dollars, .•wi.erefwilb. to pay his troops; but in th.fr pnd a 20dql,noie got ■-to' be •vrortli only about as- .many cents

Indeed, in some remote eounti-y districts tive s&opkeeper*, • Im«.'bl>e to keep tru^k'ol the constantly fluctuating cva°t&vsy- values, were in tlie habit of weighing tilie •n\«n«y in their scales ajjainsfc » certain <quoatitv of goofcr— a simple if somewhat rougliraji | ttready way out of the difficulty, but', possessing tfie obviops disa;dvaJit.Jtge of^ only making a lOdol note equal, ?«> far asiipnrchasing power went, to a Idol raie. '

IN THE EART/r DATS OP THE . GREAT KXONDTKE RUSH # '' gold was the one thing titat •was plentiful. The natural and inevitable consequence vras that it bfromv almost valueless w'Ken exchanged against provisions or otter inepessaries ot' life. Men ' .-vribh t3iou;&3in<eS "-.'of dollars in tlveir pockets fonftd that^th^ir wealth tfouW ohlv purchase ihi-mi infinitesimal quaincities} of fltiui*, bacon,': etc. i"'g;ii a lime, a/mi that oh^ as a % JaTOur" r course, however, this stn.t-e of thin|;|j;OXily lasted for a. very short peiiod.;. $nt-.jiraL«re mra^ey 'is ' plewti/ul, tibcCTe, fwoner ■ox~sgsgc f and usually sooner rather .tihaa. lateo^ coma the things tihat money will T>uy

During the ultra-prosperous .times tfihiah burst upon England iix the autumn of ,1887 ms.nj financiers were, str&nge as it may appear, absolutely ruined , owing to the iajbnormal and unexpected pleoatifolness •■•..'of money. In London alone it was estamated that many hundreds of TP^^WTig of pqundS sterling were lying- idle awaating remimexative .investment; rr/ -■-••■•■. •:■•. .^.-•. ..;••.. '„/, '•

. The^Baaik; opjbtglm&rw ■■■■■' Mareb -J's, 1888, lowered its diecouwfc rajfea to -_j -per pentt,.:a proceeding, up :_-il:t*en amßfiaia of, and ©v«ryw,lier€> w»s hetto^ tife waol .^-t_ae poor>cß'pt^Hst, wbosen _*p-UF-l*> w«peuly___g -■useliMßj ;ISBCfUBe un_^a_}\m«^tive, > aite. Ihis .bajiker's.; " ■.■■.-■-■■■ ■•■' ■- ■' ■■ ■ ''>-.■'.