Show A STABLE TO IT IN LARGE MEASURE OUR prosperity IS DUE what the cartr H done for sound Hon eyThe evolution ot method of briefly sketched aa all reviews 0 modem progress we read much oi the steam engine the railroad the steamship the telegraph the telephone the electric light abo trolley car etc but one finds little concerning modern methods 0 effecting exchanges of commodities of modern currency systems banking facilities and instruments ot credit such as bank notes promissory notes mortgagee bonds bills of exchange drafts checks bills of lading etc and yet no development of science or mechanics has been more rapid or more helpful in the progress of civilization than this evolution from the ancient method ot barter to the modern complex and convenient system of exchanges by which the individual man exchanges that which he has to sell for that which he wants possibly it is because the change has been rather by the quiet method 0 evolution instead ot the more startling one of discovery or invention that it attracts so little atten alon from the average writer or talker on our modern progress when the goldsmiths of venice and genoa became bankers and evolved a crude system of credit money that permitted the italian merchant to pay for goods at a distance without carrying metallic money the commerce and industry of northern italy were started on their way and the renaissance ot civilization was begun the way was opened for the revival of learning for the art of printing and tor the accumulation of wealth that produced in its turn all the literature the art and the culture that centered about venice genoa florence and milan commerce and industry hitherto held down by the limitations of metallic money with its necessarily small transactions and the difficulties and dangers incident to its transportation suddenly sprang tor ward as it released from chains there were many other factors in the improvement pro ot course but no impartial student of the times will fall to give this development of credit facilities the moat prominent place in the new movement which brought the dark agea to a close and ushered in the light of modem civilization in western europe in view of this incident of the past it is hardly too much to say that one of the most prominent factors in the rapid development of civilization during tho nineteenth century was the swift evolution of the system of currency and banking which comprehend sall the various methods of converting property of intrinsic value into paper evidences of debt enabling the convenient transfer of such property at great distances in the shortest possible time and with the greatest modicum of safety now property measured by millions of dollars can be transferred with no more manual labor than is required in the transfer of a single dollars worth such a vast and complex system of credits must of course have a standard unit of measurement which will serve not only as a standard by which to measure values but also as a basis for credits all these paper forms whether they be paper money issued by a government bills issued by a bank checks issued by an individual or bills of lading issued by a transportation company or what not are in their last analysis nothing more or ids than promissory notes promises to deliver to the holder either on demand or at a time stated in the form property should the promise be to deliver other promises issued by somebody else then we should merely have an endless chain of promises should it po promises to deliver wheat or corn or iron or some other commodity bills of lading and warehouse receipts are of this character and tor that reason they never pass current but can only be disposed of in comparatively limited quarters the natural thing is to make them payable in metallic money alius making use of the experience of past ages which evolved the use of gold and silver and copper as money for the more convenient exchange of property it stands to reason that worldwide uniformity la such a standard and basis is desirable in the conduct of a worldwide commerce it further stands to reason that the rapid multiplication of these credit forms and the extension of their use have diminished abs tbs necessity for a very large volume of metallic money nobody want metallic rooney in large sums when be can have paper representations 0 it that can be converted into the metal at any moment thus it happens that considerably less than I 1 per cent of the business transacted in this country Is done through the medium of metallic money under these tendencies and necessities it lias been the most natural thing in the world for modern commerce to drift into the use of but one metal ns a basis for its paper credit bornis and it has been just as natural that it should drift into the uso of the most precious of the metals need for money namely gold the american naturally fell in with this tendency when it pro pared to resume be payment af pf its obligations ligat ions in specie nearly thirty acar ago and through the practice of its treasury american paper currency has been on n gold basla ever since nor was this practice questioned until the agitation for free coinage began and contributed eo heavily to the panic of tho soundness 0 american currency too firmly in the estimation of the world tha be 0 t 1 arti tt M STABLE CURRENCY continued from pago 3 gan to IH novt no merely abroad but by the more thoughtful ones at borne the alcan party took up the fight for the gold standard and a sound currency it won the battle in enacted the gald standard law in march 1000 and clinched the matter by winning handsomely in another presidential election immediately following the enactment of this law we date our present wonderful prosperity practically from the autumn of when the off year elections finally determined the fact that the nn party would be in command in both branches of congress and n he white house and beable be able to write the gold standard into the law released from the last binding chain of doubt and uncertainty american commerce and industry leaped forth to conquer the earth while there have been other factors in tho present spurt of prosperity alie unprejudiced student of the future will accord the lions share of the glory to the firmer establishment ot american credit through the enactment of tho gold standard law there la still work for congress in this direction the law as passed did not definitely take care of the coin bonds nor provide mandatory law for preserving the parity of silver money with gold money A supplemental bill for this purpose Is pending and will doubtless be passed at the present session another measure in the direction of better currency methods Is pending in the shape of a bill providing tor a small an clastic bank note currency but it la doubtful if it will be taken up and passed at this session at least until the country has had nn opportunity port unity for a discussion of the subject ko more accurate barometer of the condition of the country can be found than the earnings of the railroads in spite of large earnings during the last five years the official returns for aco miles of road for 1891 show the largest increase on record in both goss and net earnings the increase of gross earnings fo the last year over 1900 amounted to 21 while the 1900 figures themselves snored an increase over those of 1899 of |