mmerce.
From time to time there was a revival of hope caused by an apparent
revival of business; but this revival of business was at last seen to
be caused more and more by the desire of far-seeing and cunning men of
affairs to exchange paper money for objects of permanent value. As
to the people at large, the classes living on fixed incomes and small
salaries felt the pressure first, as soon as the purchasing power of
their fixed incomes was reduced. Soon the great class living on wages
felt it even more sadly.

Prices of the necessities of life increased: merchants were obliged to
increase them, not only to cover depreciation of their merchandise, but
also to cover their risk of loss from fluctuation; and, while the prices
of products thus rose, wages, which had at first gone up, under
the general stimulus, lagged behind. Under the universal doubt and
discouragement, commerce and manufactures were checked or destroyed.
As a consequence the demand for labor was diminished; laboring men were
thrown out of employment, and, under the operation of the simplest
law of supply and demand, the price of labor--the daily wages of the
laboring class--went down until, at a time when prices of food, clothing
and various articles of consumption were enormous, wages were nearly as
low as at the time preceding the first issue of irredeemable currency.

The mercantile classes at first thought themselves exempt from the
general misfortune. They were delighted at the apparent advance in the
value of the goods upon their shelves. But they soon found that, as they
increased prices to cover the inflation of currency and the risk
from fluctuation and uncertainty, purchases became less in amount
and payments less sure; a feeling of insecurity spread throughout the
country; enterprise was deadened and stagnation followed.

New issues of paper were then clamored for as more drams are demanded by
a drunkard. New issues only increased the evil; capitalists were all the
more reluctant to embark their money on such a sea of doubt. Workmen of
all sorts were more and more thrown out of employment. Issue after issue
of currency came; but no relief resulted save a momentary stimulus,
which aggravated the disease. The most ingenious evasions of natural
laws in finance which the most subtle theorists could contrive were
tried--all in vain; the most brilliant substitutes for those laws were
tried; "self-regulating" schemes, "interconverting" schemes--al