MONOPOLY OF EXCHANGE. 

 AMOUNT OF CURRENCY IN CIRCULATION. 



433 



Below we give a table exhibiting the number of busi- 

 ness failures and amount of their liabilities for the years 

 1860 to 1878 inclusive: 



The reader will observe that while the population of 

 the United States was rapidly increasing from year to year 

 that the volume of money was decreasing in an inverse 

 ratio. The baneful effects of a decreasing volume of money, 

 even with the population and commerce remaining station- 

 ary, have already been pointed out. With the constantly 

 increasing population and growth of business, good states- 

 manship, justice and common sense demand that, 

 instead of contracting the volume of circulating medium, 

 it should have been increased to keep pace with the devel- 

 opment and growth of business naturally following. In 

 the above and following tables the student of political 

 economy will find food for serious reflection. The constant 

 and rapid decrease of the circulating medium is co-exist- 

 ent with, and inseparable from, the industrial depression 

 which has swept like a demon of destruction over the land. 



