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Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
ocean is fluent. If I would succeed in reducing it in the area of a 
mile I would have to shut off that mile from all other parts of the 
ocean. If we do reduce the value of gold or .raise the value of gold 
in this case by a large demand, in any one given quarter, gold the 
world over is ready to supply that demand, and in connection with 
the transfer by paper, is one of the most fluent of all commodities, 
and would rush in to compensate any extra demand. 
Again, gold is indestructible. The water taken out of the ocean 
will, in a short time, get back to that ocean, so the gold I take for 
any special purpose from the currency is, in a short time, sure to 
get back to that currency, so it is able to meet any sudden demand 
without any instability. 
Again, I dip the water out of the ocean; I cannot use it without 
getting the water back to the ocean, and the ocean remains at the 
same level. 
Again, gold is used almost entirely for currency; very little in the 
industrial arts, except in reference to luxuries. Almost all the in¬ 
dustrial demand is in reference to luxury; therefore, if gold is sunk 
in value, it will-draw off a large supply from luxury, and tend to 
raise it again. Nothing will give way quite so easily to demand, as 
elegancies; necessity must be met. When gold rises in value it will 
be drawn out of these elegancies. Elegancies serve the purpose of 
a reservoir; the reservoir takes in the water when it is flush, and 
yields the water when it is dry, and as a matter of fact, gold has 
slowly increased in amount, and slowly decreased in value, in the 
world’s history so slowly, as not to affect slight periods of time, 
only affecting long periods, so we may say this decrease of values 
is in some respects uniform. 
Mr. Clark, of Green: I have listened with a great deal of 
admiration to the ability and ingenuity of the paper last read, 
and the gentleman, with a seeming frankness, touched one point 
which the contractionist seldom touches — the effect upon the 
debtor class, and the ingenuity with which he explained that was 
certainly admirable. There is one fact he didn’t touch. He 
assumed a damage to the debtor class of about thirteen cents 
— eighty-seven cents to one dollar of greenbacks. He didn’t 
,take into consideration the depreciation in property that will 
be incurred to get that one dollar. Now, what is resumption? It 
cannot be anything but contraction. We see, now, in our govern- 
