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WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1838
and freedom, and imperishable glory, had been achieved, but the struggle had left us destitute and naked. There were no banks! there was no money!- our land could not be sold, and the public credit was of a doubtful character. To avoid the absolute disso- lution of the Government, it became necessary to resort to some expedient that might furnish temporary relief. This could only be effected by creating a currency that should command some degree of credit abroad. It was hoped and believed, that if a small issue of government paper was made, with specified means of redemption pointed out, which appeared to be ample and well guaranteed, and the Govern- ment should evince a prudent and discreat judgment in its man- agement, it would command such articles in the market of the United States, as were indispensable to the country. The result has justified this expectation, but it has been effected under sacrifices that have borne heavily upon individuals and the country. The mischief of a depreciated currency is not confined to first hands, or those who are compelled to make the first reduction. It enters into the valuation of property, and the prices of all articles of traffic in all hands. An artificial, fictitious and exorbitant tarrif of prices succeeds; while all who buy, must pay- as well the planter, the artisan, and the laborer, as those who are paid directly from the Gov- ernment. In this respect, the depreciation of the currency of a country differs, essentially, from that of the paper of a bank or an indi- vidual, or the ordinary scrip of Government. Owing to the depreciated character of our currency, qualified, as it has been, the prices of merchandize in Texas, are from one to two hundred per cent higher than in the United States of the North, or Mexico, or probably any other country. While the claims of the Government are so generally distributed as at pres- ent, the oppression of these exorbitant prices is not so sensibly felt, but this resource will soon be exhausted. The credit of the currency in foreign markets, owing to its peculiar character, will not be essentially improved by the absorp- tion of these claims; and our people will then be left with the high prices of the present times, and without their present means to meet them. . The Government will have issues, with the interest superadded, and its other expenses to meet; and a people exhausted and bare
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