Organization of Debt Into Currency and Other Papers

Organization of Debt into Currency And Other Papers Charles Holt Carroll Edited With An Introduction By Edward C. Simmons D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY, INC. PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY Toronto New York London D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY, INC. 120 Alexander St., Princeton, New Jersey (Principal office) 24 West 40 Street, New York 18, New York D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY (Canada) LTD. 358, Kensington High Street, London, W.14, England D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY, LTD. 25 Hollinger Road, Toronto 16, Canada, Copyright, © 1964 by WILLIAM VOLKER FUND Published simultaneously in Canada by D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY (Canada), LTD. No reproduction in any form of this book, in whole or in part (except for brief quotation in critical articles or reviews), may be made without written authorization from the publishers. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Introduction Little is known of Charles Holt Carroll (1799-1890), the au- thor of the thirty-six essays reprinted in this book. In the list of contributors in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, where many of these essays appeared, Carroll is described as "A Merchant of Massachu- setts." There are, of course, such scattered bits of information in business directories and newspapers as may be found for many nineteenth-century businessmen, but even when these are com- bined with the remarks he drops about himself in his essays, only a shadowy figure of a man emerges. One would like to know more about this merchant who wrote so vigorously on the currency question. Carroll seems to have had no close associates. Possibly he was regarded as eccentric. In any event no one troubled to write his biography, and the members of his family did not bother to pre- serve his personal papers. Despite his claim to having discovered no less than three new truths as to the effects of paper money in an essay written in 1859, those around him evidently did not think he would achieve renown. It now appears that Carroll might have made broader claims, for in the aggregate his writings contain an abundance of interesting ideas. Although Carroll insists upon a fresh approach to the currency problem, he is emphatic that his findings are based on accepted economic doctrine. He pauses frequently to praise the developing science of political economy, whose laws he insists are universally valid. He appears to have been a moderately careful student of Smith and Mill, and he was strongly, if not violently, anti-interven- tionist and antiprotectionist. On currency matters he was not a vi Introduction slavish follower of classical thought. Rather, he pursued his own path, rejecting, for example, Smith's dictum that an economy is realized by substituting paper money for the precious metals. He also quarrels with Mill's view that all forms of credit have the same effect. Yet in fundamental matters, such as the nature and source of value, Carroll adheres to orthodox teaching. Carroll's outright rejection of the ideas of Henry C. Carey is indicative of his basic approach. There were, to be sure, other antibank and hard-money men in the middle of the nineteenth century, but, unlike some, Carroll was not content simply to repeat the slogans of the antibank fac- tion of the Jacksonian era. He undertook to provide a reasoned argument for opposing banks, using the doctrines of the political economists; and while others had attempted to supply such a ra- tionale, Carroll was possibly the most able.1 His analysis of a fractional-reserve banking system contains penetrating insights; and although the economic scene has changed, much of what he has to say is still pertinent. Our money continues to be that same debt currency that Carroll abhorred. Even if one is not prepared to agree with all of his analysis or to accept any of his policy con- clusions, one must admire the work of this nineteenth-century businessman who was unafraid of new ideas. The freshness of his views and the vigor of his style make these essays a pleasure to read. An obituary in the Boston Evening Transcript of February 25, 1890, states that Charles Holt Carroll was born in Maryland in 1800 and belonged to the same family as Charles Carroll of Car- rollton, signer of the Declaration of Independence. The Newton Journal of February 28, 1890, repeats this claim. In fact, however, Carroll was born October 25, 1799, in Charlestown, Massa- chusetts, of sturdy New England stock which can be traced back to the early 1600's.2 It is uncertain who fastened to Carroll this American substitute for aristocratic lineage. There is no doubt that he did live in Maryland as a young man. Possibly he went to Baltimore as a youth, but there is no direct evidence of his presence there until 1829. A number of young men Introduction vii named Charles Carroll attended St. Mary's College in Baltimore during the years when Carroll would have been of student age. It could hardly have been he who signed "Charles H. Carroll" in the Degree Book of St. Mary's College, July 2, 1813. That would mean that he earned the degree of A.B. when but thirteen years old. But when Carroll remarks in one of his many diatribes against the Bank of England that it was founded by the Protestants as part of the effort to displace the Stuarts, he may be revealing that he learned his history from a Roman Catholic teacher, as he cer- tainly would have if he had been of the Maryland Carrolls. This, however, belies the Protestant background of his parents. Nor does it harmonize with the fact that Carroll's funeral was con- ducted by a Unitarian clergyman. In any event, Carroll's style of writing suggests that he had been trained under firm-handed schoolmasters. His thought is clear, his ideas are well organized, and his language is forceful. There are frequent classical allusions in his essays, but there is little of the excessively flowery style of the period. Although his eldest son attended Harvard, there is no record that he himself did. Carroll, of course, may have been self-educated. If so, this might account for his frequently expressed scorn for closeted scholars. He says that only men who have had practical experience are qualified to speak on the question of the currency. One cannot be sure what meaning attaches to the aspersions he casts on scholarly deduction. While he does insist on first-hand knowledge of currency matters, he does not deny himself acquaintance with the writings of the political economists. At every opportunity he bol- sters his views by appealing to their authority, although he does not hesitate to challenge them on doctrinal points. The meager information about Carroll's life provides slight clue to the source of his ideas. By means of business directories it is possible to trace his career as a merchant.3 He first appears in 1829 under the listing "Commission Merchants" in Baltimore. Subsequently the listing is "Dealer in Shoes, Hats, and Straw Goods." Beginning in 1840 his name appears jointly with George W. Tinges, who evidently continued the firm's business under his own name when Carroll moved to Boston in 1849. Possibly Car- viii Introduction roll's marriage in 1832 to Rebecca White of Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, has a bearing on the family's moving to Boston, but either family ties or business opportunity could account for the transfer.4 In any event, Carroll's residence for the next fifteen years was Cambridge, Massachusetts. One may amuse himself by speculating that Carroll may have been inspired to take up the writing of essays by observing the careers of some of his illustrious Cambridge fellow townsmen. While no evidence has been found to suggest that Carroll moved in the same circles as the Cambridge literary figures of the 1850's, Carroll's writing did begin about five years after he had established himself as a merchant in Boston with a residence in Cambridge. Charles H. Carroll is listed among "Boot, Shoes, and Leather Dealers, Wholesale" in several Boston business directories beginning in 1850. The last entry in the series is for 1860, when the firm becomes Thayer and Carroll, suggesting that a partnership had been formed in anticipation of Carroll's retirement. It is clear that he had retired before he moved to West Newton, Massachu- setts, in 1865, and he may have retired as early as 1860. The latter possibility is suggested by the change in the firm's name and by his no longer being described as a merchant in the list of contributors to Hunt's Merchants' Magazine after I860.5 At that time he would have been sixty years old, not an uncommon age for retirement from business. Carroll was undoubtedly engaged in business for at least thirty years. Frequent references in his writings to overseas transactions in hides suggest that his Boston business was the supplying of raw materials to the shoe industry.6 How successful Carroll was as a businessman can be only a matter of conjecture. We know that he retired from business, but this could be accounted for by business success or by marriage or by inheritance. We know that he built a home when he moved to West Newton. That he was able to live without employment pre- supposes at least a modest amount of wealth.7 There were apparently eight children in the Carroll family. The oldest, a son named for his father, was born in Baltimore in 1832 and graduated from Harvard in 1853. This was the Charles Carroll who was professor at the University of the City of New Introduction ix York from 1871 to his death in 1889 and who contributed a number of articles and some verse to popular magazines in the seven- ties and eighties.8 Another son, Arthur, went into business.

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