The Struggle for Currency in Wartime Olympia
Merchants in Olympia face criticism for devaluing federal 'greenbacks' at the expense of local laborers.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Attempts are being made by certain business men in this place to depreciate Government paper, which has heretofore passed readily at its par valuation. We cannot but view this movement as injurious to the laboring classes who are compelled to receive this currency for their services. We hold that the merchants are making large profits on their wares, and this profit should satisfy any honest business man without an additional gain founded on the systematic attempt to shave 'greenbacks.' If the merchant here takes Treasury notes at a heavy discount and passes them in San Francisco at the same rate, it is evident that he loses nothing; the laborer is the man out of whose earnings the loss comes. Every branch of industry should aid in sustaining the credit of the Government. Let some firm take the lead and announce their determination to take the currency of the land at its legal value, and the remainder will soon have to do likewise or shut up shop.
“The laborer—the consumer—is the man out of whose dear bought earnings the loss is to come. This is not right.”
During the Civil War, local businesses often exploited currency instability to increase margins, shifting the economic burden onto workers. This reflects a recurring tension in Olympia’s history, where the local cost of living and the accessibility of liquid cash have frequently been at odds with the interests of established capital.
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