The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1778-10-20 00:00:00, page 1

7 h(Numb. 717,
TUESDAY, October 20, 1778. 0 ,
CONNECTICUT COURANT,
ANDTHZ
WEEKLY I NTELLIGENC ER.
TICKETS in Shetucket Bridge Lottery,
(Ten Dollars each) to be fold by Smith and
Coit,in Hartford, and by the Printers of this Paper.
N. B. The highest prize is Four Tho^fand Dol
la s, the lowest Twenty Dollars, and but about two
and a half blanks to a prize. The drawing of said
Lottery will commence by the 25th of December
next.
PARCEL of WEST-INDIA RUM,
of high proof and pleasant flavour, is to be
fold by the hog/head by the Subferiber, at the
house of Mr. Zenus Parsons, Tavern keeper, near
the Court-house in Springfield. n
SAND. STRINGER.
Springfield, O&. io, 1778.
WANTED, a CLERK, in the Office of
the Commissioners of Accounts. Any per
son qualified, will meet with suitable encouragement.
None need to apply but those who can be well re
commended.
Hartford, O&. 19. 1778.
TAKEN up by the Subferiber, living in
Windsor, in Hartford county, on the 26th
of September, a BLACK HORSE, with a
white streak in the face, both hind feet white, tail
cut off short, paces and trots, 15 hands high, and
about nine or ten years old. The owner may have
him, on paying charges, and applying to
IRA CLARK.
. October 8, 1778.
BROKE into the pasture of the Subferiber, the
firft day ofthis present month, a RED RONE
M ARE, three years old, no brand, a natural
trotter, and had on a poke. The owner is desired
to pay charges and take her away,
JONATHAN CARRINGTON.
Farmington O&. 8, 1778.
STRAYED from the Subferiber, foraetime last
June, a BROW N STEER, four years old
mark uncertain, but thinks it is a crop on each ear,
some white under his belly, white feet, and has very
long hair between his horns. Whoever will take up
said steer, and give information to the owner, shall
have a handsome reward, and charges paid by
ROBERT GRANGER.
Suffield, Sept. 30, 1778°
STRAYED from John Ripley of Windham,
the 4th inst. a Chefnut coloured or brown
MARE, fourteen hands one or two inches high,
belonging to the Subferiber in Hartford; had a sad
dle gall on her right fide, nearly under the fore part
of the saddle, not healed over, paces and trots, has
a large blaokifh mane; which hangs mostly on the
off fide, not certain she has any white about her.
Ten Dollars Reward, and reasonable charges, will
be allowed to any person that will take her up and
return her either to the above-mentioned John
Ripley, or to
JOHN BROOME.
'1778. _
STRAYED away from Sandisfield, some time
fa August, FIVE YOUNG CREA-
T URES, viz. One yoke of two years old Steers,
of a brindle colour, one of the said steers with fame
white about him : A red Heifer, two years old : A
brindle Steer, with a white face, one year old ; and
a pale red Heifer, one year old, with some white
under the belly, all marked with two halfpenny
cuts the forefide of the right ear, also branded with
the letters G. M. On the horn. Whoever will take
up said cattle, and give information to William
Morby, living in Sandisfield, Berkshire county, or
to the Subferiber, living in Wed-Springfield, Hamp
shire county, /hall have Ten Dollars Reward, and
all rieceffary charges paid by
GEORGE M'INTIER.
&&ober 1% 17,8.
HARTFORD: Printed by WATSON and GOODWIN, near the Great Bridge.
For the CONNECTICUT COURANT.
The Old Story, in a different Dress, by a dif
ferent Person.
OU R paper currency has been a fubjeftof pub
lic complaint and news paper declamation so
long, the causes of its depreciation and the remedies
proposed to raise its credit so often repeated, that I
ihould exped what I have to fay would fearcely
have a cursory reading, were it not that I propose to
offer something new and uncommon. And here I
shall run no final! hazard, as I /hall dire&ly oppefe,
in many particulars, the opinions of those venerable
characters Cato and Cjesar, as well as of several
other literary heroes who have made such a figure in
the Connecticut Courant. This, however, gives
me no uneasiness, as my design is to offer nothing
but what I find, upon impartial enquiry, to be per
fe&ly consistent with the true fundamental principles
of commerce.
In treating this fubje&. in order to give my pro
portions the greater authority, I shall make some
extracts'from that accurate and judicious critic Lord
Kaimf, whose observations, in his /ketches upon
commerce, are excellent, and well calculated to ob
viate.the difficulties attending this fubje&.
This writer observes, " That the value of a com
modity depends chiefly, though not solely, cn the
demand. Quantity beyond the demand, renders
necessaries of no value; of which water is an in
stance. It may be held accordingly as a general
rule, That the value of goods in commerce, de
pends on ademand beyond what their quantity can
fatisfy, and rises in proportion 'o the excels of the
demand above the quantity. Even water becomes
valuable in countries where the demand exceeds the
quantity; in parched regions, springs of water are
highly valued, and in old times were frequently the
occasion of broils and bloodshed. Comparing next
different commodities with refpe& to value, that
commodity of which the excess of the demand above
the quantity is the greater, will be of the greater va
lue. Were utility or intrinsic value only to be con
sidered, a pound of iron would be worth ten pounds
of gold ; but as the excess of the demand for gold
above its quantity is much greater than that ofirdn,
the latter is of less value in the market. A pound
of opium or Jesuits bark is, for its salutary effe&s,
more valuable than gold; and yet, for the reason
given, a pound of gold will purchase many pounds
of these drugs. Thus, in general, the excess of de
mand above the quantity, is t^e standard that chief
ly fixes the mercantile value of commodities."
These are the observations of that author, and to con
firm their truth, he subjoins the following fa& in a
note: " In a voyage to Arabia Felix, anno 1708,
by a French ship, the king of the territory where the
crew landed, gave them an ox weighing a thousand
or twelve hundred pounds for a fufee, and threescore
pounds weight of rice for twenty eight ounces of
gun powder, The goods bartered were estimated
according td the wants of each party ; or, in other
words, according to the demand above the quanti
ty." He has many other observations upon the
quantity and demand for goods equally judicious ;
but as the principal cause of the fluctuating state of
our trade is the variation of the quantity of circulat
ing medium, I proceed to what the fame writer ob
serves upon that article. He fays " I put a sim
ple case, that the half of our current coin is at once
swept away by some extraordinary accident. This
at firft will embarrass our internal commerce, as the
vender will insist for the usual price, which new
cannot be afforded: But the error of such demand
will soon be difeovered, and the price of commodi
ties after some fluctuation, would fettle at the one
half of what it was formerly. At tlie some time here
is no downfal in the value of commodities, which
cannot happen while the quantity and demand re
main unvaried. The purchasing for sixpence, what
formerly co : ft a shilling, makes no alteration in the
value of the things purchased; because a sixpence is
equal in value to what a shilling was formerly. la a
word, when money is scarce, it must bear a high va
lue ; it must in particular go far in the purchase of
goods which we express by faying goods are cheap.
Put next the case that our specie is inflantly dou
bled; upon supposition the quantity and demand
remain unvaried the result will be, not instan
taneous indeed, to double the price of commodities.
Upon the former supposition, a sixpence is in effect
advanced to be a shilling; upon the present suppo
sition, a shilling has in effect funk down to a six
pence. And here again it ought to be observed,
that though the price be augmented, there is no real
alteration in the value of commodities. A bullock
that some years ago could have been purchased for
ten pounds, will at present yield fifteen. The vulgar
ignorantly think the value of horned cattle has rifea
in that proportion. The advanced price may, in
some degree be occasioned by a greater consump
tion; but it is chiefly occasioned by a greater quan
tity of money in circulation
(' Combining all the circumstances, the result is,
that if the quantity of goods and of money continue
the fame, the piice will be in proportion to the de
mand. If the demand and quantity of goods conti
nue the fame, the price will be in proportion to the
quantity of money. And if the demand and quanti
ty of money continue the fame, the p^ce will fall as
the quantity of goods increases, and rife as the quanJ
tity diminishes" v"
Here then Lord Kaims has affigntfl fufficient reafort
for the high price of our articles of commerce, both
foreign and domestic, for which we have been pub
licly and injuriously ftigm&ized with the epithets,
extortioners, /harpers and oppressors. It is furpriz
ing, that men of common sense could embrace and
cheri/h this monstrous opinion, that a few individu
als, whom they denominate jockeys and /harpers,
have had influence enough to raise the price of all
the necessaries and conveniences, and even the lux
uries of life. Yet this is the avowed opinion of
thousands in these states; at least, these extortioners,-
as they are called, are thought to have given rife to
the evil, and to have been chiefly instrumental in
continuing and increasing it ; an opinion that par
takes equally of ignorance and malice. I confess, I
fee but little reason for denominating one set of peo
ple extortioners more than another. Every person
endeavours to get as high a price as poflible for eve
ry thing he has to fell; and since there are other
causes more rational and fufficient to account for
the present fluctuating state of our trade, it is the
part of a little mind to impute it to the caprice of in
dividuals. '
I take the liberty, therefore, to suppose, that the
two grand and only causes of a high price for any
article are, the demand for the article, and the quan
tity of money in circulation. And these causes, I
suppose, to have solely occasioned the present high
prices of all our commodities To make this plain,
it will be necessary to prove, that the case would
have been the fame, had the fame quantity of gold
and silver been thrown into circulations as there has
of paper bills. To prove this, I produce the fol
lowing fa&, from the calculation of an eminent poli
tical writer. The value of gold and silver has funk
in Europe, since the difeovery of the mines in South
America, more than three thousand per pent. This
is a fad which cannot be denied. And there is no
poflible reason can be assigned for this event, but the
grea er quantity of coin in circulation, But to bring
matters nearer home : Several articles have been fold
in New York and upon Long Island, fur a higher
price in gold and silver than the fame articles tave,
in paper, in any of the United States. This shews c
beyond contradiction, that the demand for any ar
ticle will regulate the price, without any regard to
coin or paper. For a corroborative proof of this,we
may observe, the pride of rum has more than doubled
in some of the Weft India inlands, since the war com
menced in America. A real scarcity of that article
has takes place, in consequence of their converting
large plantations of cane into fields for railing provi
sions, which they were obliged tc do by the inter.