The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1855-01-20
To be Confirm ed.
4flisrrltol,col!s.
MON ETY..


When money is scarce. farmers mechanics,
merchants, everybody, in fast, who rubs his
own muscular intcgrmcnts against the him
dcrances and through the tight places of the
workins-day world, complain of the fact, and
attribute to it the prime influence in origi
mating and perpctuatng their difficulties.
The gentlemen, on the other hand, who write
what they call Political Economy, with a
steady determination never to admit fact.
no matter what the evidence for it, until they
have invented reason FORTS existence, deny
that the scarcity Of money is matter of any
material consequence. A little money, they
tell us, is as good as a great deal, if not abso
lutcy better for, they argue, if the quantity
Of money is increased, prices are Increased
in the same proportion, and the greater
quantity is employed in doing just what tie
smaller did. The consequence is, that gold
and silver, which can neither be eaten or
worn, arc retained ia the country, instead Of
being sent abroad in exchange for silks and
broadclolhs, that can be worn. '.If," they
say to the disconnected, ''you have not
money, it is because you and others have
wanted something Csc worse. You and
"othcrs are inlallblc judges of your own i'll
''terest you have had yon own way, spent
your money proiitably if money had
mot been cheaper than the things you inn
ported in place of it, you would not have
exported the moncy-and now you are
'slupidly grumblng, because You have made
good bargains. The money which circu
atcs in a country is so much dead capital
"a capital which prollces nothing for the
country. 10 come down to the vulgar APP
'prchcnsion, and tell the whole truth in plain
''tcrms, the wealth ola country is not in the
'money which ii possesses, but in the money
(Which 1t docs not posscsi 1t is real capt.
'tal you want, and not money. There is
always money enough, Just enough to
"haction. 70 be sure, there is apt to be a
little confusion of the ideas in the men who
''are being ground to powder in the rcadjust-
''mcnt Of equilibrium, but it is all owing to a
"want Of sound economical Instruction.
Which of the parties is right? An article
from the pen of Henry G. Carey in the Jan
uary number of HINTS Merchm,ts' Magazine,
furnishes much fresh material for the solution
of the question. While VIC recommend every
body who is troubled with a suspicion that
the economists may be wiser than he is, read
A.. u a.,
are too wise to rcad-we will give brief
sketch of its points.
Mans power over matter is limited to pro-
ducing changes of places, of form, or of own
crship these three, and no fourth, are the
things he can do. Wealth being nothing but
the power over Matter. and Value the rcsis-
lance Of Matter to that power, the facility
with which he can do the three, determines
the degree of wealth of the individual and the
community. TO aid him in all, he found
certain qualities ofmatter, and forces existing
in nature which co-opcratcs with him gratu-
itously, through the intervention of the ma
chincry devised for giving play and direction
to their activity. There arc peculiar proper
ties in the precious metals, which enable
them to assist man in ctiectng changes Of
ownership in a suIcrcminent degree. Their
use, and value for this purpose, are no more
a matter of arbitrary convention, than the
use Of iron in the shape of rails to facilitate
change af place. Each contributes vastly to
the increase Of production; and the extent to
which they contribute, is prima fatie proper
Tomato to the quantity kept in use. When
we consider, that under the system of division
of cmploymcnts, nearly every change of
form, and every change of place, in material
products, is made with view to change of
ownership-that is, for the purpose of max
ing sale-it is apparent that every obstacle
in the way of ready sale-and such is search
ty of moncy-will arrest those changes of
form and place, and thus check production
and wealth, production" says lie Trosuc,