The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-12-28

have fixed snd determinste weight The Quansty
Of pure gold which they contain viii simply refer ~
the unity Of weight. a. for examples ffsiete part
or handvedth part Of pound weight. and tlrere il
70 be one etenth q alloy. Such viii be the weight
and the alley, and the quaint ty Of gold measured by
weight in each piece. But the value as 30 hos
much OF The silver money the gold pieces are -
represent, wik be regulated once every six months,
according to tie actual relative va,ue Of gold CON.
pared with silver. The value will be regulated 40
cording TO the course cf exchange aad the quotation
of gold in the principal markets. Under the Ger
man system proposed, though gold will in
| this manser ci,culate as money yet it will
do so only on the voluntary pinciple; coz
sequently any credNor to whom it is cliesed in pay
ment of debt viii be at liberty to refuse il If 30
pleases in other words, IT will not bs legal tee
der, obligatory to be received rs lawful payment
| OF money.
| 1t will be evident however, that il gold coin il
| taken at the Ixblic treasury and in payment u
taxes, &c, a. the value fixed upon il every Ax
months, then private individuals will make ~ I'm
Guilty ia receiving it at che same rate and value.
But is IL positively decided chat the several pxk
lie treasures will take it This B what does MT
appear quite painin the account published in ~
Moniteur. IL is much to be desired that the Curonsv
Convention OF Vienna should settle this matter an1
leave no donbt upon the subject. We are inclined.
also 70 the opinion that it is smetter of regret shak
the Convention had not required the receiving of
gold coin in payments to be obligatory at the rates
and valae to be fixed every six months.
Nae gold, used as money, win only be considered
as to its weight. and in reference to the unit of
also as to its weight will only refer to the unit Il
weight In other words, the silver coin will be r.
self the unit OF weight; viz, one pound weight anA
gold. win lie said to be worth many ounces or .
many pounds Of silver. By this system, Is thus
explained, the custom which was prevalent under
the European monarchies estsbliahed by Chane-
magne, which was also the practice in use amenG
the ancients, will be again revived. When any one,
in reference TO money, speaks Of pound, 1t w
mean pound weight OF silver. This Is preciselV
the same as was done In ancient times, when money
N "a
The pound weight fixed upon by the German
convention the same which Is in In the Zsllye
rein States, viz, the pound Of 500 grammes, whieh
is exactly half kilogramme Of our French weight
This German pound is also the same as the Aneri-
can and English pound avordupoi.--NOte by Ne
HERALD transiator.]
This action of the German Currency Convestisa
sitting at Vienna is, as il will be seen one step
forwards in the creation of uniform system ef
weights and measures among civil zed nations-m
object much desired by enlightened mel of al M
tions; and for the promotion Of which an internA-
toDai ass0ciation was formed at Paris after H.
Universal Exhibition which was held there.
But by making the unit of value in the currency .
consist Of pound weight. it is TO establish mcssur-
Of this weight would be in fact large silver medals.
containing in bulk as much substance az Is o0a-
tanned in about one hundred and eleven one fraae
pieces. In consequence Of this inconvenience which
belongs to making the unit to consist OF pound
weight, the plan has been adopted of taking sub-
unit instead Of the entire unit This has been dsne
by taking the thirtieth part Of pound weight.
which is in fact the German fh0ier, or dollar. Bat
here again difficulty presents itself. The fhaiev
dollar Is Prussian coin.
But the majority Of the German States have -
thalers; theyfhave the great and small icrin; an4
these States were no. willing to give up the use e
their forms, and settle down upon the Pussian thAr
Ter, as the currency unit On this account 1t hes
been agreed upon that each state should coin tha-
tied to specific minimum TO be coined, WHILE at she
same time each State should have the right of ooia
ing big or little horins for its own Internal use.
Thus Austria, IL abe plesses will coin the large 6oea
for its people, and the lesser south German States
win coin for themselves the smaller forms. Per
haps this is carrying the principle Of sccommoda-
the new currency.
Under this arrangement it will take fftytwo aui
half small fiorins to make one pound weight eT
silver. and 1t will take fortyve large forins 10 do
the same.
Now, with all due respect to the Vienna Coufe-
renee, cannot refrain from making one remark b.
way OF criticism. In this new syssem the thalcr
will remain exactly, or very nearly, what Il is at
present Its new value viii be three francs and
seventy -haDdredths Of q franc, with fraction of
one-hundredths Of a franc besides. In the Annual
Of the tffce of Longitude its value Is reckoned -
three francs and seventy onehundredths OF rranos
so that il will remain nearly OF the same value il
was before. But the great form win undergo .
much more considerable deviation. IL win be made
to be worth two francs and and fortyseven hum
dred,bs; instead Of two francs and sixty
new lesser Horin will be the same as before viz,
two francs and twelve hundredths. Now, whsa
they were making change in the customs Of the
people, II would not have been very difficult to have
gone little further, 20 "a to approach to tina
French divisions OF the unit. This would have boca
OF great convenience, not only for France and Cor
many, but also for Belgium and a great part or
Italy, where their money is like the French money.
Thus, for example, while they about IL, they
might have made the thaler TO be Eve francs, 70 =
to weigh the twentieth part Of pound weight.
uxUlI h0vn tnna frx ~
might at least have fixed il st four francs,
which would be a less departure from the prcvions
value OF tho thaef In the same manner The smaller
form might without any Inconvenience have been
made equal TO two francs, and the larger one 10
two francs ffty hundredths.
We have already shown that the money unit of
the Germanc Currency Ccnfeaeration--thai is "
into thousands Each tbousandth part will be equa1
TO eleven hundredths Of a franc and eleven hun
dredths Of hundredth. That Is, in American no
the cent 70 be the hundredth part ola Franc instead
Of the hundrcdfh part OF dollar.-HERALD Tr1
Such II TO be the nature Of q mill Of the silver
pound weight, which In the currency unit. But IL
does not appear that the several coins below
the tsalsr are to be decimal parts Of the
unit. AZ least 10 n net stated In the MOnifeur-
On ths contrary il would appear that all sorts oT
fractons are 70 be admitted, snce mention ID maao
in that Journal Of coins which are 10 be the sixth
part Of thser. But worse still, the thalcr itself
and the double thaler. not 10 10 decimal psrta
Of the unit: they viii he, In facs one Of the ~
thireth part and the other the 3eenth part Of IT,
ponnd unit decimal diviso. is. we think. much
TO be desired.
There ID another thing 70 be regretted, TO whichw~
have slightly alluded before IL has been sccn than
zach coin, together with the alloy added 70 i've
the pr7per hardness, " TO be estimafea
with reference 10 the pound weight OF silver - -
ing such or such part Of the said pound weighk-
Thus, for example, In the French cnrrency. 60
franc, including aIloy and all, wsght five grsmmss,
and So two bandrcd francs make exactly one hllO-
gramms. This In convsnient for ascsrtAinina The
weight OF money, and also, anything whatever ON
he weighed hy these weigbts One only requires 10
hays coin enough to weigh 10 the smonnH of kilo-
pramme and the pieces Of coin give The fractional
parts Of the kilogrsnme in decimalstha4 N, In sub
nultiples In this French plan tbe Alloy \ includr
in the weight, but ths German Cuusucy Ccavsnts I,
excludes the AMOUNT Of alloy In estimate -
the weight, when comparing wiAh pound wsi ~
of silver. Hence the weight ot several a.
the INIT for The Nsirht sf nllsa nus be suhA s.6s