, 1861-11-14

England was chartered and put in motion
avowedly 10 enable the Government to get
the gold and silver Of the country at d low
rate Of interest, with which to prosecute
the war against France, By filing the vacu-
um in the channels Of business with pa
per; and that the notes Of the Bank were
20 per cent below par before two years
had expired. Thus, although the Govern
ment got Tie money, and brought the war
to successful termination, the people had
TO pay for it just as squa1ely as though
they had taken the gold out Of their pock-
cts and put it into the Kings Golfers.
Let us now inquire what are the uses Of
money, and what are its relations to prop
erty and labor. Some wiseacres in poitl-
cal economy teu us that money Is not
wealth. II they mean that money cannot
be eaten, or drunk, OF WON on the body
like a shirt, their maxim is trutsm Of
very inferier merit. With the same proprie-
it may be said that a pig of iron, or an acre
Of land, or Thousand Of brick" are not
wealth. They cannot be swallowed and
converted into ehyme; they cannot be
fashioned into overcoats or petticoats. The
money (if it be real money and not fc~
tionl and the iron, land, or brick can be
converted into food or clothing-thatis,
they can be exchanged for food OF clothing.
In other words they have intrinsic value,
they are in general demand and they are,
each and every one Of them, toeazth.
The use Of money is to facilitate e1-
changes between different kinds of proper
IL OF between property and labor. The
money, or medium Of exchange, must be
an object Of universal desire. Gold and
silver are objects Of universal desire.
Nothing else has been invented OF dlscov-
cred which answers all the purposes of
money. They have performed all the
| functions which should belong to
money from the earliest periods
| Of the world, and nothing else has
been tried which has not, at one time
or another, failed. Bank of England
notes have been perhaps tue most SUCCESS
fu1 substitute for money that has ever been
tried on large scale, but they have failed
often and for long periods Of time. The
causes Of their failure at particular juno
lures we need not discuss. It is sufficient
10 say that geld soyereigns never failed in
any emergency Of peace or war.
| Money being the universal medium o.
exchange, it follows that money is the Uni
yersal measure cf razues. Let this be bornt
in mind at all times. When money i
scarce, prices Of labor, wheat, iron, cloth
houses, lands, everything, will be relative
| II low. When money is plenty, prices o
all other things will be high. Let II
illustrate: If We take an isolatet
community, having given amount o
money and given amount Of the va1iou
articles Of consumption and traffic, it
obvious that the prices OF all commoditie
; will grade themselves according to th
quantity OF volume Of money in the cor
munity. Whether the price Of whoa
! thus measured, be ten cents OF ten dol1a,
. per bushel makes no difference, becaus
b | the prices Of all other things, labor inclut
4 ed, will exactly correspond. Now if u
double the volume Of money we shhl
other things being equal, double the price
Z Of everything else, and if We diminis
/, the quantity Of money ene-half We sha
i reduce prices one half all around. II
: rule which would apply to an isolated cor
:. munity, applies to the world at large.
is found by experience that the gold pr
II duction Of the world is never sufficient
Il rapid to produce sudden or serious chang
!. in the prices Of labor, brea
= stufs, etc. Sudden changes are produce
+. which bring bankruptcy, ruin, beggary a,
+, suicide, but they ere not caused by
II crease or diminution in the volume of t
a. precious metals. Bank expansions n
D. cont1actions, measured by the hundr
"a millions, are accountable for all these, /
be though paper dollar has no intrinsic Y
q ue, yet when it is accepted As money
o1 has the same effect as q gold dollar in I
- ding to price, and when Withdrawn fl
A. circulation it has the same effect in s.
Ia tracing jTom price as though q gold dol
n we're sunk in the ocean.