The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-06-01

Correct general principles are moat i'm
portant Of al the factors Of human pro-
gress for they underlie every upward
movement Of the sciences and the arts to-
ward nobler attitudes of excellence, and
give impulse and efficiency to every uti6-
tartan undertaking. So long q u was
held that the elementary substances were
only four in number-earth, air, fire, water
there could be no such thing ~ ehemi-
cal analysis and discovery, those wonderful
promoters of material dsvelopment, en-
abling man 10 subdue to his service soma of
the most productive forces in nature. Un-
til astronomers ceased to maintain that the
sum revolved about the earth, the New
tonian theory Of attraction and repulsion,
a. centripetal and centrifugal agencies gov
erning the motions Of the planetary sys-
tenn, was an impossible conception-a now
demonstrated law to which we owe an as-
tonishing perfection Of ASTRONOMICAL obser-
walton, bringing ia its train vast amount
of useful result, such az removing from the
common mind all superstitious fear of COM
ets and eclipses. During the long predom-
nance Of the doctrine Of the divine right
Of kings as an active principle Of national
life, the people could not exist a. politi-
cal power, except in hypothesis, nor possess
freedom of thought, Of speech, and Of &C.
ton civil and religious liberty arose only
with the ascendency Of the antagonistic
doctrine, that the people are the only true
source Of political authority, oulminAting
in multitude of blessings to the masses
Every advancing step in art, in science, in
civilization, represents the substitution of
some defective general principle by one
which in nearer to perfection. The shores
Of time are strewn with the wrecks of mag
nifcent errors, which, in their day, were
esteemed the very quintessence Of practical
wisdom, illustrating the antithetical truth
that first principles are always last to be
discovered. Financial plans, systems, and
hypothesis have had, and still have, their
share Of these errors, each in its turn prov
ing an tgnis fatlns TO lure unwary nations
and individuals into the bogs and quagmires
of pecuniary embarrassment, or even to the
verge Of bankruptcy. Every kind Of mo-
ney, or to state the idea more comprehen-
sively, every instrument Of exchange, in
situated by government, oE provided under
its sanction, properly forms part of the
science of fnance-s scieLce which embod-
lcB CGty8An KCnCNnA PAA4CARhcmg UhuNcK1W4 8sku
unbending in their operation T; for other
wise it could not be entitled to be called =
science, since science II the very soul of
method and regularity, the fundamental
elements of order-yet there In deplora-
BILE and widespread ignorance OF the true
theory of money prevailing among all CLASSES
Of the community-in Congress, in the va
rious Chambers Of Commerce throughout
the country, and among the members Of
the press. Indeed, the -eal nature and
function Of money seems to be almost en-
tirely obscured from the vision Of those
whose high duty it is to provide for the gen
eral welfare of the people. Newspapers-
the most potent of all the modern teachers
of the public-teem, in the meantime, with
chimeras of every conceivable shape and
pamphlets and books are multiplied upon
pamphlets and books, setting forth the
most diverse and irreconcilable views, un-
til universal bewilderment appears to have
settled, like q dense fog, upon and around
the whole subject. Amid 90 much that is
complicated, abstrHse, contradictory, and
puxzling, it may resemble presumption TO
assert, although it is none the less the fact,
that few general principles will suffice to
evolve simplicity and order out Of such in
tricacy and confusion-principles without
which he who should venture into this mon
etary labyrinth, honestly cropping for cor
rect criteria OF o measure of values, would
soon find that Ariadne's thread had not fal-
len to his lot, and that he was but STUN
bling over blunder after blunder The as-
certaining and lucid demonstration of these
principles, 20 as 10 establish them beyond
nlkhnnrrk kak~, Al L.
tain theories, sophisms, and fallacies, and
much dogmatiaan, nevertheless present q
task whose difficulty Of accomplishment is
extreme only in appearance. 1t In the OBJ
ject Of this article to contribute something
toward the recognition and settlement Of
these principles.
Every movement of organic life, and
every one IN the operations of nature, in
wolves exchange Of some sort. Muscular
exertion smbOdies the exchange of certain
physical resources for power Of action in .
particular director. In the material world.
every act of combination il equally an net
of exchange, the various particles exchang-
ing with one another their respective prop
critics. The more nearly perfect the bodily
resources are, the more nearly perfect will
be the power of muscular action. Chemi-
cal synthesis can employ . variety of means
to secure q demanded result but that
which il least roundabout ID most service
able For efiecting exchanges, whether il
be in animate or inanimate nature. those
instrumentalitiss are the best which most
quickly and most efficiently accomplish the
required exchange. We here reach, a a
conclusion from these facts, the fundamep-
tai general principle in regard to exchanges
Of every description, that tchatever prO-
nsotes, sssstaiss, and completes AIem, im tAe
most rapid and wseftsl nanner, 10 a needed ex-
teat, % snecessarily best adapted 10 secure the
purposes Of erchongss. This principle being
Of universal application, and absolutely
without exceptions, We have . principle
which accurately measures the value of
every instruments used 70 exchange commo-
ditiss and services.
After all that may be said Of money. in
ultimate generalization makes il out to be
nothing more than an exchanger Of values.
No matter what form It may take, - salt in
AbyssinniA cowrie shells in Africa cattle
IN Asia pieces Of iron in Sparta wam-
pun among the American Indians leather
among the Carthagenians Goldfish in Ice
land and Newfoundland the mulberrv-
tree, bearing the stamp Of the sovereign.
in China tobacco IN Virginia platins in
Russia crude gold from the mine, weighed
every time II passed from hand to hand. in
patriarchAl times coined metals; reprs-
sentative paper money money Of account,
or credit money Of any kind-no matter
L - -A-A E. IL