New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-12-29
Money and w eaitiPs

Money and Vyeaitirs
From the Financier
vast amount of wealth was destfnrpf
by the Boston fire, and the influence OF thil
fact upon insurance interests brings in view
| what is quite apt ordinarily to fall out o.
thOught-that insurance does not restore
what is lost, but only divides and scatters
the burden if no insurance companies ex
| listed, the loss would be no more real loss
| and no greater but it would crush MANY
| who will now be able to make q stand, and
| thus its disastrous effect upon the people at
| large would be more severe and more last
| ing.
Furthermore, the amount Of money con-
| sumed is incOnsiderable, probably almost
| nothing; yet this fact is not taken into &C.
count at all in considering the loss and its
effect The property destroyed is realized,
| material wealth, the product solely of la
| Dor, and to be replaced only by labor; on
| the other hand, money for the purpose of
| comparison, treating as nothing the slight
| cost OF manufacturer is intrinscalIy value
| less, and can be replaced as often as de
| strOyed. Had hundred millions of paper
| been burned the sudden check to exchanges
would have caused losses and failures but
| there would have been no diminution of the
aggregate of wealth realized. One man
owns yard of cloth, another paper dol
lar. Each is as good as the other for pur-
poses Ct exchange; each is the commercial
equivalent of the other, according to his
| occasion at the time, but never regarding
one as better than the other But if the
cloth burns, both the owner and the world
have lost a yard of cloth, of the commercial
value of one dollar; if the dollar burns its
owner has lost so much, but somebody else
has gained it. and the world has lost
nothing. 1t is much to make new cloth; it
is comparatively. nothing to make q new
dollar.
IL the yard Of cloth is burned, worth 81.
there is remaining 81 of commercial, con,
venti0naI wealth, while before there were
S.; now, if another dollar is printed. will
the less OF the cloth be made good and the
position be az before! Or if the cloth is not
burned, will printing a second dollar make
The total wealth $3f Suppose $780, 0O, 900
of material wealth was consumed in Boston
and i000O0,000 paper dollars are immedi-
ately printed wherewith to make cool the
loss: would that object. be ACCOMPLISHED
and mankind be as well off as before the
fire? Or suppose the fire had not occurred,
would issuing $l00,00000O more money
mako the country and the world lust so
much richer, or any richer?
Let not the reader impatientIy REGARD
these questions, which, as ma tier Of course.
he would answer in the negative, if pressed
to answer at all The simplest things in the
world are 30 very simple and obvious that
they are apt to be forgotten, and these cues
tlOns have practical application which is
suggested and emphasized by the Boston
fire. No man of sound mind could look Sc
rlously at proposition to restore the lost
property by issuing money enough to repre-
sent its money value, or to double the
wealth of the country by doubling the vol
ume OF circulating money ahoat; vet such
a proposition is essentially the same as
the notion. which does GET more or less
acceptance flom time 70 time that the
prosperity and wealth Of d country are
measured by the money it possesses,
and can be increased by increasing
the quantity Of that. More money and
larger prices; then; of course, larger nOmi.
nal totals of property; then more money .
and so on; that is the natural order Of BRO
gression in this bubble blowing way to
wealth. The imitation of prices so accu7
toms us gradually to reckon in millions end
hundreds OF Millions that we grow fancy
ing ourselves richer than we really are. and
become reckless, forgetting that if we call
the distance from New York to Boston IhOO
miles, that is only making each mile 40
much shorter. The quantity is not CHANGED
by changing the unit of measurement
although the superficial habit of LOOKING nj
things, consequent upon stumbling haste
to wax rich and large, is very apt to forget
the fact.
What is money What is dollar? No
body can eat it or wear it, or put it in any
practical use; it is simply due bill on ali |
mankind for the quantity of anything which |
one dollar will exchange for. Money il |
therefore negotiable title; it is not itself |
the thing. but the sign of the thing Pass |
a dollar from A to b is a dollar poorer |
and Il dollar richer; there is no more TO- |
tai value 5han before, and no ADVANTAGE in
the transaction. Pass the dollar alone
through the whole alphabet, and the resnif
is the same. But there is a profit in ex
changes. Certainly; but that arises from
exchanging commodities themselves. which
is done, Tor convenience sake, by transfer
ring titles; in other words, by issuing money
The more money, the more titles; but not
The more things to which the titles exist.
the titles must necessarily
result in lessenmg the value Of
each title, so long as the aocra-
gate of material wealth is not increased: if
the number of titles, or dollars is increased
the quantity which each dollar will Drocure
must inevitably decrease The emission of
evolutionary currency has proved this
again and again on both continents; never
jheless It was thought, ten wears ago that
ike causes might for once fail to produce
ike effects. SO Congress sOlennly nrovidad
hat dollar should never be reckoued less
han itself, and the issue of bonds made at
hat time were duly "h0ated" at mar. that
financial food has never quite subsidized
md the tendency is still to re-open the
luices for partial renewal of it. But to
i'll up with water barrel half filed With
vine dos not make barrel of wine, Emit
ing new issues of currency is dilution. not
yet this is frequently overlooked
n the habit of reckoning money as wealth
md there are theorists who suppose that
wealth may be actually increased by hav-
ng more money. For an individual. a gain
; gain of wealth, and the individual is
Wealthy by having money, although he has
othing elsei for the public wealth is ma
erlai substance, and money is only certi-
cate of ownership.
Spectators elamor for an increase in
urrency, and nothing would SO much de-
ght them as an alienation of expanding ;
nd contracting the currency by the treas
ry, particularly if done without public 5
ouce; IN the consequent unsettling of
rlces they would find opportunities for
Unlimited profits. Volunteering people /
cceptng without thought the monstrous
illaCy that because an individual is the t
cher, the more money he has. therefore !
le same IS true a community, innocentlv | c
avor the plans of the SPECTATORS by ioin. /
lg IN the cry for more money. This cry | I
as been heard again lately, as if such q 7
eplorable step would bring relief. A i
mpie analysis, such as we have here made | q
lows what has been lost in Boston is NOT | +
oneyr but wealth; it is the soild product | !,
time and labor expended in the past | i
I'd to increase the quantity of money | !
ouid De simply TO multiply titles to the [
eaIth which yet remains. We dwell upon )
is point with earnestEeSs-sOme may | "a