The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1874-08-08
Financial.

Under the title of can easy lesson in money
and banking" The Atlantic Monthly for Au-
gust, contains an excellent article. 1t asserts
that banking and monetary affairs appear
mysterious to most people because bankers
and fnanciers pretend there is great deal of
mystery about it..
The simplest form of monetary transaction
is illustrated as follows A. is a farmer and
wants pair of boots. He goes to B. who is q
shoemaker and inquiries the price of a pair of
boots. B. tells him six dollars. But A. saws I
have no money. have six bushels of wheat
I'll give you for pair of boots. B. SAYS l
don't want wheat. 1t will be of no use to me-.
wheat to G. who is a miller, and has it
ground into -four and takes that to the shoe
maker or sells it to G. for six dollars which
sum he takes to B. for his boots. Then it is
not dollars that the farmer cared about. He
wanted boots and the dollars were for this
purpose. What the three needed was a med
UNI of the exchange of the value of their labor,
which medium should be of equal value with
each and something fixed and stable in value.
The individual note Of the miller, a treasury
note, green back, anything that had fixed
value would serve the purpose of the farmer,
the miller or the shoemaker as well as gold
dollars. The farmer wanted boots. The boot
maker wanted -four. The miller comes in
and buys the wheat for money. The farmer
It to tho boot ,aaxAr for HE boots and he.
gives it to the miller for -four The miller
again buys wheat with it.
"The money has thus far been only tool,
not possession, and its necessary quality has
been that it should be of the same estimation
or value by the three persons. In this exam
pie we have all commerce and the only use
and function of money. There is and can be
no more in each or all the vast transactions of
the world. The farmer, the shoemaker, and
the miller are but representatives of persons,
towns, States, or nations" "This is the circu-
lation of money and the miller is the capital
list, who has moved the farmers crop, that is
to the shoemaker, who constitutes the farmers
market in this case." The farmer needs money
to operate his farm and till his crops. He bor
rows from banker, that is he gets notes from
the banker instead of gold. He pays the notes
to his laborers, they pay them to the miller
for -four and the miller buys the farmers wheat.
The money is paid back to the farmer again
and he returns it to the banker from whom he
borrowed it.
"The transaction between the miller, the
banker, the farmer and the laborer constitutes
the whole mystery of banking" "When farm
&raI III,
and honor, they will borrow Of the banks the
miller's or capitalists money. Where intelli-
gence is banks and credit will abound. Pros-
perity is only the result of economy and char
acter and banks imply honesty, intelligence
and ability"
1t requires labor and industry and economy
to accumulate capital. 1t requires capital to
move the products of labor to market From
all we can learn there is an abundance of ce-
reals in the fertile west. And there is no doubt
about there being an abundance of money in
the eastern banks. The transportation and
sale of these crops will bring the money out of
the banks and put it into circulation. When
this is done confidence in trade will spring up,
business will revive and prosperity will dawn
upon us again.
"Until the Government repeats .he legal
tender act which now prevents the restoration
of the specie standard, it lends itself to every
wrong that happens from q debased currency
and becomes the chief promoter of oppression
and feud."
President Grant, IN his memorandum to Sen
ator Jones, asks for the repeal ofthe legal tender
act on the same ground, that is it will restore
the specie standard of values. This once in
PRODUCED, all values will readily assimilate
themselves to it.