, 1874-05-08


atono thrown into the air by tho hand Of man
from returning to the Garth II government
eau ipspiro confidence, aud by inspiring conf
dcnco fix tho value Of money. why dooB 1t. not
mako tho grocnbnok dolfar worth what 1t pur-
ports to DO worth-h dollar In gold7 A dol
conorote thing, thing of certain
woght, volume, and apeciAo gravity, just as
Mr. Magic ia not na1no only, but gontlo.
man who lives, moves, and has being in Cam
ton, and entortatns worry fallacioua idons On tho
question Of the currency.
Mr.. Mag1e'a illustration Of tho ticket is most
unfortunate ono. The ticket which admitB 4
man to tho opela-houso or to rido Of tiflyx
miles in railway car, is, OF course, worth moth
ing !ntrinaically, except what 1t is worth as 3
piece Of paper. In this 1t ia not unllko tho
greonbaol. But betweon the groeuback aud tho
tlokot the,o in this difference. tho ticket ia
evidence OF somcthing paid already, tho green
back ia promise to pay something in tho
future. Wore the greonback the evil
denco Of gold deposited somewhere, and
which tho holdor might demand on
presentation Of his evidence Of title. it would be
like tho ticket, aud would not dopreciato. Wc
notice TINT our correspondent accepts the cost Of
production ns the measure Of valuo. Estimated
by This measure, re would like him to tell us
what tho value Of the greenpack is. Evidently,
the coat Of production.-tho coat Of production
Of o piece of papor four or five inches In lougth
by two or throo in breadth+
Tho great objection to tho theory Of money I'd
| vocatod by Mr. Magic is that money made OF
anything or based on anything except the
precious nnetala cannot be measure
Of value. That which measures valno
| ahould have value itao1f, ~ that which
measures longth should havo longth. And as
that which measures length, the yard-stiok, for
instance, should not vary in longsh, 80 that
| which measures value should not itself bo aub-
! ject to fluctuations in value. Tho great argu-
| mont IN favor OF II hard monsy is that 1t ls tho
medium Of exchange the least liable to auctuato.
| 1t Ia matter Of fact that tho precious metala
| vary least in value Of all commodities
from yoar to year, or decade to do
cado. or century to century. Another fact is
that paper money, wherever used, has 1uctuatcd
In va1uo more than any other species OF money
that ever hnd circulation.
We arc inclined to bolieve that. spito Of his nd
vocacy Of paper money, Mr. Magio would, il ut
Ind his choice to-day, prcfcz gold to greonbacIs
It Mr.. AHtor owed I1r. Magic $t0o, 900 and gaSt
him his option to claim 1t in gold or groeubacks
he would claim 1t in gold. And, undc
| aimilar circumBtancea, every other creditor IL
the country would do tho aamo. Docs not tha
Bhow that tho material Of which money iB mad
Is nattor Of somo aignihcance7 Does 1t no
show, too. that our paper money is the creatur
Of power and not Of confidence? Accepting 11r
Magie'a definition Of money, ne would have t
hold still that metallic currency is the bost
as It ls tho only currency that "other
will take from us at tho valuo that n
have been allowed for it," No ono can feel Ger
tain that paper money will at any timo DO tako1
from him ut tho value he vas allowed for II
nominally 1t uay be, really 1t seldom is an
this s inevitable, for its value Is not intrinsic
We have devoted 80 much space to our Canto
friend because hia arguments arc calculated t
mislead those who have given little thought t
tho subject Of money.