The Republican journal., 1874-04-09
Gouverneur Morris.
BY JAMES PARTON.

into colossal statue, in honor of the per
son whose name appears at the head o
this article. single thought of his ha
saved them more trouble than Babbage'
revolving multiplication table, or Webb
Adder. He it was who first conceived thu
idea OF decimal currency, which ha
been adopted in the United States, an(
which will finally be adopted by all civil
lied nations
As long ago as 1860, Richard Morris, ;
distinguished officer in the army Of Oliver
Cromwell, emigrated to New York, bough
three thousand acres of land on the Harlem
river, and named the estate Morrisania
An extensive and important suburb of New
York, built upon part of this land, is call
ed Morrisania to this day. as we are re
minded every morning by gold letter,
upon numberless milk wagons that per
ambulate the metropolis. At Morrisania
part of which is still in the possession OF
the family. Gouverneur Morris was born
in the year 1852 his father, Lewis Morris,
being Il member of the New York Legis-
lature- The family produced many able
men noted in colonial politics. but no mem
her of the family was so rarely gifted
either with understanding or with talents
as Gouverneur.
Handsome. witty. sell-conlident. inherit
ING family distinction and some wealth
possessing also Il most fertile intellect. and
Il certain gay and buoyant good-humol
which wins all hearts, he came upon the
stage OF life with almost every possible
advantage, and made his way to public
station with scarcely an effect Three
months before he was twenty years Of age
he was admitted to practice at the New
York Bar. At twenty four he was In the
New York Legislature. and at twenty five
Il member Of the Continental Congress
Though in his feelings and in many of his
opinions he leaned to the aristocratic side
nevertheless. during the whole of the
Revolutionary period he supported with
the utmost energy, and with very great
ability, his country's cause. In Congress
he served on important committees, and
rendered many services which We're not
conspicuous. but of great value.
After the war he resumed the practice
Of law at Philadelphia. From this pursuit
however, he was soon drawn into CONNER
cial business, becoming a special partner OF
his uncle, Robert Norris who had charge
Of the public finances. He was appointed
assistant to his uncle and it was in fulfill
ment OF the duties of this office that he
conceived the happy thought mentioned
| above.
At the close Of the Revolutionary War.
| the currency Of the United States was in
the most chaotic condition imaginable.
The coins Of half the nations of the world
were in circulation. Some accounts were
kept in pounds, shillings and pence. but
IN several OF the states these familiar words
had different meanings. Spanish dollars
We're perhaps the most frequent large
coins, and the word dollar had acquired Il
certain currency among the people.
In these circumstances Congress called
upon their tnancier to ascertain and report
the exact value of the different coins cir
culating in the country. The preparation
of his report he devolved upon his nephew
| Gouverneur Morris, who produced an eN-
tensive and able document Besides com
| plying with the command Of Congress, he
| proposed a remedy. He advised Congress
to have a coinage Of its own on an entire
ly new basis. which he proceeded to elab-
orate. 1t was i'll this part of his report
! that he made thn Slr0cStinn ni rncE nnin O
| by declmalS.
although, said he, st is not absolute
| ~ Necessary, yet it is very desirable that
money should be increased in decimal Ia
| ito, because by that means all calculations
of interest, exchange, insurance, and the
/ like, are rendered much more simple and
accurate, and of course more within the
4 power OF the great mass ofptoplc Where
ever such things require much labor, time,
and reflection, the greater number. who
do not know, are made the dupes of the
| smaller number. who do
There we have the idea stated clearly
enough. But when he came to develop
his plan, he did not succeed as we'll In
trying to make the new coinage work har-
moniously with the Old he sacrificed that
simplicity which alone can make cllrren-
cy desirable He proposed that the money
unit should be Il quarter OF Il grain of fine
silver. The smallest copper coin should
be worth five of these units and should be
called II Five. But he recommended q
second copper coin worth eight units, tc
be called an Eight, because that would be
Just equal to the English halt-penny. while
three Fives equalled Il New York penny
The smallest silver coin was to contain
one hundred units, and should be called 4
Cent. Five of these Cents would make q
Quint. and ten would make a coin, which
he proposed to call a Mark
Congress did not act upon these sug-
gestions at the time. In the year follow
ING, 1888, the subject was referred to Il
committee of which Thomas Jefferson
was chairman. Upon examining the plan
submitted by Morris. he appreciated the
value of the fundamental idea Of applying
the decimal system, but he thought the
! details OF the scheme Tar too crmbroU>
and complicated He thought the unit
much too small. The value Of a dollar in
Morriss scheme was l440 units, and the
price OF Il pound of butter, then one-ftth
of Il dollar, was 2SS units. The price OF
Il horse, worth eighty dollars, would have
been 1l5. 200 units.
And the public debt, added Mr. Jet1er
son, suppose Of eighty millions, would
require twelve figures, to wit, l15. POO,
OoO,oVO. Such a system OF money arith
metic would be utterly unmmageable iol
the common purposes OF society,"
Upon considering the subject, Mr. Jetler
rss central idea, by inventing the eXqu
site system of currency which we now
y-incomparably the best ever devised
by man. The unit in his system was 4
silver dollar, piece known to everybody
lie proposed the following coins A col,
piece worth ten dollars, silver dollar, ;
silver hali-dollar or tive-tenths silver
coin worth two-tenths of 4 dollar, cop
per coin worth half 4 tenth, and any sub
division OF these which might be tount
convenient.
As soon as he had introduced his plan
the Morrises, with the pride natural tC
inventors, contended strongly for the plal
they had proposed. Mr.. jefferson carrie,
the day, by an extremely lucid and un
answerable report, in the course of which
he showed the superior simplicity Of hi
own method by exhibiting some calcula
tions in pounds, shillings, and pence, ant
near them the same calculations in dollar
and cents. Thus, on one side of pag
he multiplied IS, 13s. Id liar. by eight
g This operation required forty-nine fig
ures. But to multiply the equivalent
:. $;3S 65, by eight, required only ten figures
In a similar unanswerable way he showe
! the superiority of his plan to that of Cow