The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-02-04
!. .prruE n,ssIs NOT NEEDED.


rrrom the Chicago Jourfal o. oolA'n n,..ar vossoc
uouadic people, whose cIle. ., p ~ son
s;ons are. focks and ni.s .i.. c,,,des
fhe arts OF Reproduction exist ID lneii - ,asar
form Of development, cannot hsseu i .,,a, 81
ceasng multiplicity OF exchangsss.11 'n - 40
S &C. nnf need and could not emplog,the NOS
;r nv representative of yllues. AS 90
LOW edvances In civilization, pfoductionyi
o oNoonded and diversified; tue exchange y
Commodities and services becomes NOR
80 n;J and continuous; and the demand sor
,npre effective instrument OF commerce, aoe
n,,ote To the wants Of such Dobler conditlons
hacomes more and more imperative Eacl
aGd;tional Improvement in the socletar,
sormntion brings with it a correspondent!
;mnroyement in the medium OF exchange
Sold and silver coins are supple
mented by circulating notes; CIR
rnlatiue notes are supplemented o!
checks and drafts; aud these are supple
mentcd by clearinghouse, the superior ~
strnment tending to supersede the inleilo.
one in every case where surroundinS t ~,
~Imstances are sufficiently adapted TOT ~,
innovation, This statement is suppoitu;.e
hr MI experience: and its facts are Tue ieS ~
innate. and even necessary, ou.Slo IN
tho General principle. governing Ill. TX
eho that whatever promotes
s,,stairs and completes exchanges, IN INC
US. 1850 rnn;d and useful manner, TO needed
nwtent is best suited to the medlum OF such
| o,.cbanres. In this principle we nave u key
ryhirh t1nlocks all the intricacleS OF the none
t,rr nrobIem. II enables us to say. with the
confidence of certainty, that while gold and
silver coins may be efficient exchangers
of values, within the appropriate sphere
Of their operation, they encounter su-
| perior exchaugcrs in circulating notes ;
| these still better in checks and drafts; and
| best Of all in clearinghouse, which can in
few hours exchange values, with very little
| intervention Of metal or paper dollars, to
| the amount Of hundreds of millions. 1t thus
appears that the instrument of exchange is
merely labor.sayins machinery, belonging to
very high class of mechanical applilnces-
perhaps to the highest; and that lis first Us e
was in its lowest form, this advancing
through one improvement after another
nearer 10 perfection, as advancing cIvllIza-
ton demanded some more Serviceable con-
trivance TO perform the work OF exchanges,
lust as the old-fashioned sickle has ripened
into the automatic reaper, and the toil-eXact-
ing fail has developed into the labor-saving
threSher.
machine. the logical assumption Is that It's
susccDtibilty of Improvement has not been
exhausted by our generation; but that the
end of a century more may see 1t wonder
fully modified and bettered. The needs of
one hundred years hence will have to be
adequately met no less than those of the
present; and we may rest assured that II
they shall be greater than now, the skill and
ingenuity of man will be equal then, rs it
has been heretofore, to the task of supplying
all that may be lacking.
In all the most advanced communities OF
modern times there is Il cumulative ten.
deucy on the part Of the circulating note TO
displace gold and silver coins, excepting
those small denominations which may be
described as small change. and which are,
for the most part, carried about IN the
pockets of the people. Were there no
other evidence of this tendency it would be
found in the growing practice Of using
mintcd bars Of the precious metals, officially
stamped with their money value, in COM
mercal transactions. But we are far from
being left to this Isolated indication. The
general fact is conspicuou>ly true. Even
where the circulating note may be con-
yerted into coin at par, at will, lurgc sums
Of specie rarely pass between buyer and
seller.
Gold and silver, generally speaking. are
in such countries, and were in the united
States before the suspensions OF specie pay
ments, lodged in the vaults the banks ana
in other safe repositories, whence they sell
dom emerged in any considerable Quantity.
So long as confidence IN lis integrity was I'M
impaired, all intelligent classes greatly pre-
fsrred, and still prefer, the note Of the banker
L., ,,f Il n
ceedilg lightncss; lis superior cipacity to
represent large denominational values its
incompatible ease of carriage; its peculiar
adaptabiliy for cOnceaiment about lae per-
son or elsewhere; and its surprising readi-
ness of identification in cases Of loss or theft.
Despite all the orthodox talk about the
prte ninent fitness OF gold and silver to fulfil
the functions OF money because of their
beauty and utility. their scarcity, their III.
trinsic value, their durability, their Uniform
ity of quality, their facility OF separation into
homogeneous parts aud Of rettnion by melt
ing, and their capabilty Of receiving 4 plain
and LISTING impression, by WHICH their
weight, value, and origin are indicated BIZ
INSPECTION notW outstanding nj! this, we say,
the circulating note has steadily increased in
popular favor for everyday Uses. and as
continuance for dispensing with tine services
of coin, which, consequently, has more and
more disappeared from the channels OF conf
merce. The reason is pllin-thc inevitable
tendency Of Il superior medium Of exchange
is to surcrscde one which is inferior.
Gold and silver money has out!lved the
days Of its superiority III an eXchanger Of
values in all highly civilized countries; and
having there passed its meridian, is now
rapidly on the decline. Among the most
conspicuous indications Of this loss of US
tendency was the emplo, ment of coin as
basis for the issue Of baDk-bills. The move
ment of the precious metals is now increas-
ingly toward barbaric lands, which absorb
vast sums, yet give out scarcely any. lnas-
much as trade with Asia and its adjacent
isilnds, and with other distant parts Of the
world, is every successive year assuming
yaster proportions, the drain upon the specie
reserves of Europe and America must
steadily augment, in the face OF growing
populations OH both continents, and most
wonderful development OF tue productive
forces, involving an increasing number and
frequency of exchanges, and consequently
a more imperative need for the best attain
able machinery for facilitating them. 1t is
evident that gold and silver cannot serve
the coming, or even the present, demand !;
for, in addition to the swelling drain into
Asia and elsewhere, those very qualities
which have been adduced to prove the pre-.
| eminent fitness CT those metals to fulfil the
| functions of money are now, in still higher
degree, recommending them for the manu-
1 49,