, 1874-02-20
THE CURRENCY QUESTION.


grcat prononess aluggtsilly to rest In appoar-
ancos, and to account tor oifoots by tho fallaoy
post hoo, ergo propter hoo havo always beon
fertile sources Of error. This Is truo i'll oyory
branch, Of human inquiry, bat particularly true
in inquies concerning economic phenomena.
If any proof Of tho aBsortion here made wcro
uoclod, 1t would auiico 20 adduce tho recent do
bates IN Congress-, the co,rae of SO many Of our
daily and wcoky newspmoors, tho speeches
OF 40 many mon, 30 woIl md so fnvoraby
known to tho public in tho matter OF tho cur
rcncy question. The worry ITUyalont ignoranco
Of tho rst principles which should guide peoplo
in discussing and deciding this grcat question,
and tho possible consequences Of Tint ignorance
to tho country, lead us to beloyo that We shall
bo doiug q roal service to our rcadnrB iu making
them better acquainted with Prof. Priooa book;
for we certainly know no otl,or work 80 we'll cal
oulated to throw light OH tint problem.
Wo ure not yet rid Of tho
"MEncAHr1IE THEORY"
In this country. There il no people, in fact OIL
tiroly froc from it's orl,,rs. rltero arc fow indi.
vidual minds ovon that arc nottaintod with them
to Home sxtout. Trne, thero aro not nAny who
advocate TINT theory III nll tho naAednoas OF its
'absurdty not many who claim that coin, VI
gold, is the only wealth OF anstion, or thnt all
our efforts should bo tliroctud towards favoring
its importation and preventing i:s expectation.
There are very many, however, WHO think
money, If not tho only wealth. very
peculiar kind OF wea1tll, and who would
bo much surprised to lo'r 1t grarely aaaertcd
that 1t ia literally nnd simply a commodity like
III othora This, Mr.. Price, like nll enlinont econ-
omists, does assert, and he cn'rlcn lis assertion
soarlossly mud logicnlly out, following 1t to what
ever conclusions it loads. Io assorta aud do
monstratcs, In lis own luminous way, that gold,
or coin or monay, 10 nothing more mud nothing
loss than q commodity, governed by the same
LAW OF DEMAND AND auprLy
is all other commodities, for instance;
lint it il not tho tio-all or mako-all OF CON-
morco; that an export Of it is no moro to bo
teared than I'LL export Of hats that. OH tho con-
trary, such export is sometimes very desirable,
III roal blousing; that the rato Of discount docs
not depend on tho supply Of money or Of gold ;
that money is not what bankers dcal In, but
debts; thnt Bankers reserve Of coin IL
not what he should bo most anxious
about that no ehculd DO much more
anxious whether there be Il poor or 4 good har-
vest, tlat hts customers and others should live
within their means tint property OF no kind
should bo wasted or destroyed, t.lau that his re-
sorvo should stand at particular jguro tint 4
commercial crisis is not O. demand for money,
nor produced by scarcity OF 1t. nor to be
romedioi by ali abundance Of 1t; TINT an inorcaso
pf business docs not necessarily call for au
tncroaso Of gold or currency Of auy
kind; that q storeotypea reserve Of gold is ira
Nonal+ otc. ctc. All these propositions, aud
others Which We might take from MIR. Prico'a
book, will doubtlesa Bound Us strange to many
Az
doctrine Of tho circulation OF the blood to his
contemporaries.
Startling and incrodiblo. however, aB tho
snuncintion of these propositions must be to
shose not acquainted with tho
pR1NC1rLEs OF ECONOMICAL Ho1ENcR,
Mr.. Price proves them, mud, If We may bo al-
lowed to Judge, With SO much clearnoBs that no
,ono who perusos his book carefully will gainsay
them, OF find any difficulty i'll accepting thom.
h1r, Price calls lis book "Principles Of Cur
sency." Ho might havo called it, also, A 1rea-
tiao on tho Media and machinery Of Exchange.
There are great authorities, among them Mr..
hill, who teach, expressly or implicitly, that oil
exchanges arc effected by tho agency
of money, ut 1oaBt TINT tho delnaud
Tor money, at any tisno, il measured by all tho
goods i'll tho market for salo. lfr. Prioe shows
that this IL not tho case; thnt relatively very
small part of tho exchanges made in q country
like England or America is effected by money
that by far tue groater number Of exchanges il
.nado by means OF bank checks, drafts, bills,
etc.; that, therefore, III proportion us banks
aud clearing houses increase. the demand to,
money will decrease; tint further, and as con-
sequence Of this, less currency Ia headed In
A DESsELY-PoPbL4ATED COUNTRY,
whnro there ara many han1a and credit is do.