The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-05-04
- -.,,.....a,...,n, : sow or Of commodities

g purchasing power OF money" as TO nave ,'.p.
| staraotvned in their minds the idea tna.
/ nothing but money possesses purcnas,,ps
1 mower. This is fundamental mistake.
Services and commodities purchase money
| unite az imperatiyely as money pnrcnases
services and commodities. Exchanges. Wnen
moi compulsory, embody more than the sa,.
isfaction OF demand with supply; Tor suel,
exchanges must be preceded bs mutI Mu
| agreement 10 regard to price and terms. Nv
intrinsic or inherent value exists IN uol'aI
whether coin or paper, such as 10 sus'"i IN
purchasing power at Level ranse
varies with the attendant c,rcuins;:a,i
| At one time the dollar may Dc elu'on LII .
to bushel Of wheat; at another, W . H.,
half bushel; at thru, 10 10 n'o''
peck. ,.u.u ;,l buy more
flour in Chicago than II wiz VII, ~ .,s mdfe
In other words, the flour VIII purcn .se- an
rn ~ n TN. one city than in the other. an
nrar Tho limited States, on any gwen u.!,
tue raiatir. exchangeabilitY OF the SANE
VIZ o,as and the same commodity WIN var
L n:.,, d;aarent localities and SURROUNDINGS
~ Hnu nrii Is lust past pound OF mioonns
w 49,, ~ vould bring ia cents at New iorh,
49, w., aonts nj St. Louis, and 16@ cents AZ
log cg,;syilIr. There will be variation Oh ail i,
800 800 d,vs nj the same places. On Apf'i =
,ound ~ middIing cotton would ony lo4
go. p IN April is 16a cents, at st. LOUIS.
49, 49, we say that certain things are dear, or
,h.t tbev are cheap, we simply mean Ins ss
.ha. Iii command or purchase more OF less
80. .noy The purchasing power OF money
NV. With the purchasing power Of commooities
arc convertible terms. - ;,ee,f =.
In all essential respects none! IS i,se' .
n,od;tv with as little fixity OF value as
other commodities. When dollar VIII ouy
o' husbcl of wheat it is worth twice Us much
=. when it will buy only hall Dushel' YET
man are accustomed to speak OF money, par. :.
tic,larly of gold money, a, measure OF
vaIue. lust as they would speak OF peck as
measure Of quantity. The latter IS uni
r,rm Int not the former. Four pecKs VIII
measure the quantity, and Sl.24 value OF
hnshel of wheat, as it starts from Chicago to
New York; but there, while four pecks Will
still measure the quantity, $1.24 will no
longer measure the value, SLIGO being re-
uuired for that purpose. :,
To state the case differently: the bushel
If wheat at Chicago will purchase $l.A; at
New York the same bu$hel will purchase
81 so. Money has a market value, just rs
iron and pork have, changing with time,
place. and circumstances. A more erroneous
notion could not be entertained than that
which makes gold or paper dollars the
standard to which all values must be re-
ferred; for this standard, in practice, resem-
bles Jard-stick that now expands from
thIrty-six to forty inches, and then contracts
to thirty-four.
All exchanges, Ia their last analysis, arc
exchanges Of commodities, one for anothsF.
Money makes the barter easy, because money
ia the only commodity which all persons
are willing to accept la return for all things
for sale. When farmer sells eight bushels
of apples for eight dollars, and then spendS
the dollars for pair OF boots, what has ne
done Bought pair of boots with eight
bushels of apples. Ii an author writes on
article for some magazine, and invests bis
nav in suit of clothes, what il the essence
Of The transaction! That he has paid for q
suit of clothes with magazine article. The
intermediary step OF money does not alter
the essential features Of the exchange in
either case.
Tn the first instance, apples and boots; IN
tbe second. fruits Of brain labor and clothes,
were the ultimate objects Of desire. Money
wonld have been OF 10 use whatever, II the
several exchanges could have been made d.
rertly: but the man who sold the boots
wanted flour, not apples, and so invested
tho proceeds Of his sale; while the man VINO
took cash for the clothes did not want
money but coal. Now, what determined the
purchasing power of the money IN facllltat-
inp these various transactions was not its
own intrinsic value, making 1t standard
FOR all other values, but the relative
value of the exchanged commodities at the
time when the transaction took place. LII
different places, under different circunstan'
ga on different occasions, the exchanges
mioht have been impracticable, even had the
wants been Identical, and the money gold,
because the exchangeab!e values Of the seYe-
raj commodities involved might have been
changed by different surroundings. There
might have occurred such an alteration IN the
general circumstances Of demand and supply,
that the eight bushels of apples would not De
worth 80 much As the pair OF boots, or tnaI
the magazine article would be more than an
equivalent for the suit OF clothes. Such
transformation of eXchangeaollty mlsnc
equally occur, whether the money consisted
of coin, of paper convertible into gold, or OF
what is derisively yet stupidity called lire
deemabe currency" ln TACT, the lnohe],
of whatsoever sort, would be the creature OF
the surroundings quite as much as tue COM
modities themselves. We appeal TO the me-
mory and experience of every reader Tor
confirmation of these views. We confidently
ask whether dollar, gold, silver, or paper,
has not often changed its purchasing power
in any given year. If so, what becomes OF
it's asserted and claimed standardsbip Us re-
liable measure Of values!
The chief importance Of money is that it
is barter's enabling act. Through It's IN
strumeDtality man may exchange horse
for Tag Of potatoes, bureau, ten pounds
of sugar, two cans Of oysters, y tin pan, and
many other articles which he desires.
It would be next to impossible to find any
body who wanted the horse, and who, ut
the same time, either had or could procure
these articles TO give in return. But money
makes such q transaction operative. Its
value consists in this capacity it has to fa-
cilitats exchange in unendipg series.
Lying idle under lock and key, it is neither
meat, nor fuel, nor clothing, nor shelter,
nor anything else that is useful.
The true nature and characteristics Of
money will never be comprehended until
men come to regard it rs merely labor.saying
machinery of the very highest order of Ia
bor.sayipg appliances. 1t is mistaken idea
that money of any kind possesses purcha-
sing power such as to determine values IN
exchange. Price is the outgrowth of the
circumstances which surround the commo-
dity at the time. Cotton, which was worth
Iii cents per pound at New York, April Is,
1874, was worth, in the same city, January
/, 1864, Sl1 to 81 cents; on June 1st fol-
| lowing, S1.OS; on the 1st day OF Septem-
| Der next, Sl65. This broad contrast in
| prices did not arise from like fluctua-
ton in the purchasing power of money