New-York tribune., 1875-07-27
lLnNEY NOT I SION.

and in the habit of thinking for himsclf-which
is yitiatCd throughout by the assumption III
the beginning that money l. only sign OF
svmbol of value, instead of valuable thing.
We. of course. here speak of money as con
sistiny of the precious metals only, regarding
all convertible papcr IA merely substitutes Tor
money. aud III nconycrtible paper rs deriving
its value solely from its limitation i'll quantity
and the property affixed to it by the power
of the Government, Of di-chargnS debts
This notion that money i il Sign haS pech 'hc
norcut of more theoretical error and Iractical
Injustice than any other iallacy III poli'iG.
economy. Our correspondent aulposcS tha' y
sells 10 j; pair of boots for ten dollars lhc
ten dollar, being q piece OF gold Win thr III
-criptiom "tpn dollars" which eod nahkihd
in general have consented to receive as IL rep
rcs,ntatiyc of Nalrc in exchange for any artI-
cios in thci, possession worth ten dclai-. The
idra conveyed by thc last sentence Is certainly
not very distinct for the reason, a> we hold,
tlnt il is the imagination Of thing quite
contrary 10 tho fact.
What i i, with which common consent has
invested money With respect 10 ls being eX-
changed for either things different from that
with which il ha- invested any other conm)d-
itv2 We do not speak OF men a. having ~
cntursnn consent conferred on bread ana
ntat tie Gua'iy OF satisfying hunger ana
ou cloth the Dropl4tv Of being made use 0t rs
clothing. Neither ha, common consent conferred
M the precious metals their iitc,, ior measuring
H.. values of Other things and th" natural value
which they posses n n consequence OF thc'r
utility and Of their bcir, limited III supply.
I .
~ man have ever. yet affixed such
limit to the supply oi inr"hVer'i'hc
papcr money a. 20 maintain ITS Nalne
for anv considerable lime at par in coin. The
law, Of Nature, indeed, have not " fixed ana
determined" tlic value Of gold. That value
is very much lower now than il WAS three
centuries ago. bat every intelligent person VINO
ha, studied tie question knows that there Il
tnn thousand times greater risk that Govern
mrnt which las once cursed lis people with
;ncouvc,tiilc paprr mcicy will by increasing
the quantity destroy the value OF that money,
than that the discovery of more productive
mines will ilayo The came effect on the value
Of gold. ol that the whole world, OF any con-
siderable part OF if. will icii>" to tax" gold al
a price which on the whole IrmunriateS those
uho extract il from The cHih nd prepare 1t
ioi uae.
Let ns -uppo,c the Consultation, the atatutc'.
AID thc law. cf Nature to permit that 1t Md
NIGHT on the LII Of August cNcry giccnhack'
National hauk-n0tc. and scrap of fractional
currency in the possession Of thc people OF the
United States be- multiplied by three; that
every man. woman, and chiid upon getting np
in thc moinin, will find three dollars where
NJ hp ii tipI
H. the cau;'rl OF the country, save only few
ions of pGper stock. which for the time beng
would hc locked up in ihc currency and incapable
Of being pat 10 any useful purpose. Nothing
would be added to thc Quanum OF rd'ac IN
thc country. There would bc no more food,
no more clothing TO more houses and 10
| more land than there were before. What onr
correspondent call, "symbols Of value would
be multiplied by ihIcc but the things having
value would lave no more valrc than before.
The bootinakcr, to Obligc a cash customer,
might chalk ore pair OF boots as three pairs,
Tim. putting synholical boot, ON Il par with
s,mbocnl money. All that would happen
would be this: when the laboring man who
had deposited tscniy dollar, in ii savings bank
went for the money he Wouid not gct sixty
dollars, but twenty. When the clcrgymana
widow went foI the insurance on her husbands
life she would not get three thousand dollars,
but meicly the one thousand for which the
pnlicy had been issued. \ large mass OF
property would pass out OF the possession of
frugal creditors into that OF reckless spccula-
to-, and in,olyclh debtors. Credit that cor
licncc, founded on human nature and
human laws, which d8p0se- one man
70 leave hI- property in the hands
Gf another without IN eQi,iNhicn,-Wouid
br destroyed IT, much gfcaicr extent than II
ever has been in this country in modern times.
The lahorer would be unable To get employ
mcnt. society would be thrown bacl, to its
state 4 century or two centuries ago. The ma
ton %. II Whole. would rapidly grow poorer.
The complex machinery hy which the occupa-
tiGns of industry, the dWclliu&-plnces Of the
pcople and the whole network OF traha are
mrmonicusly arr,ngcd, would to broken up.
and il would be relief 10 nlyriads OF
men to be able to pat Themselves un-
der TIE banner of some military cmeitain
and 20 forth TO plnnder the world, IA dit
the French after their GsSiJHdfs under Ma
paleon. When thousands of wrctchc,, even
before the final collapse Of the oSsigHG%, were
committing suicide 10 escape starvation, Wal
was a blessing, and Napoleon was tie instru
mcnt ty means Of which al Europe aud oven
Agiieo and America were made to feel the
scorpion stngs Of paper monoy, either directly
o, iy iuuoculatica from it- maddened victims.
Our readers may rest assured that true
money Is raj thing, not to be regulated by
the wants of trade OK the laws Of Congress any
niolr than the cot "a crop or any other of the