The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1876-04-16
IFor the Morning Star and Catholic Messenger
THE SILVER BILL.
BY DANIEL SCULLY.

Second and ending in the reign OF villa" VI
Orange. The disorder was caused by the
clipping of the csin of the realm by those
through whose hands it passed in the course OF
trade. In the time Of Charles, Flo'entine
artjzsus ranked as the most skillfal in Europe,
and number of them were given charge OF
the mint in London. They wrought by hand'
with hammer aud shears, and their ooln nao
not the exactness of machine work. Few OF
the pieces were round; most of them we're
either over or under weight, and they had no
mark on the rim. The money, however, was
not so irregular or defective as that which had
im mediateiy preceded it, or that which had
been in use for centuries during the Middle
Ages. This fact, which historians, morallsts
and politicians overlook, affords an Interesting
field of inuniry to those of speculative or
philosophical turn of mind Between the time
of Crom ell and the advent of William, Par
liauont made great strides towards that
supreme authority which it now Yields in Eng
land, and monarchy dwindled into inpotency.
Clipping began with the inception of banking
under Chsrles the Second, when banks of de.
posit were opened by the London go!dsmiths,
whose receipts passed for cash, aud clipping
" as at it's height, when William mad the Bank
of England chartered as bank of issue. Had
these condolences any thing to do with the
appearance of the clipper and the coinerf Did
these people anticipate the logic of certain
great economist that it was less sinful to alter
q mutilated coin than to substitute paper for
gold or silver
Passing from these questions, " o are informed
that the evils of clipping and coming attained
suoh magnitude in 1895. and deeply affected so
many interests, that the peace of the island
was in jeopardy. Trade languished and agri-
culture was feeced, but in this, in every
other case of the kind, the poor were the most
helpless victims and suffered mercilessly. They
were paid for work by tale, and, when they
boaght, their money was counted by weight.
II q mau were employed at shilling day, at
the end of the week he would receive six
shillings, from which the shears bad taken
perhaps half, and when he went to bny his
bread aud his bacon he found he had but three
shillings. For long time the government had
been endeavoring TO cure the disorder. An
improved coinage was introduced, fabricste
by machinery. The new pieces were round,
perfectly uniform, and on the edges legend
was inscr bed, SO that the slightest clip could
be detected at glance. This coinage was sent
from the mint in wagon loads, in expectation
that it would force out of circulation the
locked money. Why it failed to do 80 is clearly
ex plained by the most minute historian Of
the administration of william:
1.-The hammered coins and the milled coins
were current together. They were received,
without distinction, in public aud, conse-
quently, in private payments. the hnanc'ers
of that age seem to have expected that the new
money, which was excellent, woIid soon dis
place the old money. which was much i'm
paired. Yet any man of plain understanding
might have known that, when the State treats
perfect coin and light coin as Of equal value
the perfect coin viii not drive the light coin
out of circulation but will itself be driven out.
| A clipped crown, English ground, went as
far in the payment OF a tax or debt as a
milled Gro WI. But the milled crown, as soon
| as it had been flung into the crnciOle or car
1ied the channel, became much more
valuable than the clipped crown. lie might,
| therefore, have been predicted az confidently
as any thinE can be predicted which depends
| on the hannah will, that the inferior pieces
would rem ain in the old market in which they
could fetch til same price AS the superior pieces
and that the superior pieces would take some
| form or fly to some plac: in which some advan
| tage could be derived ...lI their superiority.
| The politicians o. mat age, however, gen
| orally overlooked tis - obvious considerations.
| They marvelled exceedingly that every body
! should be 80 perverse as to use light money III
preference to good money. In other words,
| they marvelled that nobody chose to pay
| twelve ounces of silver when ten would serve
| the turn. The horse in the Tower still paced
| his rounds. Fresh wagon loads of choice
money still came forth from the mill and still
they vanished fast they appeared. Great
masses were melted down; great masses ex-
| ported great masses boarded: but scarcely
one new piece was to be found in the till of q
shop or in the leathern bag which the farmer
| Carried no: g from tho cattle fair. 10 the re-
cepts and payments of the exchequer the
milled money did not exceed ten shilliugs IN d
| hundred pounds. writer of that day mer,
| tions the case of a merchant, who, in u sum OF
| thrty-five pounds, received only single hal
| crown in mIlled silver.t
1 have had recourse to accounts of thii
earliest struggle of the English, with an irri
tating and distressing monetary arrangement
to illustrate the aggravated expressions which
are before the American people, since Congress
under the advice and direction of money mon
gers, has entered upon experimental Legislation
respecting the medium of exchange Of th'
resolution to return to specie payments
several years hence, resolution obviously in
| spired by that lashy advice of Horace Greeley