The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1878-04-11
TIE r. NJ g.:

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HISTORY Or MONEY.
Money is mentioned ~ . wediuD 03
oommercs in the twenty ty-thind shapAse
Genesis, when AbEaAam pauehalel .
neld - . sepulchre for Sarah. Tyen.
ty-five hundred years ago, the Cartbs-
genians, the most advanced co4nsr-
cial people of ancient times. made
large use Of 'token-money' ~ well -
Of gold and silver. This stokensmon-
ey- had no intrinsic valae, but wss 6x-
tremely useful in all business trisshc-
tions. 1t was of the same nAt6fe -
United States tgreenbacks.' In nrolane
history the coinage Of popey - aAs-
eribed TO the Lydians. Nensy was
made of different ores, and even Of
leather and other articles, both In en-
cient and modern times. It was made
of paste board by the Hollanders 90
late as 1874. The North American In-
dians used for money small beads
made Of various colored shells, which
they called sWampum.' Homer
speaks of brass money - existing 1lS4
B. G. Money was coined ct Rome in
the time of Servius Tullius, about 673
B. C. Brass money only In us1 there
down to $50 B. G. Iron money vas
used in Sparta, and iron and tin in
Britain. Julius Cesar was the first
who obtained express permission OF
the Senate to place his image on the
Roman coins. In the moro simple
days of the Roman people, tho like.
ness of no living personage appeared
upon their money; the heads were
those of their deitles or Of those who
had received divine honors. English
coin was of different shapes, a. square,
oblong and round, until the middle
ages. when round coin only was used.
The names of various pieces now OBJ
solete are met with ia Shakspeare and
other old English authors. The angel
was gold coin 90 called from bear
ing the figure of an angel valued 1t g.
Sd, in the reign Of Henry VI, and at
los. in 1862. Milled sixpences and shil.
Iings were first made in the reign OF
Elizabeth The guinea was % called
from having been at first coined of
gold brought srom Guinea, 1878. They
were valued at 3Os. The original
pieces bore the figure Of An elephant.
In 17l7 their value was fixed ct Els.
by act of Parliament. None have been
coined since 1916.
Let us look at the money Of the
present day inIour country. Some ex.
perinental pieces were coined In 1871
and 1892. These coins have been Gag
erly sought for by collectors. They
are called Washington cents.' The
first regular coinage Of csnts from the
National mint Was in 1898. Halt cents
and half dimes were Issued in 1893.
But in 1892 some half dimes, not reg.
ular, were issued, which contained ON
the diverse side the likeness of Mr..
Washington. The present currency
of the United States. used In. business
and accounts, is dollars, cents aid
mills.
We can truly say that money can be
used only for two purposes, either for
good or evil. First We will look at
the good derived from money. Our
schools, academies and colleges arc the
fruits of money. II It were not for
these our youth would grow up III II.
uorance. We would have no doctors,
lawyers snd merchants, We would have
no business men, and We would bs Q
and deluded people. How
could the missionary reach the heath
en- part of the world, II It were not for
1t takes money to traveI,an
it takes money to live, We could make
no progress at all without money. We
have briefly glanced at the good de-
rived from money; now let us look ct
the evil derived from it. What was it
that prompted Arnold to betray his
cause to the British It was
British gold, or, In other words, mon.
~. What 10 It that makes men saeri.
ice both character and reputation? ? Il
s money.
We have had good money and then
plenty of it-gold, silver and paper.
You then heard nothing Of bankrupt
lies, assignments and soup-houses.
Dur country was like ship upon
smooth waters, until few years ago,
when bad men took command Of her,
md put bad men to posts Of trust,
when she ran on TO the breakers
hough not without warning nom
hose who saw where she was drifting,
,ut could do nothing but stand still
md see her hurled into destruction.
That il, money.men took the reins of
,ur Government into their hands, for
he purpose OF robbing the poor. They.
'aw that they could not accomplish
his while the poor people could pro-
ect themselves. So they concluded
o steal march by Withdrawing tho
PAPER currency. The people remon-
but they said you must econ.
,mize or curtail expenses. We did -
hey told us-that is economized-and
What do you suppose they did then?
they just said we do not need 60 much
money as we haye on hand, you don't
reed silver. y la,4.i
A GENTLEMAN sufering from; gout
vas explaining to friend that his
loctor did not permit him to cat sweets,
.oknk.n. r..,see (~-:u~~~o.. $3.50