The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1878-03-14
IDEAL MONEY OF ACCOUNT.


rival factions, who make up in clamor
/ for the lack of common sense argu-
ments, in their persistent advocacy OF
ssmono-metallism'' and ''bi-metal-
( lism," it has never occurred to this
/ average American that more than
nine tenths of the worlds exchanges
are effected by purely ideal standard
! of values. which is not only, like
mathematical point, without length,
4 breadth OF thickness, but is absolute
ly intangible and imponderable. work
ing as silently and effectively us the
law of gravitation or the digestive
! apparatus of healthy person.
That such a measure or denOmlna-
ton of value exists is readily shown
by the frequent quotation in our re-
tail markets of prices in shillings and
siXpences, none of which have been
in circulation for a quarter of centu-
ry or perhaps have ever been seen by
majority of our business people.
Early in this century ideals ''mon-
eyS of account were in many regions
almost entirely the medium of think
ing, expressing and regulating values
and exchanges. For example, the
''sovereign'' or pound sterling in
Scotland, according to the testimony
of Sir Walter Scott and his contempt
raries, though a ''tangible symbolic
coin" was seen excepting sin the
purse Of miser or the cabinet Of a
virtuoso. by whom these coins were
cherished as curiosities."
Many of us living north Of Philadel-
phia have never seen q silver dollar,
although it's ideal, during it's existence
Of a nearly a century, has adjusted
many hundred millions of values.
(By the silver dollar we make no ref
erence to the so-called trade dollar
which is not a monetary existence.
but snug package Of metal. put up
like a key of nails for commercial
convenience, but, unlike the nails, is
kindly prepared by a paternal govern
ment at the cost of the people for the
benefit of silver miners and tea mer-
chants.) But the original silver dol
lor-the coin which of late would-be
wits have dubbed '.the dollar of the
daddies has been for generations
hourly quoted but never seen, and if
suspicious critics has deemed it's eX-
istence. like Sarey Camps friend,
Mrs. Harris, purely apocryphal, they
would have had good case.
OF late the query has often been
pressed "what is Il dollar - and most
responses have been as unsatisfactory
as DaballS definition of an inch,
which he told us was made Of ''three
barley-corns, the trusting querist
accepting the same at an exhaustive
and satisfactory definition, although,
perheps he had never seen barley
corn. But if the economist or ety.
mologists should appeal to Webster's
dictionary he would find that dollar
is ga silver coin of Spain, and the
United States of the value Of one
hundred cents;" then looking for the
definition of scent" he would find
it to be "a copper coin whose value is
the hundredth part of dollar"
which definitions might be banded
from the dollar to the cent and back
again in an eternal game of battle
door and shuttlecock, with no APP
proach to logical or satisfactory def
milton.
AS our English cousins have been
longer in this business than we, they
have a more varied phenomenon to
exhibit. For centuries the sphynx-
like conundrum "What is u pound
sterling!' has with the persistency
of Banquo's ghost been perpetually
recurring and no power of church,
state or college has yet been able by a
satisfactory answer to put it to rest.
Numismatists might perhaps exhibit
at the museum roughly beaten and
stamped chunk of silver and tell us it
was the original pound in weight and
value, and susceptible of mechanical
and monetary division into twenty
equal parts called shillings, but that
at the present time it could be diyid-
ed into sixty-siX shilings. and was,
therefore, three pounds and three
tentlis money of present legal value.
although only the original pound in
weight.
Twenty-Five years ago, skillful
analyst ir Hunts Merchants Maya.
zine april 1852, gave as result of
his researches the following we
have attained clear perception of the
money of account we are able to an
swer the question, What isa pound =
by simply replying that it is the unit
of the money of account of Great
Britain.
After generations of controversy
the British government influenced by
Il desire of settling this vexatious
question at once and forever, secured
the services of Sir Isaac Newton to
catch and embody in some tangible
symbol this vague but yivacious so
called standard of value" which had
sofar been more successful in evadiny
its pursurers than the traditional
IrishmanS flea. The distinguished
Philosopher found that this task of
furnishings local habitation for what
had been SO purely ideal was more
difficult than his accomplished labors
which had discovered and stated the
laws of sidereal movements, and
made it rs possible to weigh planets as
potatoes. Although his intelligent
administration caused many great
abuses at the mint to disappear, this
great social factor-the money of &C
count-eluded even his sturdy grasp
and an apparently superhuman power
continued to run the financial opera
fionS Of tho nation in accordarco ,,,s >