Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1878-03-12
RATES OF ADvEBTISNG.
with it, and out of the proceeds redeem

Address-'Staanton Spectator" Staunton, Va.
with it, and out of the proceeds redeem
the notes.
We have thus given a common sense
view of the nature and functions OF
money in the business of life, and oi
! the various kinds of money which il
! has been deemed expedient to adopt.
1t is always desirable that the amount
: of money in circulation should keep
pace with the requirements of business.
In other words, it is always desirable
that the measure of values should be
proportioned to the values to be meas
ured, just as the number of yard sticks,
or gailon-pots, or other measures of
quantity, should be adapted to the guam
titles to be measured.
1t must be obvious to every thought
full man, that if you double the quantity
Of money in circulation you thereby
diminish nearly in the same proportion
its purchasing power. That is to say,
that if to-day a bushel of wheat is worth
one dollar, and Tomorrow you double
the quantity of money in circulation,
and the supply of wheat remaining the
same, the price Of wheat would rise to
nearly two dollars per bushel. We had
abundant experience of this kind in
Confederate times. We say, in defer
ence to the usage of the public, that the
vCttate OF aOheat rises to double. But it
would be more correct to say the value
of naoney--that is ats purchasing poaUey
sinks to one-half. The intrinsic value
of the wheat remains the same, and the
fiuetuation is net in the value Of the
aOhedt, but of the money, which is the
standard by which it is measured.
Ii Congress were to pass a law by
which 2064 grains of silver, instead Of
4122 grains, should be declared a dollar
and be legal tender, it clearly would
not add anything to the wealth of the
country. A man worth $4,000 in dol
lars of the present weight (4124 grains),
might estimate the worth of his property
at SIC, 900 in the new currency. But it
would be nominal thing, for, in point
of fact, he would not be worth dollar
more than he was before the change
Calling coin dollar does not make it
a dollar in fact, or give to it the value
or purchasing power of true dollar.
1t is true that such q change in the
nominal value of the dollar, accompanied
by an enactment that the new dollar of
2O64 grains of silver should be a legal ten
der, would seriously affect the relations
of debtor and creditor, fer it would, in
fact, rob the creditor of half his debt, by
enabling the debtor to pay it off with
one-half the amount of silver that the
bond called for. Doubling the quantity
OF money in circulation, or increasing
it in any other proportion, means simply
Q scaling Of debts in the same ratiO.-
whenever, therefore, we see people
very anxious to see the amount of money
in circulation largely increased, we may
nrpftU in lxya ,rIr 1H.f fI,o+ T.
pie owe money, which they wish to
pay in a deprecated currency-or in
other words, they wish to scale their
debts!
This is reputation pro tanto, but 1t is
so artfully disguised that most people
will not see it at first.
Let US now see how the silver bill re-
Gently passed will work. The silver dol
lar contemplated by that law is, in fact,
worth but 90 cents as compared with
gold dollar. Most existing debts were
contracted when gold was the only legal
tender. Every man who gave his bond
for S1OO gave it with reference to gold,
and could pay it only in gold. But now
that Congress has enacted that the sill
yer dollar, which is worth only 92 cents,
shall be legal tender, the debtor can
pay eff his debt with S92, and thus rob
his creditor of the difference, So. This
Is scaling of only eight per cent, and
IN transactions of 81 600 will amount to
but $50.
But suppose that Congress should, in
Difference to an agrarian sentiment, en-
act that aR ounce of iron instead of an
ounce OF silver should be coined and de-
clared to be dollar, and be legal ten
der in payment of all debts. how would
the matter stand then? 1t would be
equivalent to repudiation of all old debts,
for % cents worth of iron coined into
iron dollars, of the standard weight,
would pay more than 500 worth of debt
which, when contracted, was PAYABLE
only in gold. Thus the man who sold
100 bushels of wheat, or pair of oxen,
| or horse for 800, payable at the time,
in gold, might have his debt paid off by
few broken pOt-lids, or an old stove
coined into iron dollars.
1t matters not in what particular mode
the debasement in the currency which
is the measure Of value, is effected, the
consequences will be the same. An un-
due imitation OF paper money will have
quite as disastrous effects as debase-
ment of the metal of which the curren-
| cy is to be coined.
All fluctuations in the standard of
value are to be deprecated. They de-
range the relations Of debtor and credi'
tor. They destroy confidence. They
uproot all credit. They paralyze busi-
ness. In word they produce inealcu-
BILE mischief. The less tampering we
have with the currency the better. Gold
and silver, and paper irremediably con-
vertible into gold and silver, and there
| fore the actual representative of gold and
silver, are the enly safe measures of
value. But it is equally important that
| the relative value of gold and silver
should be adjusted on right basis. We
ought not to have q gold dollar worth
100 cents and a silver dollar worth 92
cents. A silver dollar ought to be in
creased in size SO as to be werth 100
cents. Otherwise the silver dollar must
Danish the gold entirely from circula-
| tlon. SENEX.