The Owosso times., 1882-03-10
Discussion of the Flat Question.

is the one thing necessary to Consti-
tutc any substance a medium Of ex-
change, and endow il with the power
and functions Of money" Attracted a
fair audience. considering the un-
favorable weather and the many rival
entertainments Of the eveniag Col.
Roberts is we'll known TO Lansing
people as an enthusiastic champion
of the greenback party. Mr. rowne
has resided in Lansing but few
months, is IS years Of age, graduated
at the university last year, and is at
present student at law. His ready
replies to his opponent showed thor
ongh KIN ,wledge Of the subject OF
finance and an oratorical ability sci
dom seen in one OF his years.
Cal. Whitney Jones presided. and
each speaker occupied about one
hour OF time. Col. Roberts opened
the debate in a :o.minutc speech, in
which he argued that money is a
creature of law, and that without law
there is no money, and never has
been. He referred TO the Roman us,
and claimed thatsit was made money
by The law, and that although in the
course OF it's history its weight feb
from about IL ounces to one-hllf an
ounce, yet the law preserved its eff
cacy. He also referred to the bank
of Venice, and said that in its trans.
actions it used no metal, but that its
|papcr was money. He argued that
tn: government stamp on coin was
the clement OF its power as medium
of exchange, and referred to various
forms OF paper money to illustrate
the same point. he alluied to the
various definitions that had been
given OF money, and asserted that
money is that with which nan cin
go into the m lrket and find other
men ready to take it in exchange for
the commodities he needs. Any
substance empowered by the law to
perform this function is from that
fact alone adequate to its discharge.
Mr.. Towne said before he pro-
cceded with his argument he would
correct ali error or two in The colonels
statements. The RoraIa as dcgcn
Grated not only in weight but also in
value, and that not all the DEGREES of
the empcrors or resolutions of the
senate could make the half.oence
purchase 81 times its valne. AS to-
the bank OF Venice, it received the
precious metals Of all countries in
deposit, for which it issued bills OF
credit to the bullion value Of the coin.
Money first came into use not by
creation Of law, but through the
necessities Of trade. Trade grew out
OF the division of labor. First it was
confined to barter, but the difficulty
OF finding persons who had in right
quantities articles mutually desirable
necesstated the selection Of some
commodity which should serve as a
repre- fentative and measure for the
values of all articles. Gold and silver,
from their supreme fitness, became at
length almost universally this meas
ure of value. The function Of gov
eminent first exercised toward them
was regulation Of the weight and
tineness Of these metals to facilitate
trade by doing away with the neces.
sity of weighing and assaying at
every purchase.
During all this time sale was an
n ri, rs 60 al.
the Inconvenience Of transporting
large quantities Of the precious metals
and danger of loss came the use of
representative paper, which inasmuch
as it was a title to SO much gold or
silver, readily and without injustice
operated as medium of exchange
Gold and silver thus having become
the money Of the world, the second
function of government, equally
dictated by the laws Of trade. was
to make them legal tender in the
payment Of debts. Whatever may be
our definition Of money it must be at
least an adequate measure Of values
and standard of deferred payments.
Money cannot fulfill its function as a
standard for deferred payments unless,
from its being subjected to the laws
that determine the relation Of money
to commodities, there is reasonable
certainty that a debt can be paid at
maturity without injustice to the
debtor. Human law is too mutable.
If statutes, enacted at the within of
interested legislators, determined the
volume OF money, mans future liza
bility would be extremely prob
lematical. This impracticability Of
the scheme amounts to its defeat.
The ratio of the cost of commodi.
ties having originally decided in what
proportion they should exchange,
when one is used as money, price
will result from the SINE economic
laws that first regulated this ratio.
There is then necessary relation
between the amount of trade and the
volume Of money. This relation de
ponds upon laws as sure as any law
of nature. Nothing could be. greater
than the folly Of an attempt at gov.
vernment interference with this law;
and every such attempt in the history
of the world has been attended with
disaster.
The remaining speeches were prin-
cipally devoted to the enforcement
OF these fundamental positions
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