The Labor enquirer., 1884-10-11

dollars made money by law. wholly ont AZ
|baser metals. The law. in I'M authorized The
iuspe o{; cents and half-oents, made Of copper.
The cent containing - grains WA made full
legal tender. In March, 1857. the weight of .
cent was lessened forty eight grains. but the
value Was the same. In 1854 much larger
coin was substituted, composed Of ninety five
parts copper and i've parts tin and xinc Its
weight was forty eight grains. One pound Of
this metal cost 20 cents; Its legal or money
value was 81 80. In 1865, cent piece was
issued composed of seventy-nve parts copper
and twenty-five nickel One pound OF this
mixture costs about 10 cents. Out Of it are
coined 100 pieces, making its money value
IS. need not illustrate further to conyince
the most prejudiced or ignorant, that specie
is money only by force Of law, or that law
imparts value to bullion by stamping 1t
money. If any, through deeply seated assur-
ance and oft repeated assertions are though
convinced, "of the same opinion still, = the
trade dollar compared with the legal silver
dollar viii settle even such.
The legal tender dollar of 1880 grains Of
silver, at command of Shylock, was demone-,
tized in 1873, but at louder command from
the sovereign people, was remonetized in
1873. In 1873, trade dollar of 40 grains of
silver was coined and made legal tender for
S5 in one payment. That made it equal TO
the dollar Of 4l2.5o grains, but after the people
had taken 1t at its face value, 1t was demone+
tized, and the holders were robbed of about
IL per cent. Against the restoration of the
dollar that was demonetized by an Infamous
trick, the pulpit and religious press, with the
organs of Shylock have Numbered ceaseless
,anathemas and the phrase honest money has
been rung in our ears, "usque ad nauseam, r
but have looked in vain for asingle protest
against this iniquity. Now we have, side BY
side, two silver pieces of the same fneness,
one Of 4I2.5O grains, worth 81, and one of 40
grains worth less than 80 cents. One is
money, the other is bullion. Law makes the
difference. These Illustrations make clean
the principles we advocate, and which is
stoutly and persistently denied, that the
value of money is fixed by law and not by
the material of whichitis made.
Metal currency belongs to the barter system
OF barbarians. 1t is far too cumbersome and
costly for high civilization. 1t was origin
ally chosen to replace the exchange of one
class of common property for another,
because the precious metals were less cum
brous than common commodities
COST OF. SPECIE IN THIS AGE OF INTENSE
COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY.
No one will question, that, as a nation, we
need 81 ,O00, 100000 of currency. In the annual
report of the director of: the mint for the
fiscal year, ending June 30, 1880, page 50, is a
table, showing the specie and paper circula-
ton of France for series of years. The total
circulation in 1875 the last year given, was
Il, 900 francs, which, taking the franc at
10 cents would be equal to 50, ,526, ,040, ,l2O. Now
France has population less than ours by
some l3,0OO0O0, dwelling on a territory not
larger than Texas, for which circumstance
alone, not to speak of others, we would be
able to WELD certainly as large a circulation
as France-yea, unquestionably much larger.
But make the calculation on 81, 900, 900 900, TO
show the cost of an amount, every one would
readily admit as necessity.
If we use coin, labor must first produce 1t,
and that amount of real wealth must be
taken from the people by taxation. Abrasion
will wear it out within. fifty years, and it
must be replaced by drawing the amount out
of the product of labor again. In fifty years
simple interest at per cent on this sum will
be $3,OO00O0,0OO. This must be added to the
original cost, which makes $4,000 000000. If
we compound the interest, which we must do
to reach the real cost Of such a currency to
the people, we have the enormous sum of
more than $4,000, 100000, which specie cur
rency meeting our demands would cost in
fifty years. If we put the volume at S2,O0O,-
100000, which we regard as below what we
shall need on an average for the next fifty
years, we have cost of more than S36 900, ,0O0,
900, as much as the entire country is worth
with all of Its improvements. These figures
show us that the barter system now is simply
impossible s'.. ~. p q.
THE BARTER SYSTEM TOO SLOW AND CUMBER-
SOME, AS WELL AS TOO COSTLY.
Before the substitution of paper for specie
currency, gold silver and other metals, had
TO be shipped to the place of making a pur-
chase or paying a debt If merchant ship
ped any commodity to another country or to
distant parts Of hisown country, he was COM
PEELED to invest the proceeds in some other
merchandise which he could sell at home,
and be out of the use of his capital until the
long transaction was completed. ~
If he received coin in return, he must wait
for the shipment both ways, and bear the
expense and peril. The world has reached
state of commerce which utterly forbids this
system of exchange, and nations have been
forced to substitute, largely, paper currency.
Paper currency is the herald of commercial
advancement Is 81 ~.
~ 4 BILLS OF EXCHANGE. /...'..
= Bills of exchange were the first effort to
substitute paper for coin. The system of
negotiating bills of exchange was first tnsti-
tuted by the Bank of Barcelona. These bills
are well understood to be drafts drawn in one
city or country upon persons residing in
others. A merchant in New York ships
cargo to London or Canton. AS soon as his
invoice and insurance papers are perfected,
he can draw abillof exchange upon the party
to whom he ships the goods, and obtain of
banker large per cent of the value of his
cargo. His banker has arrangements with a
house in the city to which his cargo is ship
ped, SO that the exchanges are largely effected
without the shipment of coin either way. 1t
is not necessary to explain the intricacies of
these paper. Exchanges. 1t is sufficient for our
purpose to note the fact, that on a very large
scale, paper currency is substituted for the
barter system, the highest phase of which is
coin exchange. r..a . ..
LETTERS OF CREDIT.
Letters of credit are another form of paper
currency. A merchant goes from Philadel-
phia to Paris to buy goods. He takes no coin