Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-08-14

civilization concurrent with an increase
and decrease in the volume of primary
money. used only sufficient of
the authority to establish the principle
to be taught. and that space would permit.
The authority used was the report of the
Monetary Commission appointed by Con-
gress in 1876. reported in 1877 and pub
lished in 1878. The copy used had the
date Of It's publication on the cover, and
that date was given in accrediting the
authoI.t .ty. l now read from the report
the paragraph from which the abbreviated
statement printed under picture in preface
was made. 1t begins with the last two
lines on page 49, and is as follows: "At the
Christian era the metallic money OF the
Roman empire amounted to 81, 800, 900, 900.
By the end Of the fifteenth century 1t had
shrunk to less than 5000, 900, 900. During
this period most extraordinary and bale
full change took place In the condition of
the world. Population dwindled, and COM
merce, arts, wealth. and freedom all dis
appeared. The people were reduced by
noy.rty and misery to the most degraded
condition Of ssrfdom and slavery. The dis
integration of society was almost complete.
The conditions of life were so hard that in
dividual selhshness was the only thing con-
sistent with the instinct Of self-preserva-
ton. All public spirit, all generous emo
tions. all the noble aspirations of man
shriveled and disappeared as the volume of
money shrunk and prices fell.
"History records no such disastroue
transition as that from the Roman Emnire
70 the dark ages. Various explanations
have been given Of this entire breaking
down of the framework of society, but n
was certainly coincident with a shrinkaee
in the volume Of money which was ,lso
without historical parallel. The crumb.
ling of institutions kept even step and pacs
with the shrinkage In the stock of monev
and the falling Of prices. All other At.
tendant circumstances than these last have
secured IN other historical periods unac-
sompanied and unfollowed by any such
mighty disasters
/ now pass the book toMr. Horr. ZAP
plause.)
Mr.Horr-Gentlemen, desire to state
that my friend has spent his whole time
answering something that l never men
toned or said anything about. I merely
called his attention to the use Of the pas
sage OF Scripture which he has now fully
explained by saying that the passage does
not mean what 1t says. My next
quotation no, find still before you get to
the body Of the book. 1t is this: "All
money is a medium OF exchange. but pri-
mary money only is the measure Of val
20 hor i'm fon In
q word what he means by primary money.
Mr.. Harvey-The question asked Is a
part of the main argument in the book, and
1t would be out Of place for me to answer
this question now, and would disturb the
logical arrangement OF the argument as
outlined by the book.
Mr.. Horr-I have not succeeded in get
ting very much information. II did not
misunderstood him in his previous re-
marks when he laid down the positions he
was going to occupy he for the first time IN
those remarks gave his definition Of pri-
mary money. submit to the reporters
that he said primary or redemption
money" In the course Of the explanation.
II I TN right then it is redemption money
which he refers to in this motto. II that Is
what he means then l call his attention to
the fact that the statement itself Is not
true.
"All money is q medium Of exchange"
1t Is true that far. But primary money
only or redemption money only Is not al
ways the measure Of value. We some
times live and do business for years and
the measure Of value that we use Is not
redemption money at all. I lived seven
teen years from 1862 to 1879 and saw the
business Of this country for years all tran
sacted in money that was not redemption
money, but every dollar of 1t had yet to be
redeemed.
The greenbacks that we did business
with in so to '79 deprected in value and
yet we used those promises as the measure
Of the values OF this country. The meas
ure of value isn't so abstruse as some peo-
pie think. The measure Of value in every
country Is the term that the people. by
common use, come to understand as mean
ing certain definite thing.
What is money? Every writer that am
familiar with admits that originally mon
was always some substance that possessed
value: 1t must Of necessity be 80. "
could not have yard stick that did not
have the length because the yard stick Is
to find out the length Of goods.
When we wanted something to measure
values with. hat Is. when the human fam
fly wanted something, they necessarily Sc
lected something that possessed some
value. Almost every article In the world
has, from time to time. been used as the
measure Of values. Now gold and
silver finally came to be used as money
simply because they were the best adapted
for money uses OF any substance that the
world had ever discovered. Gold
and silver were not the first money. Ori-
ginally copper was more universally used
as money than either of these metals.
Mr.. Harvey will now define
what is money" Money Is a medium
exchange and a measure Of value. -
To understand the importance Of money
we must consider the conditions that
would exist II we had no money. It would
then be matter Of barter and exchange
Of one kind Of property for another. Need
ing the wheat Of your neighbor, you might
offer him in exchange your horse. but not
needing your horse he would refuse you
his wheat. You would then have to con-
tinue looking for a man having wheat who
wanted a horse. Under these
conditions, there being no money, COM
merce would be sluggish II 1t moved at all.
Thera would be no practical method for
paying labor in the thousands Of indus
tries, including type-setting Hence there
would probably be no books or newspapers,