Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-09-17
Why Metallic Money Came
Into Use.
The Value of Gold and
Silver.
Result Of Free Coinage
Of Silver.
Abortion of the Ably Written Article on
the Silver Question by Mr.. o. ID.
Ashley, President of the Wa
bash Railway Company.

Discussion of the silver question gen.
orally invests the subject with too much
mystery. 1t is made complicated ques-
ton, when, in fact, it is very simple
one. 1t requires neither a profound
study of economical science nor of met
allurgy. The only faculty necessary to
clear understanding of the problem is
common sense. Advocates of bimet-
allism or of the silver standard will,
no doubt, concede this, because they
claim to be governed mainly by its ex-
ercise in support of their contention.
The effort of the writer will be to prove
that they are wrong on that basis.
Let us first consider why metallic
money came into use, and how the rela-
tive value of gold and silver became es-
tablished.
Money, whether metallic or paper,
represents a value in exchange; that
Is, it represents so many units of value
which people are willing to receive for
anything they have to sell. With us the
unit of value is the dollar. Before
money was in general use value was rep
resented by cattle, sheep or grain. Cop
Der anu IRON, as IHtIdlilC nave
also represented value; and wampum,
beads and cowry shells have been made
units of value in primitive times or in
nations less advanced in civilization
than our own. These are well-known
facts. Thus, bushel of wheat might
be the unit of value instead of a dollar,
or we might call a bushel of wheat
dollar. This would come about because
wheat as a necessary of life would be
IN universal demand. and perhaps as
unvarying a standard or measure Of
value of any article in general use. All
of this. which is the A, B, c of econ
omical science. is easily understood.
Without money, trade would be
merely barter or the exchange of one
commodity for another, and in such eN-
change or barter some one thing would
naturally be selected as measure of
value for the rest; as, for example,
wheat or corn, or anything in general
demand. Such an arrangement would
be necessary to avoid the inconven-
fence of transportation to and fro and
to dispose of surplus products.
Suppose, then, before adopting
money to represent value in exchange,
community should agree upon wheat
as the measure of value and express it
in bushels instead of dollars. Then sup
pose the government of the community
should adopt a bushel of wheat Of
specified quality as the unit of value.
End enact law which made it legal
tender for all debts, public or private, it
would serve exactly the same purpose
as metallic money. The value of every
thing would. therefore, be expressed in
wheat Instead. therefore, of saying
that a house was worth $4,000 it
would be 10000 bushels of wheat, sup
posing the normal or average value of
wheat to be one dollar per bushel, and
a mans labor would be one, two, three
or four bushels of wheat per day. in
stead of one. two, three or four dollars
per day Fractions of the bushel would
be expressed in the same way, taking
the unit of 100 and dividing it into 100
parts of bushel instead of 100 parts of
dollar. The application throughout
all the nEocesses Of trade G.: - ha Gs in
Now, although wheat may be about
as steady in it's market valuation from
year to year as any commodity, it is yet
liable, as we know, to considerable varia-
ton, according to the abundance or the
scantiness of the crop; and consequent
ly it would be subject to greater
fuctuation than would be desirable in (
measure of value. Wheat itself would
not show this, as it's nominal value
would be fixed by law; but all other
products would be higher or lower &C
cording to the supply and demand.
That is, the purchasing power of wheat
would be greater or less according TO
the surplus or deficiency of that article.
If all the farmers had large surplus
to sell they would compete in eXchang-
ing it for other products or other prop
erty, and the holders of other commod~
titles or other property would demand
q larger quantity of wheat than before.
The owner of house who had asked
10000 bushels before would now want
1000 or $4,000 bushels, and so on. The
change would not be uniform and might
soon terminate, but for the time the
disturbance would be inconvenient and
troublesome.
have selected wheat as measure of
value in a system of barter, not be
cause it has been used in the way de-
scribed, but because it illustrates value
in exchange in familiar way. The
difficulties of the barter system became
more and more pronounced as the
world progressed in civilization, and
this led to the adoption of metallic
money as the best and most unvarying
in value throughout the world. The
precious metals were obviously better
adapted to the purpose than any other
material. That was the universal
opinion when they were selected, and
1t is the Judgment of the world now.
What is the value of gold and silver
and how was their relative valuation es-
tablished? These are important ques'
lions. They furnish the key to the
whole matter under consideration. Be-
fore the adoption of these precious