The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-10-16

In discussing the question of unlimited
coinage of silver it is well to keep clearly
In mind the true character and office of
money
of values.
Writers on political economy regard the
uses of money as three in number viz:
To furnish:
First-The common medium by which ex-
changes are rendered possible.
Second-The common measure by which
the comparative values of exchanges can
be measured.
Third-The standard by which future OBJ
legations are to be determined.
The necessity for a tool of exchange
grew out of the advancing civilization of
the race, the division of labor, and the
consequent necessity for exchanges of
the products of labor. Barter, that is, the
exchange of one labor product for another,
was an inconvenient and costly method of
conducting commercial transactions, and
1t became necessary to provide some COM
mon measure of values for which one pro-
ducer of labor products could exchange
his products, and which he could in turn
exchange for such labor products as he
needed
This tool of exchange adopted, whatever
It might be, was money. The value of mon
ey in one sense is the rate of interest it
viii bring: in another sense, it is the
amount of labor products it will purchase.
gold and silver among the metals has
been a matter of growth, keeping pace
with the advancement of the race in civil
ization.
Gold and silver today constitute the prin-
cipal currency of civilized nations by rea-
son of their adaptation for use as money.
The natural requirements of money or
of a tool of exchange viii be obvious
when they stated
The requirements of good money are:
First-It must be valuable.
Second-It must be of great value in
proportion to its weight and bulk.
Third-It must be of uniform value.
Fourth-It must be divisible without loss.
Fifth-It must be durable.
Sixth-It must be easily distinguishable.
Gold and silver possess these qualities
and so have survived in civilized countries
the use of other metals as money.
Gold possesses some of these qualities
to a greater degree than silver, and so
there has been a tendency among COM
mercial nations to adopt gold as their
standard.
Gold and silver If used in the form of
dust or bars would be inconvenient. as
when they were passed from hand to
hand they must be weighed and assayed
or examined in some manner to ascertain
their weight and fineness, to determine
their value. Hence the necessity for
coinage.
Coinage, I believe. was first adopted by
ITeece, ana tneH SpFedo u 1Idly, anu Is
now practiced by all civilized countries.
At first only the quality or f1neness of
the metal was stamped upon it.
Afterward its weight or value was indi-
Gated
When coinage became a government
function the charge for coinage was called
segniorage. When the government as
sumed the duty of coinage came the temp
tation to depreciate the value of coins, to
put more alloy with the gold and silver.
or to diminish the weight of the coins for
the purpose of providing public revenue.
But from the time when the first money
coined and put in circulation every
attempt by law to create value, to make
q lightweight coin equal to a full-weight
coin or to put in circulation a paper cur
rency not redeemable in coin of full value
trous. These requisites OF good money are
30 self-evident that I shall discuss only
one.
Money Must BE Valuable.
All good money must be of intrinsic
value or it must be Of value because it
can be converted into money possessing
intrinsic value. This proposition MUST
be true If money is measure of value.
The value of a product Of. human labor
being fixed by the law Of supply and de-
mand. can only be measured by some
thing possessing value fixed by the same
law. Creditors might be forced to receive
4 depreciated' currency for debts which
are not by the contract payable in other
money, but the owners of property can
not be forced to part with their property
except for it's value
Value cannot be created by legislation
There is but one way Of creating wealth,
and that is by labor Every scheme to