Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-04-02
CURRENCY PRIMER.
WHAT IS MONEY AND WHY IT IS
 MONEY.


 of eoin-1t Should Not Attempt to
 Make Money From Nothing.
 One of the recent publications of the sound Currency Committee of 52 Will Currency Primer. It discusses the fundamental principles underlying mon- ey in plain language. We quote the fol l lowing:
 The whole matter of money, a meas ure of value, means of exchange, cir culating medium, is ono of necessity, convenience, adaptation to the end. It Is a question of the fitness and effective ness of the material substance of which the instrument is made.
 Manifestly that fitness, the conven- fence and effectiveness of the thing, must be determined by the judgment of those who use the instrument. those who do the business, the labor and exchange of 1 the world
 Law should attempt to follow that l judgment and not attempt to form it, force it or control it. Experience has determined several points as to fitness, convenience and efficiency. Silver is found too precious, too concentrated, to be conveniently used to represent very small values. Something more bulky that is, of less value by weights need ed. Hence for smallest values copper coins, for slightly larger nickel or some equivalent, and for still larger silver
 But silver is too bulky-that is, of too little value by weight--to represent very large values. Hence gold is used l for these. But even gold is too heavy and bulky to be used by actual count or by actual weighing, and passing from hand to hand at every turn in large transactions. especially between dealers at distance.
 Hence como into use bank notes, and far more largely still checks and bills of exchange. By means of these q given quantity of money will rapidly, though only in q legal sense, pass from hand to hand, from owner to owner. by nero entries on books of account, no money being actually counted nor even seen by tho banker who keeps it locked up in his vaults. Checks and bills of exchange are simply additional facilities. con- veniences, multiplying the rapidity of circulation-more rapidly changing ownership But the money they repre- sent must be behind them.
 We now Sec the reason why govern ment cannot mako anything money which it chooses to call money, nor make it money, "eurrent with tho mer- chant, " nor current with tho lnborer, by simply calling it legal tender. Government oan no more do this than it can say what your days wages shall be or what shall be the price of bnshel of wheat Any government assuming to do these things would soon be reformed, or if need be revolutionized by force
 Having seen the function of money, and the materials of which it should be composed, ,sand seeing that government cannot make money of iron or leather or pasteboard, simply. because intelligent, freo people of great commercial inter ests and activities will not use these substances as money, the question arises, What is tho function of government in regard to money? Here again the answer is, simply to increase the convenience and effectiveness of the substances or materials which the people have already found most convenient and effective as standards of value. Increase it how?
 Tho old time method of use was to weigh the metal. That is slow and cumbrous, and inexact, unless part at l least of the amount Do divided into very small pieces-in case of gold, too small for either safety or convenience. Hence the art of coinage, each piece of copper, silver or gold being composed of q given weight But if coinage be left to indi- viduals fraud will creep in. Alloys, mixtures, debasement would be prac- 1 tieed. Hence the eoonvenience, the effect iveness, the fitness of metal coined into money are immensely increased by conh- dence in its purity and in the fullness of it's weight Therefore tho only duty and province of government ill regard to coin is by it's stamp, to certify that a 1 given piece of metal is of given weight and of given fneness CT purity. There the interference of government shonld stop, unless to declare what is legal ten der, and ill what sums, as to each metal
 It is now doubted by some whether government should go further and mako | anything legal tender for debts, and whether 1t would not be better to leave every man to make his contract to be paid in tho money of his choice. If this were done. and the hints of tho whole world were thrown open for free and unlimited coinage of all metals now used as money, the owners of the coin would soon find which would circulate and which would not. But pass no opinion whether government should de fine or establish legal tenders.
 Colonial Legal Tender Laws.