The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-08-20
The Loss nv Deprecated Money.
The Iron Age

As all the currency that comes TO . man
he pays out again for one purpose or an
other. IL Is not Important whether the
units be large or small; II large he gets
few and pays fewer. IL small he gets more
and pays more. He might Ike 10 take in
large dollars and pay out small ones. but
nothing like that IS possible except while
a change In the money unit Is in progress.
and then only TO a very limited extent
II Will he seen. therefore. that there Is no
advantage I'm a cheap or small dollar 20
tia community az a whole, though fntf-
vifuals may be so placed as 20 make
somef hing by r. The dollars that man
gets are the same that he pays out. and
whatever advantage there might bs in
some other unit than the one in use. every
man would lose as much on one side as he
made on the other II the unit were some
thing different from what II is.
But the efTect-of a sNiden change IN the
monetary unit can be illustrated in some
slight degree by the effect OF a change In
the unit Of weights and measures. There
ara two weights known as the pound.
Nearly all merchandise Is weighed By the
heavier one. II the law should suddenly
make the troy pound the unit In all trans
actions every one who had merchandise
In stock would have more pounds OF II
than he now has. but he would not have
any greater quantity. II the price per
pound remained unchanged the owner OF
the merchandise would receive more money
than he would II the weights had not been
changed, and would feel that he had proiit-
ed by the operation. but when he went TO
replace his stock he would have to buy
more pounds because the pounds were
smaller and he would lose as a buyer what
he gained as seller. The man to wnom
he sold. however, would get less for his
he -,rIfN
weights had not been changed. so that ne
would be loser.
But a change In the unit Of money would
exert wider influence than change in
the weight OF pound, or at least more
immediate influence, because every one
receives and pays out money TO the extent
of his whole earnings, while large part
OF the community would only be reached
indirectly by change in weights.
During the war the government issued
paper money which deprecated. IL TOOK
more dollars to secure certain quantity
of work, or a certain quantity OF food or
clothing than IL did before. What WAS
commonly said was that prices nad rsen.
but a great part OF the fact though aos
quite all OF 4. yas that the dollar wa n@t
worth so ugch "a l. was before. arg II
took more OF them to make purchase y
1854. during which year the greenoacss
reached their lowest value. the average OF
wages-alIowing for the fact that IN some
employments there were far more men ihali
IN others and an advance In the wages OF
carpenters counted for more than an aa-
vance in the wages OF gold heaters-in nj
tv-three OCCUPATIONS had Increased 81 per
cent. since 1860. But the prices or articies
that absorbed more than two-thirds or the
income OF the average family nao risen
70 per cent This shows what wound
hanpen IL the cheap silver dollar were
substituted for the expensive goio uoAiaf.
Prices and wages would rise. because me
dollars being less valuable II would require
more OF them 10 make purchase OF se
cure a mans services for a month but
wages would not rise so fast as prices
The depreciation OF money mas otteh oc
Cured and IL has always caused Use oi
prices very soon. but the rise or wages mas
come slowly. In the meanwhiie ever oae
in the receipt of wages-and the recipients
Of salaries are In very much the same
position-would suffer precisely as though
his nav had been cut down. the NUMBER OF
dollars he received might be uncnahgsd.
but the buying power OF each dollar "ou4u
be reduced.
There was a great deal OF suffering
among people of small incomes during the
war on account of the fall in the value or
the greenbacks or what was commonly
described as the rise OF prices But Inis
was partly offset By the fact that the gov
eminent was employing more than HlAi-
lion men and this made labor scarce and
tended 20 raise wages. II borrowed money.
which we have been paying back ever
since, and bought everything tnat an
army could use or destroy. and this made
farming and manufacturing active. But X
the dollar were reduced now there would
be no such Offset: the government Is not
now creating a scarcity in the labor mar
ket. and II is not borrowing money 10 meet
the waste and destruction OK war. Inc
losses due to deprecated currency " oalo
can directly and without any mobilization
unou the people. and would. OF course. fall
the most heavily upon those who have the
narrowest margin between their earnings
and their eypenditures.