Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-04-12
CURRENCY PRIMER.
What Is Money and Why It Is
 Money.
The Function Of Government Is to Certify by Its Stamp, to the Purity and Weight of Coin-It Should Not Attempt
 to Make Money from Nothing.

One of the recent publications of the sound currency committee of 52 Will liam street, New York, is entitled "Currencv Primer" It discusses the fundamental principles underlying money in plain language. We quote the following:
 The whole matter Of money, meas 1ire of value, Q means of exchange, cir cHIating medium, is one of necessity, convenience, adaptation to the end. ltls a question of the fitness and effective ness of the material substance of which the instrument is made
 Manifestly that fitness, the convent er.s,and effectiveness of the thing, must be deter1f4:~e.5 by the judgment of those who use the instrument, those who do the business, the labor and exchange of the world.
 Law should attempt to follow that judgment and not attempt 10 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 weight-is 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 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 come into use bank notes, and far more largely still cheeks and bills of exchange. By means of these a given quantity of money will rapidly, though only in a legal sense, pass from hand to hand, from owner to owner, by mere entries on books of account, no money being actually counted nor even seen by the banker who keeps it locked up in his valuts. Checks and bills of exchange are simply additional facilities, con yeniences, multiplying the rapidity of circulation-more rapidly changing ownership. But the money they repre- sent must be behind them.
 We now see the reason why govern nlent cannot make anything money which it chooses to call money, nor make it money, current with the mer- chant" nor current with the laborer, bv simply calling it legal tender. Gov e1nment can no more do this than 1t can say what your days wages shall be or what shall be the price of q bushel of wheat. Any government assuming to do these things would soon be reformed, or if need be revoIutionized by force.
 Having seen the function of money, and the materials of which it should be composed, and seeing that government cannot make money of iron or leather or pasteboard, simply because intelligent, free people of great commercial inter- ests and activities will not use these substances as money, the question arises What is the function of govern ment in regard to money? Here again the answer is, simply to increase the convenience and effectiveness of the substances or materials which the peo- pie have already found most convenient and effective as standards of value. In crease it how?
 The old time method of use was to weigh the metal. That is slow and cumbrous. and inexact, unless part at least of the amount be 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 given weight. But if coinage be left to indi- viduals fraud will creep in. Alloys, mixtures, debasement would be prac- ticed. Hence the convenience, the eff fcctivepess, the fitness of metal coined into money are immensely increased by confidence in its purity and in the full ness of it's weight. Therefore the only duty and province of government in re- gard to coin is by it's stamp, to certify that given piece of metal is of given weight and of a given fneness or purity. There the interference of government should stop, unless to declare what is legal tender, and in what sums, as to each metal
 It is now doubted by some whether government should go further and make anything 8 legal tender for debts. and whether it would not be better to leave every man to make ihis contract to be paid in the money of his choice. If this were done, and the hints of the 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 I pass no opinion whether government should de fine or establish legal tenders.
 Why Abuse Gold2
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