The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1896-07-04
TRUE MONEY.
II Il Very Clearly Explained By Cox
Greene.

Judges the address of Col. Jacob L.
Green before the Hartford board OF
trade on March % is one of the clearest
statements of the true functions OF
money ever made. Col. Green is presi-
dent of the Connecticut Mutual Life In
surance company, said to be the largest
moneyed institution in New England.
We quote below a part of this most ex-
celIent speech:
Trade exists before money. Money is
born of the necessities of trade, and is
simply its instrument. And trade, no
matter how complex its forms, how
narrow or how wide its field, what the
range of it's objects or the number or
character of its instrumentalities and
incidents, is nothing else but the free,
willing exchange of one mans property
for that of another. The fundamental
fact, and the everlasting moral element
In such exchanges is this: No man
willingly exchanges his own valuable
commodity, his property, except for an
other commodity, another piece of prop
erty of at least equal value to him.
The whole principle and motive of
honest trade and the absolute condition
of permanently prosperous trade are
property for property, substance for
substance, equal value for agreed equal
value. Anything else, no matter how
phrased, is robbery of one or other of
the parties, and is Immediately destruc-
tive of real commerce, for it exhausts
the party who is made to get less than
he is made to give.
But the direct exchange or barter of
scattered commodities by their respect
i've owners is slow, laborious, costly
and inconvenient process. The problem
Of trade is to bring the scattered owners
of needed commodities and the scat
tered consumers of them effectively to-
gether as seasonably, quickly and
cheaply as possible. All the manifold
instrumentaiities of commerce are
merely devices to that one end. And |
the first necessity to that end is some
form and kind of property so useful and |
Desirable to all men, no matter for what |
special reason, and SO uniformly and |
universally acceptable by them that |
they will everywhere among these pro-
ducers and consumers readily exchange
for it any item of property they wish
to exchange, knowing that it will, will
ngly and without loss, be taken in ex-
change for any other item of property
they may happen to want and whenever
they may happen to wantit. That kind
Of property for which all other kinds
can be exchanged, which can buy and
sell all others, men call money. To
serve this use most effectively and
economically it must possess in the
highest attainable degree certain quail
ties. 1t must have value, real usefulness
in itself, for men do not willingly trade
valuable for valueless things. 1t must
Keep it's value, for men will not trade
Ialue for valueless thing merely be-
'ause it once had value They must
rave the present substance and not the
mere tradition of value. 1t must be as
variable in value as possible--that,
While it is kept on hand awaiting other
Exchanges, it may lose as little as pos
iible of its power to buy other COM
nodities. 1t must he as nearly imper-
shable and indestructible as possible.
t must have as small bulk as possible
consistent with sufficient abundance.
10Th for convenience of handling and r.
or safety and cheapness of carriage.
must be of a sort equally valuable,
qualify desirable, equally acceptable
wherever men trade, else its purchasing
over Is not everywhere equal, and its
JUNCTION SO far fails. Ia
Wherever men have advanced beyond !
avagery they have by custom and COM
ION use adopted some then available
'rm OF property, possessing more or !
SIS of these qualities, as the medium 4
their exchanges. So long as, for any
eason, that form has had recognized
hue and acceptability as wide as the
ange of trade of that time, it has
rived its purpose, even if imperfectly.
hen its acceptabi1ity has ceased, or
as ceased to be commensurate with the
cid of trade, it has dropped out of use.
istory is full of instances of disused
1d abandoned moneys.
Whenever particular form of prop X
'ty has served as medium of ex-
lange it has necessarily become a
easure of the value of every item of |
'operty exchanged by it's intervention.
hen cowries were the medium every :
ing else was valued in cowries. It
as the same way with sheep, cows,
oths, hides, lunches of shingles, etc. o
} that intermediate kind or form of A
operty. by first exchanging for which N
other kinds of property are ex-
anged for each other, is for the time m
ing both a, medium of exchange and d.
measure of value of the things ex- CT
angcd. hi
Whenever money has been kind Il
property which existed in natural II
its, like cowries, arrowheads, sheep
other like sort, the conventional unit
exchange has been the natural unit
which the count of quantity would hs
made Rrf when tho axfa,,o,rx, <>e It