The Portland daily press., 1897-02-01
WoMAN'5 COUNCIL.
Col. Dow Talks to Them on Money and
Finance.

|
| The Fraternity rooms were filed Satur-
| day afternoon on the occasion of an nd
dress by Col. Fred N. Dow before the
| Women's Council. Col. Dow was intro
ducsd by Mrs. George 8. Hunt, the vice
president of the council. Before proceed
| ing to the topic Of the afternoon, which
| was MONEY and Finance" he referred
In complimentary terms to the council,
congratulating the city upon it's exist
enCe.
| After reminding his hearers that money
was only useful to man in association
with his fellows, Col. Dow asked his
hearers to 60 back in Imagination with
him to time as to which history told
nothing and tradition itself was dumb.
When man emerged from that trackless
obscurity into the earliest period Of which
we have even fragmentary accounts, he
was already using various articles for
purposes which money serves. Taking
imaginary personages In those early
times, it was shown how one BIZ one the
essentials of suitable medium of ex-
change were ascertainea through ssthe jim
conveniencss and losses attending the use
Of the various makeshifts employed. By
this process the way was traced TO the
use of gold and silver 1t is not to be
understood that this progress was by reg
ular grades. The choice of the medium
of exchange was necessarily affected by
local conditions. In some conditions gold
and silver were used before less useful
commodities were employed, and later
the tendency was to take that which was
most conveniently at hand and to use 1t
until it's inutil!ty WINS demonstrated. Ex
perience led, or rather, pushed, man
along the way, once he had realized the
necessity for 1t.
| Gold was declared to possess duranility,
portability, divIsibility, uniformity, sta
bility, and is easily shaped and marked
So that given quantity may be readily
| recognized The speake r said that with
| out desiring to enter upon ground that
may be the subject of controversy he
might add that until very recently all
this had been true of both gold and sill
yer. Within comparatively few years
the production of the latter metal has
SO largely increased as to have led to
grave doubts as to whether 1t Is likely to
| be longer useful as a money metal save
as subsidiary coin in small transactions.
Already it has lost caste as such over
great proportion of the most advanced
countries Of the world
/ 80 ~ sAyx inh
law, or IN lsw to itself, money has
maintained lis birtLright. 1t is only
when statutes supplement- the great mys-
terious force which controls the world
business that they are potential as to
money. When laws run counter thereto,
il observed in form, they are uniformly
| ignored in fact.
| Brief reference was made to coinage,
showing what it is and what its effect.
Practically all the vast and complicated
business of the world is transacted on a
gold basis. But this does not mean thaE
an amount of gold equal to the aggregate
of this transaction, measured by the
money standard, is transferred in per-
forming it. That would BIS impossible.
Right here in our own little city, if an
ordinary days business of our banks,
including their out of town. or foreign,
as we'll as local business, was settled by
the transference of gold, nearly four tons
of that metal would have to DO moved,
OF, if preferably adjusted in silver, some
thing like Cd tons of the white metal. ii
the same process WIS adopted IN New
York, over 200 tons of gold--a million
dollars, weighing ton-wouid change
hands. or rather carts, each day, while
more than 8, coo tons Of silver would have
to lie moved to accomplish the same OBJ
ieet.
Representative money was explained,
and by an illustration it was shown how
| by the modern System If credits must of
the vast business TRANSACTIONS CT the
world were iisd OH without q Use or
| money, aud tEGt underlying modern
I Inethocs tha same with the eaily
| radsis found m ESSENTIAL element fer .
iheaiam of eychanQe-- man = ABILITY to
serve his fellows
La q sing Il Z 81 .ker fsil: sure
He shall Eage yites or tlns to-day 10
cain ii we = -o1~ cognize tie imnulse