The independent., 1903-04-09
the VALUE OF MONEY
Fourth Article ON the Subject by Mr.. DN
Hart-Tree Coinage wron
CHAPTER Nv.


Editor Independent: Evil is the
day for a nation when its mints are
opened to ".free" coinage. cannot,
however, say that 1t was evil for Eng
land in 1866, because, at that time,
there was very foolish king on the
throne; and, to coin the money OF
the realm, was one of his preroga-
tives. His ancestors had done It from
time immemorial. + and Charles II.
could have continued 1t without OPP
position. There was no outcry against
him on this account. He therefore
gave up this high prerogative, simply
because he was requested so to do by
few money lenders who wanted to
get control of the volume Of money,
and thereby, be able to control prices.
1t was great privilege; and 1t Is
probable that they paid Charles well
for 1t. He was not fool enough to
give anything away for nothing. But
he was fool enough to squander an
enormous amount of money on numer-
GUS mistresses and his illegitimate
children. 1t Is said for instance, that
the yearly income of the Duchess or
Portsmouth, at his cost, was $780,
000 and that In one year she re-
ceived no less than $6S0,000; that q
caricature, published In Holland, apt.
ly represented him as standing be-
tween two women, with empty pockets
hanging out. (See Students History
Of England, by Gardiner; p. 6O3.)
But this was not all.
On or about the End day Of Jan.
uary, 1872, he had iii his exehefaeE
81 100000 lent to him by the gold
smiths, who, in those days, acted as
bankers. He refused to pay the prin-
cipal and arbitrarily diminished the
interest from IL to 6 per cent, which
was a very low rate OF interest in
those times. Whether it was low or
high, Charles had no right to dimin-
ish the interest. 1t was his busi-
ness and adatgAtoe pay what he owed,
or else pay the interest agreed upon.
lIf tie money lenders were cornering
the money market, which no historian
has charged, it was his own fault, be-
cause he had, only six years before,
given the bullion dealers and bank
ers control over the volume OF money
by opening the mint to free coinage
of gold and silver. These men had
all the gold and silver in the king
dom. and to give them the power to
coin these metals and convert them
into money, was equal to giving them
power to make all the money.
But whatever the disadvantages
were of free coinage to the people
it was not an evil thing for England
in 1866, because the money lenders
could not possibly do as much harm
as Charles III. could. He was alto
gether too foolish a man to be trusted
with any power, as the robbery of the
goldsmiths, in 1872 proved. He bank
rupted all the bankers, which was as
great calamity to nation then as 1t
is now when all the banks are obliged
to close their doors to their custom
ers. 1t means no money, no currency,
no circulating medium, distress gen.
orally. 1t is almost wonder that
Charles did not lose his head on the
same block his father had lost his,
eleven years before. Charles II. came
to the throne in 1860, and in six years
| from that time threw away the most
valuable franchise or monopoly
king ever enjoyed; and, in six years
more, he robbed those Of whom he had
borrowed seven millions of dollars
a sum that represented vastly more
wealth then than now-and spent it
on a lot of worthless women.
In 1866, when free coinage first
went into operation in England, the
coins OF the realm were crowns, half
crowns and shillings, besides some
copper pence and gold coin called
guinea. The crowns, half-crowns
and shillings were silver pieces, and
constituted the money of the country
almost entirely. There was very lit
| tie gold coin at this time, although
the law of free" coinage conferred
upon those who had gold the right to
| take it to the mint to be coined into
guineas A crown was quarter Of
pound sterling or five shillings. 1t
was so-cailed, because the image of
crown was stamped upon it, and the
image was stamped to show that it
was the money of sovereign king
| of a sovereign nation; money always
having represented the sovereignty Of