The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-08-16

is worth would e impossible. But by having
fixed money standard translate my wash boiler into
the terms of and then exchange that for each and
all of these necessaes because each of these has also
previously been translated into terms of money.
Money is also necessary order tofx the present val
of future Suppose trade wash boiler
to you for a certain work my farm fmag1n
ing one, stretches faculty.: will
give you wash boiler for days work But you
can't do that work until year How we determine
the you will do at that time? Perhaps
discover method whereby cheaper the manu-
acure of wash boilers that next year one days work
would be worth two; how you guarantee yourself
against that fuctuation? Only giving today
modify worth the same year; then
by giving that commodity back you next after
you have performed the certain amount of work
Money enables to up value which we produce
by labor Imagine yourself gardener. Under
system of barter would have exchange vege
tables other commodities you raised them
for the simple that vegetables won't keep long But
under such conditions how you give your boy col
ege education five years after he has finished high
school if that is what yaou to for? Your
vegetables would all be spoiled by that time. But gold
would be spoiled in five in hundred years
BY transatng your vegetables into gold you hoard
those values until you are ready to use them
Finally, money enables make exchanges quickly,
easily, and economically Suppose you live in Kansas,
in New York; you have horse to trade for COW.
drive the horse that distance and lead
from New York Kansas That would be expensive
and worth than the animals But by using
change into gold, you your horse into gold,
and then the gold through the mail slight
expense. There could be very little trading done where
each bodily transferred the place of
the exchanging article.
These among the important functions which
money has perform they reveal how essen
tal it is civilized society. They will also
what of material fitted money.
medium of circulation commodity must possess high
value in small bulk Iron used by the Spartans but
unsuccessfully clumsy. thousand
doa foI
and often mueoad will be worth thirty dollars.
desirable because they take up too
much
Money be of equal value in all it's parts. If l
have of imaginary wash boilers trade to you
for part of might receive part of no value,
such the horns this does hold good
of gold of it is valuable other
In other words, it is homogeneous
A currency be durable If it out easily it
will ntoerabe fluctuations of value. Skins are
by many tribes skin less in value
it older hence never serve fixed stand
gold slowly and depreciate al
most unnoticeable speed.
Money must also be everywhere recognizable and &C
ceptable If used beaver hides currency folks in
Florida would them because furs useless
in hot climate. Gold and silver, the other hand,
acceptable among all peoples and in all climates
metal to be useful currency bust change in value
as little as possible. % a
exchange should never know how much were
worth because butter is always changing in value. One
worth less next month than this. But gold
silver comparatively stable and uctuae very lit
tie.
The story of gold money an interesting
long present space. 1t is supposed
that the Lydians the first to coin these metals.
Whether that is true not it is certain that gold and
silver finally chosen by all progressive people
through long and laborous process selection
Almost every other metal commodity has tried
but experience shows these be the satisfactory.
Turgo carried by this that he preached
the doctrine that it predetermined from the creation
that these metals should money
first the governments made little attempt to coin
either gold silver, They simply stamped the
metal upon little cubes of it and let the exchangers
weight it their scales. Later its weight we'll
its fixed it. After while when COM
it found that of themselves gold and sill
too soft to wear we'll so alloys came to be used
At present mix about onetenth twelfth
copper with gold and silver Also by the most
convenient discovered. Squares globes
hexagonals and octagonals tried after another
discarded in of the flat circular
The this also determined by long experience
coin small is easily lost, and large is in danger
of being followed out and wed with base metal by
those the gold within it; besides if it is
large it becomes clumsy.
We have also learned by experience that for the
smallest coins silver and gold would be altogether too
SMALL gold penny, for instance would be very
SO have to and nickel for these lit
tie exchanges These coins fixed in value relative
gold standard, hence called token money
Metal money, gold, is bulky in large quantities.
hence is cumbersome in great transactions
This had be endured however until the banking sys
of various nations had schooed the people
the idea credit After that of exchanges
come to be carried paper" Besides the
coming is expensive and is always charged for
by government such charges being called seignorage
To this seigniorage leave most of gold
silver bullion form in treasury vaults issue
paper instead These greenbacks" Representative
money" they value themselves but as
representing gold.