Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1918-02-01
Read This Interesting and In
structive Article on Money.

tCopyright. 1917. Western Newspaper Union)
We consider ourselves very much
advanced IN our control Of food prices.
it might do us some good to look back
a little and see what the ancient ORR
entails did in this regard thousands Of
years ago.
The Brahnanic and Rabblnical laws
fully equal the measures we have
adopted. For example, besides seeing
that not too much was charged for
food or other articles, the former law
provided a penalty for selling under
a standard price. Rabblnical law linn
tied ~storekeepers' profits to 16 % per
cent.
Economic history-the story Of
banking and Observation-Disclosures that
some of our so-called modern insti-
tutlons" are in reality as old as the
hills. Some economists claim that the
division Of labor"-that is, the spe-
clalizing by one individual in a single
operation in manufacturing-is some
thing comparatively new and did not
exist to any extent prior to the eight
zenith century. But against this we
have the statement made by someone
that caste in India is division of
labor gone to seed"
And the socialists dream Of an ideal
state is also nothing new. Plato one
proposed an elaborate plan for a new
state. He figured it cut very carefully
and decided to limit the population to
5,040. If the number of Inhabitants
ran over that amount colonies were to
be established; if below, prizes were
to be offered to stimulate its increase.
Another suggestion of Plato's was that
the children were to be the property
of the state and common to all. In
Sparta everyone ate at a common
table. No payments Of money were
required and the products Of all were
shared by everyone.
Further, in Greece factories Of con-
siderable size existed. Some employed
hundreds Of workmen. A factory
would be devoted to the exclusive pro-
duction Of one article, such as a tunic.
Most Of the labor was performed by
slaves. Even the post humble citi-
Zens of Athens had at least one slave.
They were sent to the river to drink
with the horses and were branded on
the forehead.
Contracts in Athens were bound in
two ways. One method was the in
formal handshake and the other was
the formal contract where something
was pledged. At one time men pledged
themselves, but this was stopped UNI
der the laws of Scion.
Were the Athenians familiar with
apartment houses? 1t seems so. Wit
ness the following statement by a we'll
known French economist: "People
built for speculation a sort of inn,
the apartments of which were let to
strangers whom politics or commerce
attracted to Athens, and who had no
right of citizenship there" Rentals
In Athens amounted to about S1s per
cent of the capital invested In the
property.
In the claim Of Germany that she
has secured control of the seas through
the destruction of shipping, by sub
marines, we have a parallel case in
the history Of Rome. The Romans
were never fond Of going to sea and
had a peculiar horror of commerce.
In Carthage they destroyed 500 ves-
sells. Augustus, who brought victory
In a naval battle at Actium, greatly
feared water. 1t was through their
urho1ocoIa I,cfrrVutg,n Of chino that tho
Romans gained control Of the sea.
Ancient Rome faced the same prob
lem we do I'm the congestion Of cities
and neglect of agriculture. Virgil
lamented this tendency and contrasted
the artlhcialities of city life and the
simple pleasures of rural living.
Rome, too, had "big business" The
great bulk of her commercial and f.
nanclal affairs were in the hands Of
the Equities" or Roman knights. The
entire industrial fabric was dependent
On them. Roman big business just
like that Of today, was not immune
from attack. It was constantly being
assaulted and accused of graft.
The Romans even used checks about
the same as we do today.
Today we boast of our world fairs.
But Europe, during medieval times,
was not unfamiliar with fairs fully
equal TO urs They were really an
economic necessity, as people were at
tracted from far and near, and exc
change of products from every part OF
the world was facilitated. The largest
fairs were held al N~ovgorod, in Rus
STA, Leipzig, In Germany, and Stour-
bridge, England. An English fair at
st. Giles covered an area Of seven
miles and lasted sixteen days.
Even In this day who has heard
Of a bank with 5000 branches2 Such
an institution existed in medieval
iimcs in the Knights Templar. They
| 81 unnQrnl banking business