Year: 1875

MONEY AND THE MECHANISM OF EXCHANGE. By
w. S. Jev0ns. Volume Seventeen of "The Inter-
national Scientific Series'' New York: d. Apple


ton s. Co. For sale by Bailey & Noyes.


Although our people are money making
people and tolerably familiar with finance as
an art, yet of the science of finance they know
but little. The people of new country, as
Prof Sumner has suggested, are not likely to
be very careful fnanciers; for they have no
| traditions TO carry down the warning of the
past. "They are not trained to look back or to
look forward. They do not look back because
| the great achievements of yesterday only pro
woke smile to-day. They do not look forward
because they trust their power to deal with
whatever may come" In comparing the ex-
| tent and soundness of our financial Knowledge,
however, with that of other peoples we are
Otter misled to our disadvantage. We judge
by results In Europe nations are ruled by
classes of men, educated, long trained in ad
ministration, conversant with financial history
| aud experiments. When we speak of the
| financial knowledge of the English people we
have in mind only The privileged classes. Did
we take the opinions of the masses into account
we should find the financial ignorance of Eng
land incomparably greater than our own Here
he masses rule, and the misinformatiou of any
considerable number of men on finaucal top
les, no matter how humble the men may be, is
a source of danger to the welfare of the ma
| tion. For this reason a simple, accurate, and
well-considefed exposition of the nature and
uses OF money and the instruments of credit
in the form of popular treatise free from
needless technicalities, is to be heartily well
coined as an aid to the education of the gov
erning class, which in this country is the whole
people. Such an exposition the Messrs Apple
ton give US in the seventeenth volume of the
excellent international Scientific Series in
the shape of treatise on Money and the
Mechanism of Exchange" by Prof. Jevons of
Owens College, Manchester.


The book is not an essay on the currency
question, nor is it written in view of the cur
rency debate now going on in this country 1t
is descriptive essay on the past and present
monetary systems of the world, the materials
employed 10 make money, the regulations un.
der which the coins are struck and issued, the
natural laws which govern their circulation.
the several modes in which they may be re.
placed by the use of paper documents, and
| finally, the method in which the use of money
| is immensely economical by the check ard
clearing system now being extended and per.
fectei The work is not of controversial
character, though the author frequently finds
it Necessary to expose those fallacies which be
supposes his readers iRclned to adopt. In his
Introduction he remarks that sin studying a
1on har nil Al
we try to read or write. In mathematics we
practice ourselves in simple arithmetic before
we proceed to the subtleties of algebra and the
differential calculus. But it is the grave mis-.
fortune of the moral and political sciences that
they are continually discussed by those who
have never labored at the elementary gram
mar or the simple arithmetic of the subject.
Hence the extraordinary schemes and fallacies
every now and then put forth. y
There are men who spend their time and for.
tunes in endeavoring to convince dull world
that poverty can be abolished by the issue of
printed bits Of paper. I know one gentleman
who holds that exchquer bills Treasury notesl
are the panacea for the evils of humanity
Other philanthropists wish to make us all rich
by coming the national debt, or coming the
lands of the country, or coming anything"
The char 'cter Of the schemes here indicated
(quite familiar to America now are set forth


by Pref. Jevops, and full consideration given to


questions like these: Shall we couut in pounds.


or dollars, or francs, or marks? Shall we have


gold or silver, or gold and silver, as the meas.


ure of value? Shall We employ paper cur


rency or a metallic one?


Some years since, says Prof. Jevons in the


opening chapter of his treatise, Mademoiselle


Zelie, singer of the Theatre Lyrique at Paris.


made professional tour round the world. and


gave concert in the Society Islands In ex-


change for an air from Norma and a few other


songs she was to receive third part of the


receipts. When counted her share was found


to consist of three pigs, twenty three turkeys,


forty-four chickens, five thousand cocoa nuts,


and considerable quantities Of bananas, lemons.


and oranges. A. the Halle in Paris, as the


prma donna remarks in a lively letter, this


amount of live stock and vegetables might


have brought fsrr thousand francs, which


would have been good remuneration for ii ,e


songs In the Society Islands, however, pieces


OF money were very scarce; and as Mademoi-


sel'e could not consume anv considerable Dor.


tion of the receipts herself it became necessa nv


in the mean time to feed the pigs and poultry


with the fruit. This form of exchange, in


which the singer gave that which she could


easily spare for that which the ratiyes could


easily spare, is the earliest form, and we call


it barter. In barter the first difficulty is to find


two persons whose disposable possessions mu,


tually suit each Others wants. There nav be


many people wanting and many possessing


those things wanted but to allow of an act of


barter there must be double coincidence,


which will rarely happen. In the illustration


given the islanders were willing to Part with a


portion of their surplus possessions for song.


If the singer could have found person who


wonld give in exchange for her poultry aud


fruit some article she needed the exchange


would have been satisfactory. Or if she had


been paid in some substance of universal and


unvarying value, easily handled or easily


carried about, she could have kept that sub


stance until she met with some one possessing


an article which she desired. The exchange


could be made, aud the other party could keep


the substance of universal value until he de-


sired to exchange it for productions to supply


his needs. 1t is evident that the use of some


such commodity, some merchandise 5aadle as


the French call it, which all are willing to re-


ceive, for a time, would greatly facilitate ex-


change, as what is obtained by sale in one case


may be used IL purchase in another Such q


common commodity or medium of e1chdnqe has


been found by men, and they call it money.


A second officially arises in barter AT


what rate is anv exchange to be made? If a


certain quantity Of beef be given for certain


quantity of corn, and in like manner corn be


exchanged for cheese, aud cheese for eggs and


eggs for fax, aud so on, still the question


will arse-How much beef for how much flax.


or how much of any one commodity for a


given quantity of another? In state of bar


ter the prce-current list would be most com


plicated document, for each commodity would


have to be quoted in terms of every other com.


modify, or else complicated ruls-oft three sums


would become necessary. Between one hun


dred articles there must exist no less than


1850 possible ratios OF exchange, and all these


ratios must be carefully adjusted so rs to bo


consistent with each other. All such trouble