mascus carrying to Rebecca "rings and brace- | ing coined money to be accepted as a "legal lets of fixed weight." The idea of melting and reducing these ornaments into coins of equal size and weight had not yet been conceived, much less born. The "shekel" of the ancient Israelites was at first a standard weight of gold, silver, or copper, and not a coin, as many suppose the word "shekel" meaning "weight," in the Hebrew language. In Genesis (xxiii, 16), Abraham is represented as weighing out to Ephron "four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant," but Mr. Jevons* says the silver in question is believed to consist of rough lumps, or rings, not to be considered in any sense as coin. In the book of Job (xxviii, 15), we are told that "wisdom can not be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof." Aristotlet is our authority for the statement that the precious metals were first passed simply by weight or size. The Chinese-that strange, stolid, conservative, unchanging, half-civilized, and yet highly civilized race to this day treat gold and silver as simple merchandise, and there is no government stamp to guarantee the quality of the metal, but it is bought and sold as merchandise by the ounce or pound. Their only legal tender consists of brass cash, or sapeks, with a square hole in the centre to allow of their being strung together, seventeen hundred of which are scarcely equal in value to one American dollar. The monetary terms "pound," "livre," and "mark," are also additional evidences of the early custom of weighing the precious metals as money, before they were coined as such. By gradual degrees, however, the ancient Aryan races abandoned the absurd and clumsy custom of weighing their money; and about the year 900 B. C. it seems to have occurred to Pheidon, King of Argos, that a stamp, guaranteeing the quality and quantity of metal, and thus fixing its value in relation to other commodities, would facilitate the transfer of gold and silver as money. That the ingenious Greek ruler fully grasped the idea of issuing coined money is extremely doubtful. Seals were familiarly employed in very early times, as we learn from the Egyptian paintings, and the stamped bricks of Nineveh. Being employed to ratify contracts they came to indicate authority; and thus, when a ruler first undertook to certify the weights of pieces of metal, he naturally employed his seal to make the fact known.§ (3.) Gold and silver as coined money.-It is perhaps a significant fact that no edict, requir Money and the Mechanism of Exchange, p. 88. Johnson's New Cyclopedia, tit. "Coinage." * tender" in payment of debts, was promulgated by the original coiners of money. As gold and silver had been bartered in the form of rings, passed current in the form of bracelets, accepted and received by weight, the mere act of coining it into pieces of fixed size, or value, was looked upon more as a convenience to facilitate, than a law to compel, its passage. In a most interesting, as well as exhaustive, work by Mr. Humphreys, it is stated that "the earliest Greek coins were adjusted to some well known and generally acknowledged weight, or standard; and so received the name of stater, a Greek word signifying standard, and that this standard appears to have been a weight corresponding to two drachmas of silver." "Thus," the author continues, "the Greeks, when they first established coins as a circulating medium, two thousand five hundred years ago, laid the foundation of the very forms, sizes, and divisions still found in all the various currencies of Europe; even to the present day, the stater, drachma, and obolus, corresponding very nearly to the English sovereign, shilling, and penny." Slowly indeed, however, did the idea of money attach itself to gold and silver, and detach itself from cattle. Although the coins of Argos bore the image of a lion, the early Roman coins were stamped with the rude caricature of a lamb or an ox. Through this common "medium of exchange," the lion and the lamb were soon reconciled; and, notwithstanding the fact that the ancient Roman coins, as we have already seen, were vulgarly called pecunia, from pecus, a flock, and were stamped to represent the number of cattle they were worth, coined gold and silver finally became disenthralled from their slavish and contemptible use as trinkets, and as mere representatives of cattle, and arose to the proud dignity and sovereign position of money, to create, as well as rule, the commerce of the world. It is needless to trace the devious ways of coined metals through the weary years of history, in the hope of ascertaing what is money. One nation after another followed the example of the King of Argos. There was no international money conference, to agree that gold and silver should, thenceforth and forever, be received and accepted as money; for the problem of "what is money" had not yet been presented. No Ecumenical Council of Sage Political Economists was called together by any financial Pope, or high priest, to determine upon the advisability of setting apart gold and silver, and consecrating them to the office of money. The *The Coin Collector's Manual, vol. 1, p. 10. money-idea was a growth. It took root in the necessity for a "medium of exchange;" it grew with the expansion of commerce, and fed upon the division of labor. Allied to gold and silver, it catered to the natural, but human, fondness for the precious metals as jewels, ornaments, and priestly utensils of worship, and, for this reason perhaps, the alliance became permanent and lasting. And, indeed, it must be admitted, that gold and silver are singularly endowed with the qualities which fit them for the purpose to which they were so early consecrated. Professor Amasa Walker* has, most clearly and concisely, pointed out the enormous advantages of gold and silver over every other commodity, to be used as money. They are as follows: (1.) They cost labor, and are objects of desire. (2.) They are stable in value, and are not liable to sudden fluctuations, like wheat or cotton, which, by reason of a failure of crops, may vary in price from 25 to 50 per cent., in a few months. (3.) They are conveniently portable. One pound of gold will command, in exchange, fifteen thousand pounds of wheat, or thirty thousand pounds of corn, ten thousand pounds of rice, or three thousand pounds of cotton. (4.) They are malleable; i.e., can be easily wrought into any shape, and readily receive and retain impressions. (5.) They are of uniform quality, whether found in California, Australia, Nevada, or Russia. iron twenty years, a gold dollar, in active use, would not be worn out in less than twenty-four hundred years. Now, what can be said against gold and silver, as coined money, in the face of such an overwhelming array of advantages? What could be said to shake our faith in these venerable and almost sacred metals, which were made use of by our father, Abraham, four thousand years ago, and which have passed as the "current money of the merchant" ever since? How could a commodity, which has served so long, so faithfully, and so well, as the money, if not the “dollar, of our fathers”—a commodity with which all the solvent debts of christendom have been, and are to be, paid; a commodity so universally admired, so earnestly desired, and so intensely prized; a commodity which onehalf the inhabitants of the globe religiously believe paves the very streets of heaven-be ruthlessly abandoned and "demonetized?” And yet the history of money teaches us that gold and silver are not, ex necessitate rei, mon ey. Wise men and eminent philosophers have gravely asserted that they are not the best money; that they are not money; that, having served the primitive purpose of their adoption, they must now give way to the more advanced and progressive methods of modern science, and the necessities of modern commerce; that, like the ancient religions, which kept us in due subjection during the transition period from childhood to manhood, and constituted the (6.) They are readily alloyed, or refined, and bridge over which we safely passed from semiby alloy are made harder. (7.) They are indestructible. Fire does not consume, nor atmospheric influence cause decomposition. barbarism to civilization, so gold and silver have served well the purpose of developing the commerce of the world; and that, as mankind has outgrown the dogmas and superstitions of the one, the commerce of the world has out (8.) They are universally appreciated, as beautiful and desirable in all countries, civil-grown the necessary limitations of the other; ized or savage. (9.) They are generally diffused, being found in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Australia. (10.) They are sufficiently plentiful; not more than two-thirds of the gold and silver now in the possession of mankind is believed to be used as money-the balance being in plate, jewels, ornaments, and other objects of utility. (11.) Gold loses by abrasion only 4.16 per cent. in one hundred years, or about I per cent. in twenty-five years. Investigations made at the United States Mint+ show that while wheat can not be kept more than two years, cotton four years, wool five years, lead ten years, and *The Science of Wealth. † See Report of United States Mint for 1862. that, notwithstanding Mr. Goldwin Smith's impending "Moral Interregnum," it is as impossible for the world to go back and adopt the faith of its ancestors, as it is for the immense and growing wealth of the globe to be measured by a commodity, so insignificant in quantity, so difficult of regulation, and yet so fluctuating in value, because so easily "cornered” by monopolists; that, like all human institutions, customs, and laws, they had their rise, and must have their fall; that money should not be a commodity at all—much less a commodity so difficult to obtain—but should be composed of material having no value, except that derived from the functions with which the government endows it; that money is not itself wealth, but should be a mere system of computing and exchanging wealth; that true and perfect money is, in the language of Bishop Berkeley, “noth piece of stamped paper could, by any mere legislative enactment, be transformed into a genuinely valuable dollar. He may be induced to take a practically irredeemable dollar, so long as the tacit understanding is that it will some time be redeemed; but he would be loth to admit that a paper dollar could be passed with the understanding in advance that it was to be absolutely irredeemable in any form, except for taxes. It may be true that the stamp on the gold, or silver, dollar is the principle element of its value, and yet he can not totally ignore the fact that the element of scarcity— the limit placed upon its quantity by nature has been found to be far more safe as a preventive against inflation, than the legislative wisdom and moderation of mankind. Thus it will be seen that there are two distinct and opposing systems or theories of money, the advocates of which may be divided into two classes, to wit: (1.) Those whose adhere to the primitive idea that all trade is, in some form, essentially barter, and that, hence, the adopted medium of exchange must have "intrinsic value" in order to constitute money. (2.) Those who believe that money is not a thing, but a mere ideal function, distinct from the thing which passes by that name. ing but a set of counters, or tickets," issued by | and yet he can not make up his mind that a the government, and composed of paper, or some material that has no value in itself; that these tickets, or counters, should pass by virtue of the seal and stamp of the government being placed upon them, declaring them to be legal tenders for the payment of all debts, and should be issued in accordance with the wants of trade; that, above all things, the quantity of money should be kept steady and unfluctuating, in order that all deferred payments may be made under as favorable circumstances as the debts were contracted the volume in circulation being no larger in one case than in the other; that, so far from gold and silver possessing all the essentials fitting them for use as money, as claimed by Professor Amasa Walker, the advantages are, in fact, overwhelmingly in favor of paper; that it costs but little labor to produce it, and, hence, all the labor now wasted in mining gold and silver can be more profitably employed in more useful pursuits, and that, as to stability, it is infinitely superior to gold and silver, because the government can constantly regulate the circulation, and supply any deficiencies caused by sudden loss or destruction, and also prevent all money panics; that as to the other advantages claimed by Professor Walker, they only apply to other metals, and not to paper, which is thus shown to be, in every sense, better fitted to perform all the functions of money than the precious metals-being clearly more portable and desirable in every sense; that it has, in effect, been tried and accepted in many cases, and is found to be successful, notwithstanding all that has been said to the contrary; that the greenbacks were, in reality, "fiat" money, being issued by the government, and made by law a legal tender, without any express promise of re-ities, was the first step toward the adoption of demption, and that the Bank of England could not redeem its notes if presented to-day; that the stamp of government makes our fifty-cent coins (one dollar of which contains only three hundred and ninety-nine grains of pure silver) | pass equally well with the legal tender dollar, which contains four hundred and twelve and one-half grains; and that the trade dollar, containing four hundred and twenty grains of pure silver, not being a legal tender, passes at ten per cent. discount. These are the claims and the theories of the advocates of "fiat" money. But are they not liable to the objection of proving too much? It is impossible for the ordinary, practical man to conceive of a pure, theoretical, irredeemable dollar. He may, and doubtless will, admit that the bullion value of silver and gold would receive a very severe shock, and probably experience a rapid decline in price, if these metals should be demonetized; (1.) The barter theory.—The advocates of gold and silver rest their case upon the historical fact that the use of money arose from trade, and that trade originally assumed the form of mere barter-i. e., exchanging one commodity for another; that the selection of one commodity as a representative, or substitute, to be used as a medium of exchange for all other commod money, and that such selected or "interposed" commodity was money; that the gradual, and at last almost universal, adoption of the precious metals as such "interposed" or trading commodity, as a common medium of exchange in place of skins, cattle, etc., is sufficient proof of the fact that they possessed, or were supposed to possess, "intrinsic value" equal to the commodities they supplanted; that custom and immemorial usage, which are higher and more potent than law, have sanctified, and still justify, their use as money, and that the well-being of society depends upon continuing, or, at least, not abolishing, the use of gold and silver as money; that, inasmuch as one of the chief objects of governments is the protection of property, and that by such protection civilization is advanced and perpetuated, the very existence of all our institutions depends upon continuing in use, and not interfering with, this generally ac cepted and most delicate instrument, by means of which all contracts and agreements are settled, and all property transferred by purchase and sale. of money, why should not a government note, secured by and "redeemable" in "all the property, wealth, and resources of the nation," be even better money? It is very forcibly argued, also, that the barter theory of money has one fatal objection, to wit: that when the commodity of which it is composed becomes scarce from any cause, the entire commerce and industry of the world become crippled, and thus money becomes the master, instead of the servant, of industry. There can be no doubt that it is just as essential that the commodity selected as money shall not be too scarce, as that it shall not be too plentiful. The evil in the one case is as great as in the other. And it is also true that the ratio between the value of money and other commodities should be approximately maintained. If other commodities have increased in value beyond all comparison with gold and silver, it would seem to be quite as important to abandon these metals, as it was to successively abandon skins, cattle, and slaves, for the history of money proves that money has always consisted of some common and easily obtained commodity. (2.) Ideal money. - The advocates of ideal, or "fiat," money claim that money is not a thing, but the mere attribute of a thing; that money is a function, a medium of exchange-that is, a mere something intermediate, that passes, not for its own sake, but for what it will bring, and is thus a means, not an end; that anything that possesses exchangeable value is money. Anything that will fully satisfy and pay a debt, purchase property, or procure services, is money. If a mere piece of paper-a bank-note-will do it, that is money; for the most important function of money is that it shall be received and accepted without qualification and in full satisfaction of debts. It will not do to say that a bank-note is a mere credit, redeemable in coin. It may be a credit as between the holder and the bank, but as between the holder and his debtor-the payer and payee-a bank-note is just as potent and effectual as money, as gold and silver coins. If the payer makes his individual promissory note to the payee, that does Thus, on one hand, we have a theory; on the not constitute payment, for all debts must be other hand, a fact. It has been happily repaid in money; but, if he pays his debt in bank- marked that "abstract ideas are of no use in bills, which are in reality the promissory notes going to market." The butcher and the baker of the bank, but receivable as money, the debt is are both hard-fisted and hard-headed fellows, fully satisfied and discharged. In other words, who have no taste for philosophy. They want the payer takes up his own promissory note, money, not theories. They have no time to diswhich does not pay his debt, and gives in return cuss political economy, and much less dispothe promissory notes of a bank, which does pay sition to experiment on the functions of money. his debt. Thus, it will be observed, the bank- And yet they would not hesitate to accept even note has every requisite, and possesses every "fiat" money, if they saw their neighbor taking function, of money. Nothing more could be it. From this fact we may infer (even at this desired from anything than that it shall fully stage of the discussion) that Professor Francis pay, satisfy, and discharge debts. Hence, it is A. Walker is right in his "handsome" parody, argued by the idealists, that, if a mere bank- "Money is that money does." note can be made to perform all the functions H. N. CLEMENT. WHY THEY LYNCHED HIM. Peterson's luck was, without doubt, the most contemptible luck that ever handicapped a human being in the race of life. An offspring of misfortune, he seemed to have been grappled by Fate, and, in a breast-to-breast struggle with his relentless antagonist, had a "fall" scored against him in every contest. In the language of Mart Keyes, Montezuma's most successful short card speculator, "it was safe to copper your stake against Roger Peterson's bets on every card; for, if you didn't win, you'd compel the bank to split your pile of checks;" which, being rendered into plain English, meant that whatever venture this man undertook another man might profit by, provided he pursued a course of action diametrically opposed to that of Peterson. He came to California with the first tide of immigration, and during the most prosperous periods of the early days, by dint of the hardest labor, succeeded only in trebling his burdens by earning sufficient to pay the passage of his wife and three children from St. Jo, Missouri, to the wretched little cabin on the slope of Table Mountain. The appearance and character of this woman clearly indicated to the observing denizens of the camp that the inception of Peterson's misfortunes was not of recent date. She possessed the countenance of a satyr, and a temper as quick and violent as that of a maniac. His children—two boys and a girl-were what are now termed "hoodlums;" robbing sluice boxes was their occupation, and stoning Chinamen their pastime. Had it not been for Peterson's constant and unrelenting ill luck, the condition of his domestic affairs might have been different; but, as it was, frightful scenes of conjugal strife were of almost hourly occurrence at the Peterson "shanty." Mrs. Peterson continually cursed her husband for dragging her into his life of misery, and, with a face flaming with insane rage, screamed her imprecations into his ear from morning until night, whenever her poor victim came within sound of her villainous tongue. A single word of remonstrance, or attempted excuse, on the part of her husband, was sufficient to subject him to an unmerciful beating, administered by strong arms, with the first weapon or missile that came to hand, the miserable wretch submitting as one thoroughly cowed and broken spirited. Nine men out of ten in his place would have drowned their sorrows in drink; but Peterson, with heroic fortitude, fought and struggled against his terrible destiny, alone, unaided, and unfriended, striving with the patience of an insect to retrieve his fortunes, if by any possibility of fate he had any to retrieve. He turned the river at Red Mountain Bar, at the first bend, below the richest placers in the county, and was rewarded for his labor and expense with a single ounce of gold dust, scraped from a broad crevice in the rocky bottom. "It was a bend in the river," he dolefully remarked; "as pretty a riffle as ever lay in the bottom of a sluice-box, and ought to a caught the tailings of everything that washed down, from Hawkins's Flat to Don Pedro's Bar. Any other man but me 'd cleaned up fifty thousand dollars in the same place. Blast the luck!" He tunneled for two years in the face of Table Mountain, and made barely enough to pay for his daily bread, leaving his work at last in utter despair, only to see another miner prosecute it a few feet beyond where he quit, and extract twenty thousand dollars from the blue gravel of the auriferous river-bed. He prospected for quartz, and discovered a lead, that, notwithstanding his most energetic He | efforts, failed to pay the price of crushing. lived to see an English Company purchase the property for three hundred thousand dollars, and, after erecting the most expensive works upon it, clear thousands of dollars per month from the superlatively rich rock. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to state that Peterson was not a gainer by this latter transaction, and could only listen, with a dazed, hopeless expression upon his careworn, hard-lined face, to the brilliant reports of the immense yield of his lead; his lead by right of discovery-the_fortune of others by right of relocation and purchase. During all these vicissitudes of fortune, the woman, who was rendering Peterson's apology for a home a veritable hell on earth, ably sustained the entire family by laboring sixteen hours out of the twenty-four, over the wash-tub; for, notwithstanding the ungovernable disposition of this woman, she never shirked her share of the responsibilities attendant upon providing food and clothing for herself, her husband, and her worthless offspring. But cruel fortune would not even allow them this miserable respite. The Frazer River excitement burst like a thunder-clap over their heads, and depopulated the county. Miners, merchants, and prospectors shouldered their tools and joined the rush-the camp had "petered;" even the wash-tub could no longer keep the grim monster, starvation, from the cabin door. One day, when the clothes-lines in the rear of the Peterson cabin were flaunting scarcely three dozen "pieces" to the autumn breezethe result of four days' washing-Peterson staggered through the door, and fell heavily upon a stool beside the dirt-begrimed table, his head dropping upon his breast, and a deep groan of despair welling up from his surcharged bosom. His stalwart wife was upon him in an instant, her arms akimbo, and a sneer upon her lips. "Well, what's gone wrong now?" she exclaimed with vindictive asperity. A groan was the only reply she received. "Can't ye answer? What's the matter with ye? Hev ye taken to drink? Ain't it enough that I've got to slave my life out from mornin' till night, scrapin' an' scrimpin', to feed yer wuthless ol' carcase? Air ye drunk, ye onbidable wretch?" Peterson only moaned, and folding his arms upon the table, rested his head upon them, the picture of abject despair. The woman, exasperated beyond her feeble control, dragged the table away from him, and, catching him by the shoulder, threw him to the centre of the room. "Answer me," she shrieked. "Answer me, or I'll brain ye. What's yer dev'lish shif'lessness brought us to now?" |