RESUMPTION OF SPKCIE PAYMENTS. 443 



units of property and services have over units of money, 

 and their expectations of meeting their contracts when 

 they mature, rest upon their confidence in a steady con- 

 tinuance of that command and upon their knowledge that 

 the services of property which they control will, at that 

 rating, be sufficient. But such contracts can only be satis- 

 fied legally by the delivery of the specified number of the 

 units of money. 



14 If in the meantime, population, commodities, and 

 commerce should increase, and the stock of money should 

 not increase in a corresponding ratio, or, if commerce and 

 population remain stationary, and a large portion of the 

 money in existence when the contract was made were 

 struck down by legislation, the equilibrium between 

 money and other things would be disturbed. The money 

 unit would rise in value and prices would fall. The 

 debtor would find that it required more labor and more 

 property to . meet the terms than it would to meet the 

 equity of his contract. But the terms, not the equity, 

 must be met, and the debtor must submit to the partial or 

 entire confiscation of his property." 



It would be hard indeed to state the case plainer than 

 is done in the above extract from the report of the Silver 

 Commission. From the facts therein set forth we may 

 deduct the following conclusions: 



i st. That the value of money is regulated by the 

 limitation of its quantity and not by the cost of its 

 production. 



2nd. The quantity is regulated, either by law, fixing 

 its volume, or by nature, governing the production of the 

 material of which it is made. 



3rd. The wisdom of man can fix the volume and 

 regulate the value of paper money; but the quantity of 

 gold and silver money depends solely on the ever varying 

 and uncertain obstacles which nature opposes to the pro- 



