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BULLETIN OF THE 



anteed, might be liable to suffer by the debasement. The neces- 

 sity for a national coinage was apparent, but the difficulties in 

 the way of establishing it and making it practical were very con- 

 siderable, and required the greatest wisdom and care in the 

 framing. The leading statesmen and financiers of that day fully 

 appreciated them, and displayed great wisdom in dealing with 

 them. A careful perusal of the State papers of Robert Morris, 

 Jefferson, and Hamilton will show that, so far as the general 

 principles of monetary science are concerned, their knowledge 

 would compare favorably with that of the ablest financiers of the 

 present. In truth, they adopted, as fundamental principles, pre- 

 cisel}'" the same generalizations and formal laws as those which 

 are now accepted by standard writers and eminent statesmen, 

 who mould the opinions and direct the monetary policy of Europe 

 and America. 



The three eminent men just mentioned were at different times 

 called upon officially to propound a monetary policy, and all 

 expressed similar views in relation to coinage. The principles 

 which they laid down may be summarized substantially as fol- 

 lows : — 



1. Gold and silver are the most suitable of all known sub- 

 stances for use as money. 



2. In selecting a unit of money it was important to choose one 

 which was well known to the people, and assimilated as nearly 

 as possible to one common unit in general use throughout the 

 entire countr}'". 



3. Gold is most suitable for large money transactions, and sil- 

 ver for the commoner and smaller transactions. 



4. Whether both metals could be used with unlimited legal 

 tender power, would depend upon certain conditions which could 

 be determined only by actual experiment. It was recognized 

 that both metals had their market values, which could not be 

 controlled or modified by legislation ; that an ounce of gold was 

 worth between 14|- to 15|- times as much as an ounce of silver; 

 though the exact ratio, even if it existed, could not be ascertained. 



5. If it were desirable to attempt to maintain a coinage of two 

 metals with unlimited legal tender power for both, and with the 

 same denominations, it would be necessary that the gold unit 

 should have precisely the same value as the silver unit; for, if 

 the value of the one were less than that of the other, then the 

 less valuable one would alone be coined and would monopolize 

 the circulation. 



6. But even if the coinage Avere so regulated that the gold and 

 silver units should for the time being have equal values, this 

 equality is liable to disappear in consequence of changes in the 

 relative market values of the two metals ; and whenever such a 

 change occurs the depreciated metal would alone circulate. 



V. The most desirable characteristic of silver and gold "our 

 fathers" believed to be the steadiness of their values. They were 



