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 being different from that of the 16th century. The more backward districts were the principal gainers, and a more general equalization of prices combined with a slight elevation in value was the outcome. (3) The increased supply of gold rendered a general currency reform possible, and made the use of a gold monometallic standard appear feasible. The movements for currency reform, as will be seen, all arose after these discoveries. (4) The change in the value of money, which may for the period 1849–1869 be fixed at 20%, enabled a general increase of wages to be carried out, thus improving the condition of the classes living on manual labour. It may be added that the difficulty of tracing the effects of this great addition to the money stock is a most striking proof of the complexity of modern economic development. (5) The last point to be noticed is the very small influence exercised on the value of silver by the new gold. The gold price of silver in London rose only from 59 d. per oz. to 62 d. per oz.—i.e. between 4 and 5%. Hardly had the gold discoveries of 1848–1851 ceased to produce a decided effect when new silver mines of unusual fertility came into working. During the period immediately succeeding the gold discoveries the production of silver remained at an annual amount of from £8,000,000 to £9,000,000. This amount suddenly, about 1870, increased to £15,000,000, and remained at that amount for the next five years. More than half of the supply came from new mines opened in Nevada. This increased supply was accompanied by a marked depreciation in the gold price of silver, though the prices of commodities in countries having a silver standard did not rise. The disturbances resulting from the combined effect of the new silver and the diminution in the annual output of gold which began about 1870 and continued for nearly twenty years were the cause of much controversy and led to the propounding of novel monetary theories. Bimetallism came into prominence; and the modes of relieving trade depression caused by the fall in prices were keenly discussed. Before any monetary adjustment took place the situation again changed in consequence of a renewal of the Australian gold production, soon followed by the great gold discoveries in South Africa. The annual output of gold, which had fallen below £20,000,000, in 1884 rose rapidly to £60,000,000, and in 1908 reached the prodigious figure of over £80,000,000, with the prospect of still larger yields in the near future. By this change the difficulties that had led to the agitations for “free silver” in the United States, and for “international bimetallism” in Europe and in India were removed, showing the close connexion between the production of the precious metals and the economic, especially the monetary, policy of all periods.

8. Review of the History of Some Important Currencies.—Monetary theory requires to be elucidated by the constant reference to history; just as in turn the history of currency has to be interpreted by the aid of general principles. Each country has its peculiar problems, which call for special treatment; though at the same time there is no way of avoiding the operation of those economic conditions and forces that are to be found in all countries. The first decisive fact that emerges from the vast material presented by the history of money is the tendency at most periods towards deterioration. In the time of purely metallic currency debasement is the most serious danger; when representative money has come into being extravagant issues of paper are chosen as the readiest way of evading the limits of a sound currency. It is perhaps too extreme to say that monetary history is altogether made up of accounts of debasements and over-issues. The truth is better expressed in the proposition that there has been a constant struggle between the influences that make for deterioration and those that give support to the maintenance of a good currency condition. There is also the cheering circumstance that in spite of much popular ignorance there has on the whole been a steady improvement in the treatment of monetary systems. Expert knowledge has more effect in the later than in the earlier periods. The crude expedients of the Tudors would not be tolerated in modern England. There is much fuller recognition of the danger of over-issue in paper money; and this is accompanied by greater care in the treatment of credit institutions in their relation to the modern media of circulation. It is also noteworthy that mere popular agitation has lost a great deal of its power, as shown in the failure of both the “soft money” and the “free silver” movements in the United States. On the other hand the tendency to accept scientific methods is illustrated in the treatment of the Indian currency question.

Greek Currencies.—As already noticed the political conditions of Greek life supplied a varied field for monetary experiments. Unfortunately the details are very incompletely known, and the subject of Hellenic money has not been sufficiently studied from the economic side. Certain broad facts are prominent. The Athenian use of silver as the standard substance, coupled with the later employment of gold to serve for an extra or commercial currency, is a characteristic feature. The alteration of the standard by Solon appears in the light of an exceptional revolutionary expedient. It amounted to the creation of a new standard unit—the Attic—which was imitated by other states, e.g. Corinth. Only one doubtful instance of debasement can be found in the subsequent history of Athens. This honesty in respect to the monetary standard seems on the whole to have prevailed in the Greek states. Some despots, as Dionysius, issued adulterated coins, but these were isolated cases. The use of gold and silver in an amalgam, known as electrum, was an admissible device; it, however, had the evil effect of suggesting the use of poorer alloys.

Roman Money.—The history of money in Rome is rather different. Beginning with copper, the currency was changed into a double standard one by the introduction of silver (269 ). Gold came in for commercial use with the extension of the Roman dominions, and copper was reduced to a token coinage. In the stress of the Punic Wars debasement was one of the financial devices of the magistrates. The conquest of the Greek territories brought about the regulation 