Page:Money by Lang, George S.djvu/8

 will be a failure. It is obviously absurd to suppose industry can be increased by decrease of rate. Increase, while in progress, acts as a stimulus, and thus appears to be successful for a time; but the mere prospect of decrease reduces industry proportionately, and at once. Moreover, with whatever change of rate, there comes a corresponding change of prices, so that expenses bear the same relation to income as before. Yet, as the value of the dollar is inversely as its rate, so is the value of debts, because debts consist of dollars. Accordingly, to increase rate is to diminish indebtedness, and to diminish rate is to increase indebtedness; so that change of rate, whether by increase or decrease, is equivalent to repudiation.

With money of gold and of credit, changes of rate, being familiar, acquire a natural and proper appearance, and are therefore generally accepted as proper; and, from the facility with which changes of the rate of credit money may be made, this species of currency is advocated because of its elasticity, a quality greatly admired by financiers (?). Nevertheless there is evidence of a tendency towards a single rate, which, for want of a better term, is called the gold rate—as though gold or money of gold is or has a rate—as though money of credit has a rate at which alone it is equivalent to gold—an attempt at a definition, which, however unsuccessful, is evidence of the tendency. Thus it seems to be felt, if not understood, that the rate of the dollar does not affect the rate of the supply of commodities—that when commodities are abundant they will be proportionately cheap, however high prices may be, and when they are scarce they will be proportionately dear, however low prices may be. It seems to be felt that it is not rate hut change of rate that deranges business relations, and thus injures industry; and this consciousness, however ill-defined, by its tendency towards constancy of rate, will ultimetely lead to the truth in regard to money. The truth is, that value exists only in persons—that therefore the unit of population is the unit of value—that this unit may be represented, and that its representative is the money unit.

The truth of money is based in nature, consequently it exerts more or less influence, whether distinctly recognized or not. To its influence may be attributed the question, What is the proper