Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 49.djvu/221

Rh its result, should be rewarded by that which, under the law of supply and demand, will assure the possession of the result of other human effort of a certain quantity and quality in an acceptable form. Human effort should be measured by human effort, not by any one commodity, however precious, the supply of which is inconstant; human effort should be rewarded by human effort, not by any one commodity, however precious, the value of which is unstable. The attainment of this end is the final step of that evolution which began with barter, and through the use of coin and paper representatives of coin we are taking that step so gradually that we notice not its meaning.

Obviously it must not be that the assurance of reward bo based upon the result of human effort, as evidenced solely by any one commodity. Cloth, corn, leather, each varies in quantity from year to year, and the supply is not always in the same ratio to the demand—that is, neither one of these commodities is of a definite value that is permanent. This same objection applies, but in greater degree, to both gold and silver. The assurance of the reward of human effort must not be based solely upon the result of human effort as embodied in houses, mills, factories, railways, canals, ships, machinery, for these structures are not indestructible. Even those that endure for centuries may fluctuate in value as they increase or decrease in their capacity for service to society, because of change in the currents of the law of supply and demand, or as they are honestly and capably or dishonestly and incapably managed. As it is for the results of human effort in all their varied forms that the aggregate of human effort is put forth, its reward should be the assurance of a given measure of effort as embodied in desired results.

A paper currency, therefore, should be based directly upon the assurance of the result of human effort to make its value good unqualifiedly and unconditionally; and that it may attain the utmost confidence, such assurance must be universally known to be sufficient and reliable. This can only be when a group of people, the members of which, perceiving a secure currency to be vital to their prosperity, combine in giving that assurance. Such a group of people cohering by the force of common need, constituting a state or nation, can give assurance of their combined effort through enactment of their administrative body known as the government. The instrument whereby that enactment can be made good is the power of taxation, which is the power of the government to take from its people a portion of their effort for the attainment of ends necessary to their common good. The acceptance of such a currency among a people will depend in natural course upon the degree of their coherence as evidenced by their confidence in the honesty and ability of their own