Collected Political Writings of James Otis. Otis James

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      being a tender at a fixed rate, any more than by dollars being a tender; when a man tenders me a dollar for 6s. it must be one that in weight and fineness is as 6s. to 6s 8d. or I am not obliged to take it any more than a counterfeit, and for so much as it wants of standard it is as bad as counterfeit, except here the two pence an ounce allowed for coinage and to encourage their importation, which has made no difficulty, nor will. The same reasoning will hold as to a Johannes, or any other gold coin compared to the sterling standard of gold, tho’ by the way they now stand in the true proportion, if the gold is as good, which has hitherto been supposed. In one word, what inconvenience can possibly happen here, from having standard gold as well as silver? which, as I have said, I think we have already, tho’ it has been much disputed of late, and is a matter of such importance, that it ought soon to be rendered indisputable one way or the other. I have asked the above question often but never had any satisfactory answer. At present I will suppose all his Honor’s calculations to be right, tho’ I hear he is convinced that some few of them are wrong, and others may hereafter prove to be so. In the mean time, if this position of his Honor’s be true, that “whatever is the proportion between gold and silver bullion in England, the same must be kept in the colonies,” what becomes of the invariable perpetual standard? I now promise to pay to any man that can fairly reconcile to my mind, a perpetual invariable standard, with a perpetual varying price of silver and gold bullion in England, a praemium equal to any that has been appropriated for the discovery of a perpetual motion, the squaring of the circle, or the invention of longitude. As to the singular reason subjoined to this position, which seems to imply that, most of our gold and silver must go; I answer, if that is inevitably necessary, all our puzzle, about altering denominations, will be of no more avail, than a boy playing crickets to day and marbles to morrow.

      What mighty matter is it which goes first, gold or silver, if both must go, and we are to be reduced to an absolute state of poverty (which truly is threatned from more quarters than one) and made as hungry as hounds before our bellies or our pockets can be well filled again. But of this newly discovered way of growing rich, more hereafter.

      As to the hint which seems to be given to the parliament, the only inference I make from the facts it is grounded upon, is that, they further manifest the impracticability of a perpetual invariable standard, which yet requires that “the same proportions should be kept here between the several species of it, as between gold and silver bullion in England.”

      The question returns again, “What is to be done to prevent any [myschevious?] effects?” It was proposed in the house, that in our present circumstances, we had best as a province, contract for the future in gold, and make it

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      more explicitly a tender. To this it was and is again objected that “it is contrary to the principle the government prosessed in 1749 and will be a violation of the public faith.” It may be answered, there is nothing in the act of 1749 that restrains the province, or a private man, from making a new bargain; if both parties concerned agree no body is hurt. It was the universal sense of the house not to break in upon any former special contract for dollars or any thing else, so far from it, that it was agreed to send gold to Spain to purchase dollars, if the creditors were so exact as to insist upon it. As to the distinction between public and private debts, I never heard any one contend that there ought to be any difference between them as to the punctuality of payment, or in any other respect. It was contended, and is yet, and it is to be hoped will be, that if a private man has a right to make a new bargain, so has the public. And if the province has not this right, it seems to me, to be under as strict a guardianship, as the poor-indians; so all the surprise about a wimsical conscience might have been omitted. We are informed “that there is no more difference between the promise of silver at 6s 8d. per ounce, and a promise for lawful money as the law now stands, than between a promise for a crown, and a promise for 5s.” This no one ever doubted, as I know of, tho’ there is reason to think, a certain gentleman imagined the whole house of representatives ignorant of this wonderful discovery; or he would hardly have proposed an amendment of a money bill, and the inserting of lawful money instead of gold. This with actually sending down a money bill, with such an amendment, and the manner of the proposal, &c. was as great an insult, as ever in the plenitude and zenith of power was offered to a house.

      China is the only country in the world where gold is not money, or a tender.

      That guineas can’t be refused as a tender in England at 21s, is in my opinion as clear law, as that George the Third is rightful King of Great Britain. Some have admitted that gold is a tender in law, but say it is so only at the market price. A new kind of tender this. A man at Sheffield must gallop to Boston to learn from the course of exchange, the market price of gold, and by the time he gets home, it may be altered, and so besides seeing a lawyer, and his trouble, he has a bill of cost to pay his litigious creditor.

      His Honor proposes to reduce the Johannes only to 46s, tho’ according to some critical and accidental events and advices, they are really worth but 43s. 3d. Now it must be owned that this looks plausible: if they are really worth but 43s. 3d. and the creditor will take them at 46s. it is splitting the difference, as we say, in a country arbitration, and I think, the debtor, and the province which is the greatest debtor, ought to be very thankful if this will satisfy their creditors and acknowledge that their said creditors have very

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      good tender, not to say whimsical consciences, that they will take but half their due, and set down content with 20000 Lawful money, when they might demand 40000.—

      As to few debtors having any money by them, it seems most probable that 9/10 of the money, in every country, is in the hands of debtors, or which is the same thing, traders and others, who will loose by its fall.

      Our silver and gold; as now regulated, are exactly agreeable to the sterling standard of both, as may be seen by any one who will be at the pains to calculate them.

      As 60d sterling, an ounce of silver, is to 80d lawful money, so is 21s the guinea to 28s lawful money, precisely; and as 129gr. the weight of a guinea, is to 336d lawful money so is 221gr. the weight of a johannes (or more properly the ½ johannes) to 576d, or 48s lawful money, as it now stands; and so of all the rest, bating the 2d an ounce between dollars at 6s and silver at 6s 8d per ounce, which has been accounted for; and some frivolous fractions may perhaps rise from the different alloy of some of the pieces, but they are too insignificant to deserve the notice of the legislature.

      The proportion of sterling standard silver to gold is as 1 to 15 1/5, which is what has been conformed to by the provincial laws. It must be owned Mr. Locke is against gold’s being made money or a tender, at any rate; and his reason is almost literally the same with his Honor’s. See pag. 78 vol. 3d. And this opinion has been embraced by other writers of an inferior class. Now I think it very fortunate for me, that Sir Isaac Newton the only single name that I should have dared to mention against Mr. Locke, is of a different opinion; and upon his representation in 1717 above twenty years after Mr. Locke had published his treatise, the guinea was set at 21s. and has so stood ever since; add to this the concurrent practice of all nations and ages in making money of gold as well as silver. I have not room to insert the reasons that have been given against Mr. Locke’s opinion in this particular. It is enough that it has been over ruled by the wisdom of the nation. Mr. Locke tho’ one of the princes of the philosophers was not infallible. It is by this time I hope evident that his Honor’s calculations are founded not upon the sterling standard, but the varying price of bullion, a commodity which can no more make a standard than the price of broad cloth. It might also be demonstrated, that even upon his Honor’s Hypothesis his calculations are wrong, but this every СКАЧАТЬ