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which had no mines, only by the balance of trade,' or by exporting to a greater value than it imported, it necessarily became the great object of Political Economy to diminish as much as possible

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was the synonyme of the modern word "honor." Neither term raised or involved moral distinctions. Usury was detested by the Romans, chiefly from the cruelties to which debtors were exposed. It was, perhaps, from such a sentiment that Cato made his famous reply, when asked what he thought of the practice of usury. No sooner, however, had the Empire been converted to Christianity than its sinfulness came to be an established dogma. As the Hebrews were considered as constituting one family, between the members of which usury was not to be tolerated, so the early Christians regarded themselves in the same light, and applied to themselves the same rule; and the Church, so soon as it acquired sufficient power to speak authoritatively, declared it to be a crime punishable by the severest penalties. Upon the revival of learning, the teachings of Aristotle came in to reënforce most powerfully the Mosaic injunction; and, as for ages the Church was the paramount power, its teachings were accepted with blind and unreasoning submission.

It may seem remarkable that a principle or practice from which the Church, or the religious organizations at the present day, derive so vast an advantage, and upon which are acknowledged to rest the moral as well as the material welfare of society, should at the outset have encountered from them such bitter hostility. The wonder ceases when the condition of the race at the time of its conversion to Christianity, and the nature of the religious instinct, is considered. It was inevitable that the early Christians should regard themselves as one family, and apply to their condition the Mosaic rule. With such sentiments, the teachings of Aristotle would be eagerly accepted. The unlawfulness of usury having become a dogma, it was established for all time: for a dogma that is proper for one age must be proper for all ages. It was res judicata. To again raise the question, would have been to impugn the authority of the Church, - a presumption upon no account to be tolerated. While the Church denounced usury as a deadly sin, and thundered its anathemas against all offenders, for the discovery of whose crimes torture might be used, to whom the rites of religion were refused in their lifetime, and who were condemned to eternal punishment after death, the natural instinct of man still asserted itself. None but Churchmen or Schoolmen felt it to be a sin to receive compensation for the loan of that from which by its use they might derive an income; nor could a borrower see any reason why he should not pay a part of the advantage which a loan secured to him. If other articles of property, which might be returned, were chargeable for their use, it was naturally asked why a charge might not be

1 Smith has the folly to assume that Political Economy existed as a science as early as the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries! There was no more notion of it at the time he supposed, than there was of the laws of gravity. No higher or broader sentiment was involved in the efforts of a nation, three hundred years ago, to bring in and retain the precious metals within it, than that now felt by a miser to get and hoard all he can. Both act in obedience to a common instinct to accumulate the greatest possible amount of the highest form of property. The whole system about which Smith makes so much ado, and the idea that mediæval legislation in reference to the precious metals proceeded from, or represented any thing like, a deliberate study or investigation of the laws of money, or of Political Economy, are sheer absurdities.

the importations of foreign goods for home consumption, and to increase, as much as possible, the exportation of the produce of domestic industry. Its two great engines, therefore, for enriching

made for the use of money? It was replied, that when a horse, for example, was borrowed and returned, the use of the horse was an advantage distinct from the horse; and for such an advantage a charge might properly be made. But, when money was borrowed and used, the thing itself was consumed. It was no longer in the hands of the borrower, nor had it any value distinct from its use. When, therefore, the borrower returned a sum equal to the loan, he had done all that was required of him. To make him pay for the use of the money borrowed, was to make him pay for that which, as far as he was concerned, did not exist; that is, to make him pay something which he did not receive, or to make him pay twice for the same thing. Such arguments, however conclusive with the Churchmen, were not so readily appreciated by the people. The authority of the former, however, was sufficient to confine the loaning of money to the Jews; to whom, as beyond the pale of the Church, its reasoning did not apply. In this way this class was vested, as it were, with the monopoly of money-lending, and became the money-changers and bankers of the world. Nothing can be more striking than their continuance and success in a calling which subjected them not only to the denunciations of the Church, and to the contempt and hatred of all Christians, but to the rapacity and lawlessness of the feudal tyrants of the countries in which they sojourned. They were outside the protection of the law; and it was a virtue, rather than a crime, to rob and persecute them. Yet they still continued to acquire and hold the greater part of the money of the world. About the close of the eleventh century, however, upon the revival of commerce in the free cities of Italy, their inhabitants became so far emancipated from the teachings and rules of the Church that usury was not only tolerated, but held to be an honorable calling. Its practice was one of the causes of the marvellous progress of those cities. Florence became what London is at the present time, the monetary centre of the world. Their commercial spirit spread itself over the rest of Europe; and Italian bankers, known as the Lombards, soon became the rivals of the Jews, and were seated in every great mart of trade. It was from them that Lombard Street, in which they were chiefly collected in London, took its name. As they were Christians, and consequently tolerated, they soon eclipsed the Jews in their peculiar calling. The Church, however, did not change its attitude, nor was there any considerable amelioration in England of the laws against usury until 1546, in which its lawfulness was especially recognized by an act of Parliament. It was not till the Reformation, which emancipated the mind from the dogmas of the Church, that the subject of usury came to be treated in a manner which could lead to its proper solution. It could then be discussed upon its own merits. A large number of the leading reformers proclaimed its lawfulness; although to establish the rate to be charged was still considered to be, as it is to-day in many countries, a proper/ function of government. Even in the State of New York, the taking of more than seven per cent is punished by very severe penalties.

No proposition seems better established at the present time than that the charge for the use of money should, like that for all other kinds of property, be regulated by the demand; that the price of a horse, in the form of money, should be just as valuable to the holder as the horse. That so simple a truth should require ages to gain admittance into the mind or conviction of mankind must be almost wholly due to its teachers, and, in modern times, to Churchmen and Schoolmen. These classes have been the most formidable obstacles to the progress of society.

the country were restraints upon importation, and the encouragement of exportation.

"1st. The restraints upon importation of such foreign goods for home consumption as could be produced at home, from whatever country they could be imported.

"2d. Restraints upon the importation of goods of almost all kinds, from those particular countries with which the balance of trade was supposed to be disadvantageous.

"Exportations were encouraged, sometimes by drawbacks, sometimes by bounties, sometimes by advantageous treaties of commerce, and sometimes by the establishment of colonies in distant countries. . . .

"The two sorts of restraints upon importations above mentioned, together with these four encouragements to exportation, constitute the six principal means by which the commercial system proposes to increase the quantity of gold and silver in any country, by turning the balance of trade' in its favor."1

Smith has properly stated the theory upon which the socalled Mercantile System was based, that the precious metals can be brought into a country not producing them, only by exporting a greater value of merchandise than is imported, the balance being payable in coin. Hence the attempts by legislation to increase such balance. He opposed it on two grounds: first, the inadequacy of the object; secondly, the inadequacy of the means to the object. The means were absurd, for the reason that the ends were equally so; for why should the least valuable articles of commerce be the great object of commerce?

"That wealth," to give his own words, "consists in money, or in gold and silver, is a popular notion which naturally arises from the double function of money, as the instrument of commerce and as

Man has risen in the scale just in ratio as their power and influence have declined. As there is no motive so strong as that which leads to the acquisition of property, so no motive or incitement, on the whole, can be more beneficent in its results. Capital is always a great moral agency in society. Some one always stands ready to take every dollar that is produced, in the hope that by uniting it with his own labor he can greatly benefit his condition, and still return a fair compensation for its use. But for such capital, he might be compelled to remain in indolence, a prey to all its evils. As he acquires strength, he accumulates for the purpose of lending to others. Every dollar he gains becomes a co-worker with him. His labor not only raises him above want, but is the condition of his highest moral training, and, by the capital it acquires, is the foundation of those institutions which in the highest degree alleviate the sufferings, and promote the advancement and welfare, of the race.

1 Wealth of Nations, Book ii. Chap. i.

the importations of foreign goods for home consumption, and to increase, as much as possible, the exportation of the produce of domestic industry. Its two great engines, therefore, for enriching

made for the use of money? It was replied, that when a horse, for example, was borrowed and returned, the use of the horse was an advantage distinct from the horse; and for such an advantage a charge might properly be made. But, when money was borrowed and used, the thing itself was consumed. It was no longer in the hands of the borrower, nor had it any value distinct from its use. When, therefore, the borrower returned a sum equal to the loan, he had done all that was required of him. To make him pay for the use of the money borrowed, was to make him pay for that which, as far as he was concerned, did not exist; that is, to make him pay something which he did not receive, or to make him pay twice for the same thing. Such arguments, however conclusive with the Churchmen, were not so readily appreciated by the people. The authority of the former, however, was sufficient to confine the loaning of money to the Jews; to whom, as beyond the pale of the Church, its reasoning did not apply. In this way this class was vested, as it were, with the monopoly of money-lending, and became the money-changers and bankers of the world. Nothing can be more striking than their continuance and success in a calling which subjected them not only to the denunciations of the Church, and to the contempt and hatred of all Christians, but to the rapacity and lawlessness of the feudal tyrants of the countries in which they sojourned. They were outside the protection of the law; and it was a virtue, rather than a crime, to rob and persecute them. Yet they still continued to acquire and hold the greater part of the money of the world. About the close of the eleventh century, however, upon the revival of commerce in the free cities of Italy, their inhabitants became so far emancipated from the teachings and rules of the Church that usury was not only tolerated, but held to be an honorable calling. Its practice was one of the causes of the marvellous progress of those cities. Florence became what London is at the present time, the monetary centre of the world. Their commercial spirit spread itself over the rest of Europe; and Italian bankers, known as the Lombards, soon became the rivals of the Jews, and were seated in every great mart of trade. It was from them that Lombard Street, in which they were chiefly collected in London, took its name. As they were Christians, and consequently tolerated, they soon eclipsed the Jews in their peculiar calling. The Church, however, did not change its attitude, nor was there any considerable amelioration in England of the laws against usury until 1546, in which its lawfulness was especially recognized by an act of Parliament. It was not till the Reformation, which emancipated the mind from the dogmas of the Church, that the subject o* usury came to be treated in a manner which could lead to its proper solution It could then be discussed upon its own merits. A large number of the leading reformers proclaimed its lawfulness; although to establish the rate to be charge was still considered to be, as it is to-day in many countries, a proper function government. Even in the State of New York, the taking of more than seve per cent is punished by very severe penalties.

No proposition seems better established at the present time than that the char for the use of money should, like that for all other kinds of property, be regula by the demand; that the price of a horse, in the form of money, should be j as valuable to the holder as the horse. That so simple a truth should req ages to gain admittance into the mind or conviction of mankind must be al wholly due to its teachers, and, in modern times, to Churchmen and School These classes have been the most formidable obstacles to the progress of soc

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