洛克 提高货币价值的进一步理解

Further Considerations Concerning Raising the Value of Money Wherein Mr. Lowndes's Arguments for it in his late Report concerning An Essay for the Amendment of Silver Coins, are particularly Examined. by John Locke To the Right Honorable Sir John Sommers, Kt. Lord Keeper of the great Seal of England, and one of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council. MY LORD, THE Papers I here present your Lordship, are in Substance the same with one which I delivered to you, in Obedience to the Commands I received by your Lordship, from their Excellencies, the Lords Justices; and with another, which I writ in Answer to some questions your Lordship was pleased to propose to me concerning our Coin. The Approbation your Lordship was pleased to give them then, has been an Encouragement to me, to revise them now, and put them in an Order. fitter to comply with their Desires, who will needs have me print something at this time, on this Subject: And could any thing of this Nature be received with Indifferency in this Age; the Allowance they have had from your Lordship, whose great and clear Judgment is, with general Consent and Applause, acknowledged to be the just Measure of Right and Wrong amongst us, might make me hope that they might pass in the World without any great Dislike. However, since your Lordship thought they might be ofuse to clear some Difficulties, and rectifie some wrong Notions that are taken up about Money, I have ventured them into the World, desiring no Mercy to any erroneous Positions or wrong Reasonings, which shall be found in them. I shall never knowingly be of any, but Truths and my Country's side; the former I shall always gladly imbrace and own, whoever shews it me: And in these Papers, I am sure, I have no other Aim, but to do what little I can, for the Service of my Country. Your Lordship's so evidently preferring that to all other Considerations, does in the Eyes of all Men, sit so well upon you, that my Ambition will not be blamed; if I in this, propose to my self so great an Example; and in my little sphere am moved by the same Principle. I have a long time foreseen the Mischief and Ruine coming upon us by clipp'd Money, if it were not timely stopp'd: And had Concern enough for the Publick, to make me print some Thoughts touching our Coin some Years since. The Principles I there went on, I see no reason to alter: They have, if I mistake not, their Foundation in Nature, and will stand: They have their Foundation in Nature, and are clear; and will be so, in all the Train of their Consequences throughout this whole (as it is thought) mysterious Business of Money, to all those, who will but be at the easie Trouble of stripping this Subject of hard, obscure and doubtful Words, wherewith Men are often misled and mislead others. And now the Disorder is come to Extremity, and can no longer be plaid with, I wish it may find a suddain and effectual Cure; not a Remedy in Sound and Appearance, which may flatter us on to Ruine in the Continuation of a growing Mischief, that calls for present Help. I wish too, that the Remedy may be as easie as possible; and that the Cure of this Evil be not ordered so as to lay a great Part of the Burden unequally on those, who have had no particular Hand in it. Westminster-Hall is so great a Witness of your Lordship's unbiassed Justice, and steady Care to preserve to every one their Right; that the World will not wonder you should not be for such a lessening our Coin, as will, without any Reason, deprive great Numbers of blameless Men of a Fifth Part of their Estates, beyond the Relief of Chancery. I hope this Age will scape so great a Blemish. I doubt not but there are many, who, for the Service of their Countrey, and for the Support of the Government, would gladly part with, not only one Fifth, but a much larger Portion of their Estates. But when it shall be taken from them, only to be bestowed on Men in their, and the common Opinion, no better deserving of their Countrey than themselves; (unless growing exceedingly rich by the publick Necessities, whilst every body else finds his Fortune streightned by them, be a publick Merit, that deserves a publick and signal Reward;) This Loss, of one Fifth of their Debts and Income, will sit heavy on them, who shallfeel it without the Alleviation of any Profit or Credit, that will thereby accrue to the Nation, by such a lessening of our Coin. If any one ask, how I, a retired private Man, come at this time to meddle with Money and Trade: For they are inseparable; I reply, that your Lordship, and the other great Men that put me upon it, are answerable for it: Whether what I say be to the purpose or no, that I my self am answerable for. This I can answer to all the World, that I have not said any thing here, without a full Perswasion of its Truth; nor with any other Motive or Purpose than the clearing of this artificially perplexed, rather than in it self mysterious Subject, as far as my poor Talent reaches. That which perhaps I shall not be so well able to answer, to your Lordship and my self, is the Liberty I have taken, in such an Address as this, to profess that I am, My LORD, Your Lordships most humble and most Obedient Servant JOHN LOCKE. THE PREFACE. THOUGH Mr. Lowndes and I differ in the Way, yet I assure myself, our End is the same; and that we both propose to our selves the Service of our Country. He is a man known so able in the post he is in; to which the business ofmoney peculiarly belongs: And has shewed himself so learned in the Records, and matters of the mint; and so exact in Calculations and Combinations of Numbers relating to our Coin, either already in use, or designed by him, that I think I should have troubled the Publick no more on this Subject, had not he himself engaged me in it; and brought it to that pass, that either I must be thought to renounce my own Opinion, or must publickly oppose his. Whilst his Treatise was yet a manuscript, and before it was laid before those great Persons, to whom it was afterwards submitted, he did me the Favour to shew it to me; and made me the Compliment, to ask me my Opinion of it. Though we had some short Discourse on the Subject, yet the multiplicity of his business, whilst I staid in Town; and my Health, which soon afterforced me out of it, allowed us not an occasion to debate any one point throughly, and bring it to an issue. Before I returned to Town, his Book was in the Press; and finished before I had the opportunity to see Mr. Lowndes again. And here he laid a new Obligation on me, not only in giving me one of them; but telling me, when I received it from his Hands, that it was the first he had parted with to any Body. I then went it over a second time, and having more leisure to consider it, I found there were a great many Particulars in it drawn out of Ancient Records, not commonly known, wherewith he had obliged the World. These, which very pleasingly entertained me, though they Prevail'd not on me to be of his Opinion every where, yet joyn'd with the great Civilities he had shewn me, left me in a disposition so little inclined to oppose any thing in it, that I should rather have chosen to acknowledge my self in Print, to be his Convert, if his Arguments had convinced me; than to have troubled the World with the Reasons, why I Dissent from him. In this Disposition my Pen rested,from medling any farther with this Subject whilst I was in Town. Soon after, my own Health, and the Death of a Friend, forc'd me into the Country: And the business occasion'd thereby, and my own private Affairs, took up all ny time, at my first coming thither; and had continued on to do so, had not several repeated intimations and instances from London, not without some reproaches of my backwardness, made me see, that the World concern'd me particularly in Mr. Lowndes's Postscript, and expected something from me on that occasion. Though possibly I was not wholly out of his mind when Mr. Lowndes writ that Invitation, yet I shall not make my self the Compliment, to think I alone am concern'd in it. The great importance of the matter made him desire every one to contribute what he could to the clearing of it, and setting it in a true light. And I must do him this Right, to think, that he prefers the publick Good to his private Opinion; and therefore is willing his Proposals and Arguments should be with freedom examin'd to the bottom, that if there be any mistake in them, no body may be misled by his Reputation and Authority, to the prejudice of his Country. Thus I understand his Poscscript, and thus I shall endeavour to comply with it. I shall to the best of my skill, examine his Arguments with all respect to him, and Fidelity to Truth, as far as I can discover it. The frankness of his proceeding in particular with me, assures me he is so great a Lover of Truth and Right, that he will not think himself injur'd when that is defended; and will be glad when it is made plain, by whose Hand soever it be. This is what has made me publish these Papers, without any derogation to Mr. Lowndes, or so much as a suspition that he will take it amiss. I judge of him by my self. For I shall think my self oblig'd to any one, who shall shew me, or the Publick, any material mistake in any thing I have here said, whereon any part of the Question turns. FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING RAISING THE VALUE OF MONEY. SILVER is the Instrument and Measure of Commerce in all the Civilized and Trading parts of the World. It is the Instrument of Commerce by its intrinsick value. The intrinsick value of Silver consider'd as Money, is that estimate which common consent has placed on it, whereby it is made Equivalent to all other things, and consequently is the universal Barter or Exchange which Men give and receive for other things they would purchase or part with for a valuable consideration: And thus as the Wise Man tells us, Money answers all things. Silver is the Measure of Commerce by its quantity, which is the Measure also of its intrinsick value. If one grain of Silver has an intrinsick value in it, two grains of Silver have double that intinsick value, and three grains treble, and so on proportionably. This we have daily Experience of, in common buying and selling. For if one Ounce of Silver will buy, i.e. is of equal value to one Bushel of Wheat, two Ounces of Silver will buy two Bushels of the same Wheat, i.e. has double the value. Hence it is evident, that an equal quantity of Silver is always of equal value to an equal quantity of Silver. This common Sense, as well as the Market, teaches us. For Silver being all of the same nature and goodness, having all the same qualities, 'tis impossible but it should in the same quantity have the same value. For if a less quantity of any Commodity be allowed to be equal in value to a greater quantity of the same sort of Commodity, it must be for some good quality it has which the other wants. But Silver to Silver has no such difference. Here it will be asked, is not some Silver finer than other? I answer, one mass of mixed Metal not discerned by the Eye to be any thing but Silver, and therefore called Silver, may have a less mixture ofbaser Metal in it than another, and so in common speech is said to be finer Silver. So Ducatoons having a less mixture of Copper in them than our English Coin has, are said to be finer Silver. But the truth is, the Silver that is in each is equally fine, as will appear when the baser Metal is separate from it. And 'tis of this pure or fine Silver I must be understood when I mention Silver; not regarding the Copper or Lead which may chance to be mixed with it. For example: Take an Ounce of fine Silver, and One fourth of an Ounce of Copper, and melt them together, one may say of the whole mass, that it is not fine Silver, but it is true there is an Ounce of fine Silver in it; and though this mass weighing one Ounce and a quarter be not of equal value to one Ounce and a quarter of fine Silver, yet the Ounce of fine Silver in it is, when separate from the Copper, of equal value to any other Ounce of Silver. By this Measure of Commerce, viz. the quantity of Silver, Men measure the value of all other things. Thus to measure what the value of Lead is to Wheat, and of either of them to a certain fort of Linnen Cloath, the quantity of Silver that each is valued at or sells for, needs only be known. For if a Yard of Cloth be sold for half an Ounce of Silver, a Bushel of Wheat for one Ounce, and an hundred weight of Lead for two Ounces, any one presently sees and says that a Bushel of Wheat is double the value of a Yard of that Cloth, and but half the value of an hundred weight of Lead. Some are of opinion that this measure of Commerce, like all other measures, is Arbitrary, and may at pleasure be varied, by putting more or fewer Grains of Silver in pieces of a known denomination, v.g. by making a Penny or a Shilling lighter or heavier, in Silver, in a Country where these are known denominations of pieces of silver Money. But they will be of another mind, when they consider that Silver is a measure of a nature quite different from all other. The Yard or Quart Men measure by, may rest indifferently in the buyers or sellers, or a third Person's hands, it matters not whose it is. But it is not so in Silver. It is the thing bargain'd for, as well as the measure of the bargain; and in Commerce passes from the buyer to the seller, as being in such a quantity equivalent to the thing sold: And so it not only measures the value of the Commodity it is apply'd to, but is given in Exchange for it, as of equal value. But this it does, (as is visible) only by its quantity, and nothing else. For it must be remenbred, that Silver is the Instrument as well as Measure of Commerce, and is given in exchange for the things Traded for: And every one desiring to get as much as he can of it for any Commodity he sells, 'tis by the quantity of Silver he gets for it in Exchange, and by nothing else, that he measures the value of the Commodity he sells. The Coining of Silver, or making Money of it, is the ascertaining of its quantity by a publick mark, the better to fit it for Commerce. In Coin'd Silver or Money there are these three Things, which are wanting in other Silver. 1. Pieces of exactly the same weight and fineness. 2. A Stamp set on those pieces by the publick Authority of that Country. 3. A known denomination given to these pieces by the same Authority. The Stamp is a mark, and as it were a publick voucher that a piece of such a denomination is of such a weight, and such a fineness, i.e. has so much Silver in it. That precise weight and fineness, by Law appropriated to the pieces of each denomination, is called the Standard. Fine Silver is Silver without the mixture of any baser Metal. Allay is baser Metal mixed with it. The Fineness of any Metal appearing to be Silver, and so called, is the proportion of Silver is in it, compared with what there is in it of baser Metals. The Fineness of Standard Silver in England is eleven parts Silver, and one part Copper, near: Or to speak more exactly, the proportion of Silver to Copper is as an hundred and eleven to nine. Whatever piece or mass has in it of baser Metal above the proportion of 9 to 111, is worse or courser than Standard. Whatever mass of Metal has a less proportion than 9 to 111, of baser Metal in it, is better or finer than Standard. Since Silver is the thing sought, and would better serve for the measure of Commerce if it were unmixt, it will possibly be asked why any mixture of baser Metal is allowed in Money, and what use there is of such Allay, which serves to make the quantity of Silver less known in the several Coins of different Countries? Perhaps it would have been better for Commerce in general, and more convenient for all their Subjects, if the Princes every where, or at least in this part of the World, would at first have agreed on the fineness of the Standard to have been just One twelfth Allay, in round numbers; without those minuter Fractions which are to be found in the Allay of most of the Coin in the several distinct Dominions of this part of the World. Which broken proportion of baser Metal to Silver, in the Standard of the several Mints, seems to have been introduced by the Skill of Men imploy'd in Coining, to keep that Art (as all Trades are call'd) a Mystery; rather than for any use or necessity there was of such broken numbers. But be that as it will, the Standard in our Mint being now settled by Authority, and established by Custom, known at home and abroad, and the rules and methods of Essaying suited to it; and all the wrought Plate as well as Coin of England being made by that measure; it is of great concernment that it should remain unvariable. But to the question; What need is there of any mixture of baser Metal with Silver in Money or Plate? I answer, there is great reason for it. For, 1. Copper mixt with Silver makes it harder, and so wears and wastes less in use than if it were fine Silver. 2. It melts easier. 3. Silver as it is drawn and melted from the Mine, being seldom perfectly fine, it would be a great charge by refining, to separate all the baser Metals from it, and reduce it to perfectly unmixt Silver. The use of Coin'd Silver or Money is, that every Man in the Country where it is current by publick Authority, may, without the trouble of refining, essaying or weighing, be assured what quantity of Silver he gives, receives, or contracts for, under such and such denominations. If this Security goes not along with the publick Stamp, Coining is labour to no purpose, and puts no difference between coin'd Money and uncoin'd Bullion This is so obvious, that I think no Government, where Money is coin'd, ever overlooks it. And therefore the Laws every where, when the quantity of Silver has been lessen'd in any piece carrying the publick Stamp, by Clipping, Washing, Rounding, &c. have taken off the Authority of the publick Stamp, and declar'd it not to be lawful Money. This is known to be so in England, and every one may not only refuse any Money bearing the publick Stamp, if it be clip'd, or any ways rob'd of the due weight of its Silver; but he that offers it in payment is liable to Indictment, Fine and Imprisonment. From whence we may see, that the use and end of the publick Stamp is only to be a guard and voucher of the quantity of Silver which Men contract for. And the injury done to the publick Faith, in this point, is that which in Clipping and false Coining hightens the Robbery into Treason. Men in their bargains contract not for denominations or sounds, but for the intrinsick value; which is the quantity of Silver by publick Authority warranted to be in pieces of such denominations. And 'tis by having a greater quantity of Silver, that Men thrive and grow richer, and not by having a greater number of denominations; Which when they come to have need of their Money will prove but empty sounds, if they do not carry with them the real quantity of Silver is expected. The Standard once settled by publick Authority, the quantity of Silver establish'd under the several denominations, (I humbly conceive) should not be altred, till there were an absolute necessity shewn of such a change, which I think can never be. The reason why it should not be changed is this; because the publick Authority is Guarantee for the performance of all legal Contracts. But Men are absolved from the performance of their legal contracts, if the quantity of Silver, under setled and legal denominations be altred: As is evident, if borrowing 100 l. or 400 Ounces of Silver to repay the same quantity of Silver (for that is understood by the same sum, and so the Law warrants it) or taking a Lease of Land for years to come, at the like Rent of 100 l. they shall pay both the one and the other in Money Coin'd under the same denominations with One fifth less Silver in it, than at the time of the bargain. The Landlord here and