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CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
CONTENTS
WHAT IS BI-METALLISM?
IN ALL SHADES.
INSTINCT AND REASON.
THE WILL OF MRS ANNE BOWDEN.
THE OLD PRIORY GARDEN.
A POSSIBLE LEGAL REFORM.
DEAD FLOWERS.
EASTER SUNDAY.
No. 120.—Vol. III.
Price 1½d.
SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1886.
WHAT IS BI-METALLISM?
One of the great troubles of the commercialand financial world is the growing scarcity anddearness of gold, concurrently with a growingabundance and cheapness of silver. That goldis not merely a form of money, but is also a valuableand useful commodity in itself, goes withoutsaying. What is true of gold is true also ofsilver. These two metals are called ‘precious’because, of all other metals, the desire to possessthem in a crude form is universal. Let us putit in another way. All nations do not desire topossess pig-iron, or ingot copper, or block-tin,because all nations cannot utilise these metalsin such form, however ready they may be topurchase articles made from them. But allnations above the lowest rank of savagery dodesire to possess gold and silver in the stateof bullion, because they can all utilise thesemetals in some mode of ornament or in purposesof exchange. But for obvious reasons the desirefor silver is not so large and so general as thedesire for gold.
From an early period in the history of civilisation,gold and silver have been used as money, andthe reason they are valuable as money is becausethey have a high intrinsic value. Now, value isa quality which has been variously defined, butwhich for our purposes can best be explained asof two kinds. That is to say, there is exchangevalue and intrinsic value. It is a common thingto say that an article is worth just what it willbring, or sell for. In a certain sense, this istrue; but the ‘worth,’ or value, in such casesis market or exchange value only. Take, forinstance, the value in the book market of somescarce book or pamphlet for which an extravagantprice will be paid by a bibliomaniac, whollyregardless of its literary merits. Books whichare intellectually worthless will often attain avery high ‘market value.’ Per contra, a copy ofthe Bible may be obtained for sixpence.
In speaking of value, therefore, one mustalways understand whether market value orintrinsic worth be meant. The two do notalways coincide. A thing is very often intrinsicallyworth a great d