Examinations of the Reasons for the raising of Money.
The first Reason for the raising of Money,is the practise of Antiquity:it is true,as I have shewed before,that the Grecians and the Romans did successively raise the values of their Moneys,but it was not to draw thereby the materials of Money from other States unto theirs;but to supply the State,by that means on great and desperate Necessities,of the Wages thereof;and of the advantage,or disadvantage growing thereby to the Common wealth,I intend to speak hereafter.
But this invention of raising of Money to draw a quantity of gold and silver from your Neighbours,or to preserve our own from being exhausted,is a conceit unknown to the ancient world,and introduced long since the decay of the Roman Empire;when as those Monarchies that are now settled in Europe,by succession from those Northern Nations,which did over-throw the antient Roman Empire,having together with many other necesary Arts,lost the knowledge and orders of the Mint,were fain to use the Subtilty and Industry of the Jews,and those of Genoa and Lucca (who did succeed the Jews in this Trade)for the coining of their Moneys,who for their own Advantage did (by subtil and specious Reasons many times by a seeming and not considerable Profit as Projectors use to do)allure Princes to make unnecessary alterations in their Moneys,from whence this Art of robbing Gold and Silver from one state to another is grown.
And therefore I will speak no more concerning the practise of Antiquity,but will examine the other Reasons:as for the second Reason,which is the Observation,that since King James raised the Gold so much as he did,Gold is grown much more plentiful in the Kingdom that it was before,but Silver having not been raised in Proportion is grown much more scant and rare:--It is confessed that the Observation is true in this,that whensoever you raise the Material of (one sort of)Money,that material will encrease,and the other will grow scanty in Proportion.And what doth the Commonwealth gain by that,if there be more Gold now than heretofore,if there be less Silver in Proportion?But it is denied,That if you raise equally both the materials of Money,that then either of them will ever a whit the more abound;and this reason is given for it,Whatsoever the value of Money be in other Countreys,they will spend no more of your Commodities than they have use for:if so,the over-value of your (exported)Commodities must of necessity be returned to you either in Gold or Silver,whatsoever the value of them be,high or low:or suppose that,by reason of the low value of Gold and Silver in respect of their price in other parts,the Merchants do forbear the return of the over-values of your Commodities in those Materials,and do choose rather to return Forrein Commodities more than you can vent;this may fall out thus for one year,but two or three or more years,it is impossible it can hold,for that the Merchant should have these Forrein Commodities which are not consumed perish in his hands.And this Reason doth likewise answer.
The third Argument made for the raising of Money which is,That if you do not raise your Money to a parity with your Neighbours,the Merchant,who always seeks his profit,wil carry his materials of Gold and Silver,where he may have most for them;for if this reason stand good,the Merchant shall be constrained to bring his Gold and Silver hither,what price soever they bear.
But because this reason seems so evident and unanswerable in the Judgment of many,and that if it stand good,it doth absolutely confute the practise of all the States of Europe,who have continued many years raising of the values of their Moneys,upon this ground,to attract thereby greater quantities of Gold and Silver.
