Theorem.
For the effecting all the aforesaid Articles,
Let a Competent Authority immediately Call in and Cry down all Clipt Money under such a weight, supposing it to be all that Money which hath lost full half the original weight.
This may conveniently and safely enough be done before any new Money be coin’d.
When this is new Coin’d, let it be re-deliver’d to the respective Proprietors in proportion, by Tale, to what every one brought into the Mint by Tale.
Then let all the rest of the Clipt Money be Called in by such a Day, and Cry’d down.
Postulat. 6, 7.
And supposing in all 2000000 l. Sterling so melted down, and the Product, after Melting, be half as much, or about 3500000 Ounces of Silver, there may out of this be Coin’d 1250000 l. of New Money, of the same extrinsick value it now hath, and of such an intrinsick value, as that a Crown Piece shall weigh (now that Silver is 6 s. 6 d. an Ounce, or 3 l. 18 s. the Pound Troy) Twelve-penny weight, and about three grains, and have in it the intrinsick value of 4 s. So that the Government hath already saved Two hundred and fifty thousand Pound.
Then will it be known in how short time 1000000 l. can be Coined.
According to that time, supposing it (many Mints being set up at once) to be Two Months, let a Proclamation be issued out, encouraging the bringing in 4000000 Ounces of Plate into the Mint, at Four respective Days or Weeks.
For the first Million, till the end of the first fortnight, shall be paid 7 s. 4 d. per Ounce, which amounts to 366666 l. 13 s. 4 d. till the end of the second fortnight, shall be paid 7 s. 2 d. an ounce, which comes to 358333 l. 6 s. 8 d. till the end of the third fortnight, shall be paid 7 s. an ounce, amounting to 350000 l. And for the last Million 6 s. 10 d. an ounce, amounting to 341666 l. 13 s. 4 d. in all 1416666 l. 13 s. 4 d. So that for one ounce with another, the Government has paid 7 s. 1 d. an ounce.
It may be thought, that a great deal of this may be saved, and perhaps Six-pence in an ounce, which amounts to One hundred thousand Pounds, and that Six shillings and seven pence would be Temptation enough, when the Price of Silver is like to Fall.
But I am now providing for the worst Contingences, and the severest Suppositions that may be.
Yet the Frugalest way, I presume, would be, to leave the Management of this Article wholly to the Lords of the Treasury, who, by publick notice, may vary pro re natâ, the Præmium for bringing in Plate, and perhaps may think it expedient nevertheless to begin high, and to abate the Præmium according to the quantity brought in; and after one or two Abatements, People may perhaps bring it in the faster, fearing a greater Fall: Whereas if the Lords of the Treasury should begin low, and afterwards be forced to raise the Præmium higher, Peoples Hopes of their still advancing of it more, would restrain ’em from making so much haste as the necessities of State require.
We suppose then this Silver to be Coining every Day as fast as possible, and that the 250000 l. saved by the Government out of the first Million, shall begin to pay for the Plate, as it comes in.
Then three ounces of Silver at 6 s. 8 d. an ounce, Coins 20 s. of the new Standard, allowing 2, 3, or 4 d. per ounce for Coinage; seeing the setting up so many several Mints more than ordinary must be very chargeable.
And here must be noted, That let Silver Rise or Fall as much as it will, it Alters very little the process of the Theorem, for it need have no other effects than making the Money bigger or less, unless the 3d Corolary following be admitted.
At this Rate then when 3500000 Ounces of this Plate is Coin’d into MONEY it will produce after the aforesaid rate 1166666 l. 13 s. 4 d. to which add the 250000 l. paid before hand for it, and now there is paid in all for the 4000000 of Ounces of Plate 1416666 l. what it Cost; and the King hath 500000 Ounces of Plate by Him, which at 7 s. 1 d. an Ounce stands the Government in 177088 l. 6 s. 8 d.
But because it cost the King dear for his present Necessities, the Lords of the Treasury cannot allow more for it than it will produce when Coin’d.
And if the necessities of State require that this Silver should be sent and Coin’d in Flanders, that it may go farther there than it can here for the immediate use of the Souldiers, then the Commissioners of the Accounts will probably account for it, according to its Value beyond Sea; and then the Government shall still be a greater Loser by it; so the Lords of the Treasury cannot allow for it more perhaps than 150000 l. what ever it be more or less, the case will stand thus at the least.
There is now of New Money Coin’d, 2416666 l. 13 s. 4 d. and this last 150000 l. being advanced to the King for his present Necessities abroad, either to Coin in Flanders, or to send over in Bills, will go towards the payment of the Million of Clipt money. But if it be probable as Mr. Lounds seems to intimate, That People may Voluntarily bring in a great deal of Plate at 6s. 6d. an Ounce; then it is much more probable, that they will be quicker in bringing it in at 6 s. 7 d. an ounce; and if so, the Government Saves out of my Proposals 6 d. an Ounce, which in 4000000 Ounces comes to 100000 l. And then there will be 250000 l. paid in recompence of the Clipt Money, and there is but 750000 l. Remaining.
Or put the case Shorter and Plainer, the Government wants 1000000 l. worth of Silver, and is willing to give 25 per Cent. more for it than the common price.
If that vast Allowance be made for fear of a sudden and fatal stop to all manner of Trade for want of Money, yet the 250000 l. Saved out of the Clipt Money, will make good the Bargain.
And then Four parts in Five will Coin a Million of Money, and still there will be another 250000 l. worth left towards the paying of the Clipt Million, and but 750000 l. remains Unpaid.
And upon this Easier supposition we will proceed; because it is likewise cheaper to the Nation than the Buying of full 4000000 ounces of Silver.
Then if the Parliament Orders ’em to be paid 250000 l. more, which is all that the Nation is Burdened in the Bargain: The Proprietors of the Clipt Money are Reimbursed 75 l. per Cent. of what they Brought to the Mint, which is more by 25 l. per Cent. than the intrinsick value of it was; and the other 25 l. per Cent. is coming towards ’em apace. For now the present Necessity and the Dangers of it are obviated, the price of Silver begins to Fall and Settle, as the prospect of a Plenty draws nearer; tho’ we can never suppose it will fall lower than in other Countries, or much lower at all, during the War between France and Spain. And be it at what price it will, the Merchant will from all Parts bring his Silver to the Tower, because the Market is here Quick and he is sure of Ready-Money for what he Sells; the King can afford now to Coin, which he could not do of late Years; And therefore a Third and Fourth Million will be soon bought and Coined, and the government out of every Million bought will save a Fourth part.
For the New-Coin’d Money must bear a proportion to the price of Silver, as four to five, and 800000 l. worth of Silver is to be in 1000000 l. of New Coin no more nor less, and out of the four Million-worth of Silver, besides the Million of Plate the King will have Saved a fifth Million; by which gain’d Millions, the Clipt Money will be entirely Satisfied for at no more than 250000 l. present Cost to the Government, q. e. d.
For the case will stand thus: There will be 5000000 l. of New Coin, viz. out of the Clipt Money 1250000 l. out of the Plate 1250000 l. (or if the last 250000 l. be not Coin’d, but Exported, then there will be out of the Plate but 1000000 l.) and out of the last Two Million worth of SILVER Coin’d 2500000 l. So that there will be in the Nation at least Four Millions, Seven Hundred, and Fifty Thousand Pounds New Money.
The King, after all this, buys 750000 Ounces of Bullion, and coins it, without Profit, into 250000 l. This makes up 5000000 l. compleat, and then the Royal Mints is to be at a stand (as at present) until the Parliament shall have resolved what more is to be done; our present Necessities are supply’d, and this, which we shall have, will not be diminished.
These Five Millions now want a fifth part of the Intrinsick Value of the Coin; and unless a Real Value be given it to make amends for the want of the Intrinsick, and to Equal the Extrinsick, I have, after all, I confess, done nothing, according to my Fourth Axiom.
I humbly therefore Propose, That a Land-Tax may make it good, if it do not exceed Two-pence in the Pound.
But after what manner it is to be made good, is the great Question.
If they, into whose Hands the newcoin’d Silver shall first come, should be allowed for the Intrinsick Want of it, then, in the paying it out again they must transmit the Allowance the State gives; or else the First Receivers would be Savers, and the rest Losers: But if the State must immediately give the Full Allowance, then it might as well have Coin’d to the full Intrinsick Value. But the Intrinsick Value is lessen’d, and the Real given, because the Government is better qualified at present to pay Interest than Principal.
Therefore an Interest is to be paid equivalent to the Extrinsick Value, and fully satisfactory for the Want of Intrinsick; that so the Subject may be no Loser, and the Government put to no Difficulties.
Beside, that Money would return to its Intrinsick Value, if a Shilling were always to be tack’d to a Crown or Four-Shilling Piece; which is One of the chief things we are to avoid.
Let this Interest be 5 per Cent. and let it be look’d upon as a sufficient Interest, as it better will appear to be, when I come to answer the Objections, which may be made to this Method.
The Interest of a Million of Pounds Sterling, which is wanting to make up the Real Value of the New Coin at 5 per Cent. amounts to Fifty thousand Pounds per Annum.
But, to Ease the Nation of half this Charge, let it be duly and carefully considered,
That if the present Possessor of an entire 100 l. be entitled to this Interest, and not of a less Sum, every less Sum will have such a Value Real, as the Possessor of an entire 100 l. can make of it, and will allow for it.
And there will be no occasion for the Government to pay Interest for lesser Sums, because the valuation of lesser Sums will always bear that proportion which Merchants, Goldsmiths, and Bankers will receive ’em at, from the least Sum to the greatest.
If I pay in, for instance, to a Goldsmith Fifty pounds to day, and Fifty pounds to morrow, he will no more scruple to give me a Note for One hundred pounds, than if I had paid it in at once: And, if I pay my Brewer Five pounds a week, as he brings in my Drink, for twenty weeks together, he will look upon it as good Pay as if I paid him at the twenty weeks end One hundred pounds together; and if Five pounds will pass from me as the fifth part of an Hundred, why not, by the same Rule of Proportion 20 Shillings for the hundredth part? That which hath the Value of Five pound Lumbard-street, hath the same in Pater-Noster-Row, and the same likewise at Brentford, or elsewhere: And there can be no Instance or Reason given, why Money of the like weight; Intrinsick and Extrinsick Value, should not be as passable in little Sums as in great, since there is an easie Resort, and at hand always; in which, without any distinction, they daily determine.
Where an Hundred pound will be Received, there will Ninety nine, and Ninety eight, and so downwards (for, where can you stop?) to the single Penny.
And of the Running Cash of England we may reasonably suppose, that one half is not in Sums exceeding Twenty Pounds, and they who have less Sums than that, will have no great Encouragement to look after Interest.
The Fifth Part which Twenty Pound wants of its Intrinsick Value, is but Four Pounds, and that, at 5 per Cent. is but Four Shillings a Year; from which the trouble of Receiving by entering into Combination with others, will for the most part take off, and not make it worth the while.
So that the whole Money of England, that is New Coin’d, not amounting to above 5000000 l. and but half that to be paid Interest for, viz. 2500000 l. and there wanting but a Fifth Part of that, viz. 500000 l. the Interest of 500000 l. at 5 per Cent. amounts to just 25000 l. per Annum.
But then, supposing that Interest be demanded for ⅗ of the New-coin’d Money, and that by an unexpected Combination every Sum of Five Pounds should be brought in, yet then the whole Interest amounts to no more than 30000 l. per Annum.
And the Case stands thus:
The Parliament hath Borrow’d of the whole People of England a Million of Pounds Sterling, and no more, to be repay’d at the end of the War; and in the mean time, till it be repay’d, they give Five Pounds per Cent. Interest upon a Land-Tax.
Thus the Clipp’d Money is all Call’d in, and Satisfied for; there hath been little time between Calling back of the Old, and Paying back the New, by bringing in 1000000 l. worth of Plate speedily and voluntarily into the Mint, an effectual Stop is put to the Exportation, melting down, and hoarding up of Coin’d Money; Importation of Silver from all Parts Encourag’d, the Current Coin of ENGLAND Encreas’d; the Purity and Denomination of the Coin Continued; and all at the present Expence of Two hundred and fifty thousand Pounds, and a Yearly Land-Tax of One Penny in the Pound during the War, q. e. d.
The only Difficulty that remains, is, After what manner the Interest shall be paid.
But, if there is no more than Difficulty in it, I desire it may be Consider’d, What Great Difficulties the People of ENGLAND at present undergo, in the Want of such a Regulation: What Difficulties are in every Market-Shop, and House of Trade; and what Great Disorders are Daily like to ensue: Let Bankers, Goldsmiths, Merchants, and Cash-keepers, consider the Difficulties they lye under at present, and the much greater Disadvantages they must be subject to, if the Coin of England should not have a Real Value.
But, to make the Difficulty seem much less than may at First be imagin’d, I humbly propose this following Method.
Let the Days of its Payment be fix’d by PARLIAMENT, either Quarterly, Annually, or Triennially. If the Establish’d Interest be Five Pounds per Cent. then, perhaps, Annually will be thought most expedient, in some Month when the Days are long. If the Wisdom of Parliament shall think fit to give more Interest than Five Pounds per Cent. then there is Visible Reason, why it should be Quarterly. If less than Five Pounds per Cent. a Triennial Payment may suffice. But suppose it Yearly.
Let Three hundred Commissioners be named by Parliament, One hundred of which for London, Westminster, and Southwark, the Two hundred for the Country, to be not above Twenty Miles distant from one another, so that no body can live farther off than Ten Miles from one Commissioner or other.
Let these Commissioners be the most Substantial Gentlemen or Citizens in the most Popular Towns and Cities in England, giving in sufficient Security to the Government for Performance of Their Trust.
At the Day appointed let the Money be brought to the Commissioners Houses in Hundred-pound Baggs, and there open’d and weigh’d, and then seal’d up with the Proprietor’s Seal, in the presence of the said Commissioner, Entering down in a Register every man’s Name in one Column, the Weight of the Money in another Column, and the Interest it amounts to in a third.
Let none be Receiv’d after Twelve of the Clock at Noon, and none Re-delivered till One of the Clock, to prevent Frauds in bringing the same Money twice for the same Interest.
Then, in the Afternoon, let every man’s proper and individual Money, Seal’d up as aforesaid, and Weighed again in the sight of the Proprietor, be deliver’d, with the Interest due for it.
For which One Days Trouble in a Year, I do suppose, the Government may allow the Commissioners Twenty Pound a man; which amounting to Six thousand Pounds per Annum, for all the Commissioners of ENGLAND, and suppose Three of the Five millions, whereas I supposed at first 2500000 l. only to demand Interest, it will amount to but Thirty thousand Pounds per Annum, and this Six thousand Pounds per Annum for the Commissioners added, makes but Six and thirty thousand Pounds per Annum.
Now, whereas a Land-Tax of Four Shillings in the Pound amounts to 2000000 l. a Tax of a Penny in the Pound amounts to 41666 l. 13 s. 4 d. so that 5666 l. 13 s. 4 d. per Annum Remains.
Allow the Commissioners then Thirty Pounds apiece, and there remains 2666 l. 13 s. 4 d. for a Superintendant, Auditors, Registers, Register-Books, and other incident Charges; and the whole matter is brought within a Tax of a Penny in the Pound, q. e. d.
Now, as to the Hoarded Money, the Mill’d and Hammered Money of Full Weight, I humbly am of the Opinion, That no Notice at all be taken of it by the Government; and my Reasons are: That it will have an uncertain Value, according to Peoples Opinion; and, that Uncertainty of Estimation, as well as the Intrinsick Value, will cause it, without any Edict or Precept, to be melted down.
For, a great deal of it is now kept up, only to see what things will come to; and what Advantage can be made of it: But when People see the Parliament has Conquer’d the Difficulty, and that there is a great Plenty of Money stirring about again, they will be baulk’d of their Expectations, and take Advantage of the First of the Market; this will conduce to the Cheapness of Bullion, and cause a Plenty: And if any continue still hoarded, it will be by People only who have an irremediable Humour that way; and ’tis better they should hoard that for which the Government pays no Interest, than to keep Unemploy’d Money by ’em at the expence of the Publick.
And as to the Paying of our Armies Abroad, I humbly propose, That the Parliament may always give His Majesty such an Allowance for that Use, as His Majesty may be enabled to Export so much Uncoin’d Silver as is necessary to the carrying on of so Glorious a War.
Which Uncoin’d Silver will for the most part find its way back again, because the carrying over so much every Year will glut that place to which ’tis carryed; so that Silver will become Cheap there, and they must disgorge at the best Market; which England, in all probability, will be. And the effect of that Over-ballance which Forreigners must, as cases now stand, get by us; cannot be carryed out of the Nation, but in other Commodities besides Silver.
For Silver Uncoin’d they Sell, and Silver Coin’d they cannot afford to carry away; So that our own Commodities are like to be bartered for Silver, and that conduces to bring the ballance of Trade even.
And here I go no farther, but leave the Question to better Understandings.
Quest. Whether Silver bearing an higher Price here than elsewhere, and coming to a Quicker Market, will not naturally and easily force an Exportation of our own Commodities, when it shall become altogether impracticable to Export our Coin?