Ifdifferentcommoditiesarequotedat15s。,20s。and36s。respectivelyinapricelist,theninacomparisonoftheirvalueboththesilvercontentoftheshillinganditsnameareindeedquiteirrelevant。Everythingisnowexpressedinthenumericalrelationsof15,20and36,andthenumeralonehasbecomethesoleunitofmeasure。Thepurelyabstractexpressionofaproportionisafterallonlytheabstractnumericalproportion。Inordertobeconsistent,Steuartthereforehadtoabandonnotonlygoldandsilverbutalsotheirlegaldesignations。Butsincehedoesnotunderstandhowthemeasureofvalueistransformedintothestandardofprice,henaturallythinksthattheparticularquantityofgoldwhichservesasaunitofmeasureis,asameasure,relatedtovaluesassuch,andnottootherquantitiesofgold。Becausecommoditiesappeartobemagnitudesofthesamedenominationasaresultoftheconversionoftheirexchange—valuesintoprices,Steuartdeniestheexistenceofthecharacteristicfeatureofthemeasurewhichreducescommoditiestothesamedenomination,andsinceinthiscomparisonofdifferentquantitiesofgoldthequantityofgoldwhichservesasastandardisconventionallyestablished,hedeniesthatitmustbeestablishedatall。Insteadofcallinga360thpartofacircleadegree,hemightcalla180thpartadegree;therightanglewouldthenmeasurenot90degreesbut45,andthemeasurementsofacuteandobtuseangleswouldchangecorrespondingly。Nevertheless,themeasureoftheanglewouldremainfirstlyaqualitativelydeterminedmathematicalfigure,thecircle,andsecondlyaquantitativelydeterminedsectionofthecircle。AsforSteuart\'seconomicexamplesoneofthesedisproveshisownassertions,theotherprovesnothingatall。ThemoneyoftheBankofAmsterdamwasinfactonlythenameofaccountforSpanishdoubloons,whichretainedtheirstandardweightbecausetheylayidleinthevaultsofthebank,whilethecoinswhichbusilycirculatedlostweightasaresultofintensivefrictionwiththeirenvironment。AsfortheAfricanidealists,wemustleavethemtotheirfateuntilreliableaccountsoftravellersprovidefurtherinformationaboutthem。[5]OnemightsaythattheFrenchassignat——\"Nationalproperty,Assignmentof100francs\"——isnearlyidealmoneyinSteuart\'ssense。Theuse—valuewhichtheassignatwassupposedtorepresent,i。e。,confiscatedland,wasindeedspecified,butthequantitativedefinitionoftheunitofmeasurehadbeenomitted,and\"franc\"wasthereforeameaninglessword。Howmuchorlittlelandthisfrancrepresenteddependedontheoutcomeofpublicauctions。Butinpracticetheassignatcirculatedasatokenrepresentingsilvermoney,anditsdepreciationwasconsequentlymeasuredintermsofthissilverstandard。
TheperiodwhentheBankofEnglandsuspendedcashpaymentswashardlymoreprolificofwarbulletinsthanofmonetarytheories。Thedepreciationofbank—notesandtheriseofthemarket—priceofgoldaboveitsmint—pricecausedsomedefendersoftheBanktorevivethedoctrineoftheidealmeasureofmoney。LordCastlereaghfoundtheclassicallyconfusedexpressionforthisconfusednotionwhenhedeclaredthatthestandardofmoneyis\"asenseofvalueinreferencetocurrencyascomparedwithcommodities\"。
AfewyearsaftertheTreatyofPariswhenthesituationpermittedtheresumptionofcashpayments,theproblemwhichLowndeshadbroachedduringthereignofWilliamIIIaroseagaininpracticallythesameform。Ahugenationaldebtandamassofprivatedebts,fixedobligations,etc。,whichhadaccumulatedinthecourseofover20years,wereincurredindepreciatedbank—notes。Shouldtheyberepaidinbank—notes£4,672
10s。ofwhichrepresented,notinnamebutinfact,100lbs。of22—caratgold？ThomasAttwood,aBirminghambanker,actedlikearesurrectedLowndes。Headvocatedthatasmanyshillingsshouldbereturnedtothecreditorsastheyhadnominallylent,butwhereasaccordingtotheoldmonetarystandard,say,1/78ofanounceofgoldwasknownasashilling,nowperhaps1/90ofanounceshouldbecalledashilling。Attwood\'ssupportersareknownastheBirminghamschoolof\"littleshillingmen\"。Thequarrelabouttheidealstandardofmoney,whichbeganin1819,wasstillcarriedonin1845bySirRobertPeelandAttwood,whosewisdominsofarasitconcernsthefunctionofmoneyasameasureisfullysummarisedinthefollowingquotation:
During\"therecentdiscussionbetweenSirRobertPeelandtheBirminghamChamberofCommerce……TheMinisterwasquitesatisfiedwithaskingthequestion,\'Whatwillyourpoundnoterepresent？\'……Whatistobeunderstoodbythepresentstandardofvalue？Is£317s。