The Ways and Means of Payment

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE WAYS AND MEANS OF PAYMENT. CHAPTER I. Exchange of commodities an incident of civilized life?The agencies by which this exchange is effected must not be confounded with the exchange itself? Tfie fitness and use of these agencies can be best determined by treating them as agencies more or less necessary to the main purpose ? Money, and money of account. In civilized life the industry of men is so largely developed and subdivided, as to involve an incessant exchange of commodities and services. Civilized men require food and clothing of great variety in form, substance and preparation. Their dwellings and furniture are equally varied, and demand for their production an equally varied and subdivided industry. Intellectual, moral and religious wants and exigencies engage also a large force of subdivided labor. In this division of labor, there is one large class employed in producing and preparing food; another in producing and preparing raiment; another in building; another in furnishing buildings; and another in the labor of ministering to intellectual, civil, moral and religious wants: each of these large divisions is again subdivided into lesser classes; and these again by innumerable ramifications and divisions, until each person is reached in his separate individuality. The whole labor of society is thus apportioned among all its members in that way which the force of circumstances, and their intelligence, has dictated. In every community, much the larger number of persons are mere laborers, and have only their labor to give in 26 EXCHANGE OF COMMODITIES. exchange for such of the comforts of life as they may require. In every case, however, whether we regard classes or individuals, a continual series of exchanges is involved. The manufacturers of clothing mus...