Further Considerations [17]
and other necessaries for the Sustenance of the common People, to their great Grievance. That every one who receives Money after the raising our Money, on Contracts made before the change, must lose twenty per Cent. in all he shall buy, is Demonstration, by Mr. Lownds's own Scheme. Mr. Lowndes proposes that there should be Shillings Coin'd upon the new Foot One fifth lighter than our present Shillings, which should go for 12 Pence apiece; and that the unclip'd Shillings of the present Coin should go for fifteen Pence apiece, and the Crown for seventy-five Pence. A Man who has a Debt of an hundred Pounds owing him, upon Bond or Lease, receives it in these new Shillings, instead of lawful Money of the present Standard: He goes to Market with twenty Shillings in one Pocket of this new Money, which are valued at 240 Pence; and in the other Pocket with Four mill'd Crown pieces, (or Twenty mill'd Shillings of the present Coin) which are valued at Three hundred pence, which is One fifth more: 'Tis Demonstration then that he loses One fifth, or 20 per Cent. in all that he buys, by the receipt of this new Money, for the present Coin, which was his due; unless those he deals with will take four for five Pence, or four Shillings for five Shillings. He buys, for example, a Quart of Oyl for fifteen Pence: If he pay for it with the old Money in one Pocket, one Shilling will do it; if with the new Money in the other, he must add Three pence to it, or a quarter of another Shilling; And so of all the rest that he pays for, with either the old Money which he should have received his Debts in, or with the new, which he was forced to receive for it. Thus far it is Demonstration, he loses Twenty per Cent. by receiving his Debt in a new Money thus raised, when he uses it to buy any thing. But to make him amends, Mr. Lowndes tells him, Silver is now dearer; and all things consequently will be bought cheaper Twenty per Cent. And yet at the same time he tells them in the passage above cited out of p. 115. that all other things are grown dearer. I am sure there is no Demonstration that they will be sold 20 per Cent. cheaper. And if I may credit House-keepers and substantial Tradesmen, all sorts of Provisions and Commodities are lately risen excessively; and notwithstanding the scarcity of Silver, begin to come up to the true Value of our clip'd Money, every one selling their Commodities so as to make themselves amends in the Number of light Pieces for what they want in Weight. A Creditor ought to think the new light Money equivalent to the present heavier, because itwill buy as much Commodities. But what if it should fail, as 'tis ten to one but it will, what Security has he for it? He is told so, and he must be satisfied. The Salt, Wine, Oyl, Silk, Naval-Stores, and all Foreign Commodities, will none of them be sold us by Foreigners for a less quantity of Silver than before, because we have given the name of more Pence to it, is I think Demonstration. All our Names (if they are any more to us) are to them but bare Sounds; and our Coin, as theirs to us, but meer Bullion, valued only by its Weight. And a Swede will no more sell you his Hemp and Pitch, or a Spaniard his Oyl, for less Silver; because you tell him Silver is scarcer now in England, and therefore risen in value One fifth; than a Tradesman of London will sell his Commodity cheaper to the Isle ofMan because they are grown poorer, and Money is scarce there. All Foreign Commodities must be shut out of the Number of those that will fall, to comply with our raising our Money. Corn also, 'tis evident, does not rise or fall by the differences of more or less plenty of Money, but by the plenty and scarcity that God gives. For our Money, in appearance, remaining the same, the Price of Corn is double one Year to what it was the precedent; and therefore we must certainly make account that since the Money is One fifth lighter, it will buy One fifth less Corn Communibus annis. And this being the great Expence of the Poor, that takes up almost all their Earnings; if Corn be Communibus annis sold