A poud is equivalent to 36 lbs. English, and worth about £1679.
The weights and measures not enumerated here are explained at the foot
of the page in which they occur.
REMARKS ON THE PRODUCTION OF THE PRECIOUS METALS, &c.
From the commencement of the 19th century, gold appears to have been
always esteemed in Europe above the price at which it has been legally
fixed in relation to silver; the commercial value of the metal has
remained on an average about 1 per cent. above its legal value. In
England alone gold circulates as money: in those countries which have
maintained a double standard, gold, rarely coined, became immediately
an article of merchandize, and disappeared from circulation. Gold
regions were discovered without restoring the equilibrium of value
between the two metals. Civilization, in its development from
historical times, has but realized the legends of ancient fables. Gold,
from its importance and constancy of value, appeared likely to remain
for ever the symbol and the essential agent of wealth.
In this regular course of the progress of the precious metals, a
pause, or rather a deviation, appears to have occurred. Gold seems
to be tottering in its monetary supremacy; the fortress appears to
have succumbed in a paroxysm of alarm. Ten years ago, every one was
frightened at the prospect of the depreciation of silver; during the
last eighteen months, it is the diminution in the price of gold that
has been alarming the public. Some countries, which, but a short time
since, were but too anxious to attract and retain gold in circulation,
even at great sacrifices, have already shown a feverish anxiety to
banish it altogether.
Holland took the lead in this movement, and in July, 1850, demonetized
the gold 10-florin piece and the Guillaume. Portugal has partially
followed this example, by prohibiting any gold to have a current
value, except English sovereigns. Belgium, which in order to increase
its gold circulation, had given a legal value to our 20 and 40-franc
pieces, and had struck, in 1847, a mixed coinage of gold and base
alloy, has demonetized its gold circulation, both home and foreign.
Russia, by a ukase of 29th December, 1850, wishing to maintain the
former equilibrium, has prohibited the export of silver. The French
Government itself, struck with the novelty, and the sudden change,
issued a commission for the purpose, as the Minister of Finance stated
in his minute of the 14th December, 1850, of examining the questions
connected with the simultaneous use of the precious metals, gold and
silver, as a circulating medium of value.
From public authorities, alarm has spread to private interests, and
the price of the precious metals has experienced in European markets a
very sensible disturbance in value. In the space of only a few months,
the premium of gold has given way to a reaction, only checked by the
tariff. From 1st July to the 25th December, 1850, the price of English
sovereigns in Paris has fallen about 2 per cent. On the Amsterdam
Exchange, the fall in the price of gold, in the same year, amounted
to 4 per cent.; at the same time silver rose in London almost as much
(from 4s. 11½d. the ounce, to 5s. 1⅝d.); the relative value of gold
to silver, which our laws had fixed at 15½ ounces of fine silver to
one of pure gold, and which the constant premium on gold in Europe had
raised in the Spanish tariff to 15¾, fell to 15¼ in Holland, Belgium,
and Hamburg; in all places where gold, from having been demonetized,
had become a mere article of merchandize; almost realizing, in fact,
the tariff of Russia, a country where the abundance of gold and the
scarcity of silver had induced a legal relative value of 15 to 1.
However great the present depreciation of gold, the depression appeared
likely to increase still further, and the gloomy forebodings of the
press have added to public alarm. Newspapers of all parties, and
of all countries, prophesied that, under the combined influence of
California and Siberia, the value of gold would soon fall to nine
times that of silver. Whilst crowds of emigrants were forcing their
perilous way across the Rocky Mountains, or doubling, for economy, Cape
Horn, or, in their impatience, taking the shorter but dearer passage
by Panama, hurrying on to the capture of the golden fleece, this very
treasure which they were unduly _appreciating_, was becoming as unduly
_depreciated_ in Europe; the article, which but six months before bore
the greatest fixity of value, seemed rapidly undergoing an important
change, and to the _Auromania_ of ages, an _Aurophobia_ appeared to
be succeeding. England alone has shown no sign of fear. During the
period of continental alarm, the Bank of England was not afraid even
to check the export of its gold; as in the beginning of 1851, the
directors raised the rate of discount from 2½ to 3 per cent., and
almost immediately the exchange turned. The pound sterling, which fell
for a short time to 24 fr. 70 cents., equal to a fall of 2 per cent.,
rose in a few days to 24 fr. 95 cents.; it oscillates now between 25
fr. 35 cents., and 25 fr. 45 cents., which is equal to a premium of
½ to ¾ per cent. upon gold. Again, the mint of Paris, which received
gold by millions in December, 1850, and January, 1851, has seen this
influx slacken until its weekly receipt now scarcely equals its former
daily supply. At the present moment, the oscillations of the market
seem to have terminated; a calm has succeeded the storm, and the value
of the precious metals seems to be in almost a normal state. The
present moment, then, appears to be a fitting one to examine if the
late disturbing causes were of an ephemeral nature, or whether they are
likely to be permanent in their effect.
On this important subject, the French Government, which at first
appeared ready to attempt an immediate solution of the question, did
not hesitate to recognize the necessity of more profound examination.
In the _Moniteur_ of the 15th January, 1851, it is stated, “that the
commission of 14th December, presided over by Mr. Fould, Minister of
Finance, for the examination of the subject of money, is of opinion,
that the late depreciation in the value of gold has been produced by
causes of an accidental nature, which are beginning to be less sensibly
felt; that influences of a permanent character bearing upon this
depreciation cannot at present be sufficiently ascertained; and in such
a state of affairs it is necessary to have precise information as to
the production of the precious metals in California and in Russia; and
that with its present knowledge of facts, the Commission is of opinion,
that there is no ground for a modification in our monetary system.”
This determination was a wise one, and subsequent events have justified
it; while on the one hand gold has again risen to nearly its former
value, and on the other, the discovery made in 1851 of rich deposits of
gold in Australia, renders the subject worthy of further investigation;
the present seems a suitable opportunity for the renewal of a
controversy by no means exhausted.
In default of official documents, we have the stories of the
adventurer, and the statistics of commerce. Sufficient light appears to
come from the north, the south, and the west, to enable us to form some
opinion of the results of the general movement regarding the precious
metals. I would add, that we can approach the subject now, freed from
some of the questions which appeared to encumber it; the trade in
the precious metals appears to be again in its natural channels. The
phantom of rise or fall does not appear to be materially affecting
trade: quite lately, to prevent the export of gold, the Bank of France
raised the premium for purchase. In London and in Paris, the metallic
reserves are full. The Bank of England has above [1]500,000,000 francs,
and the Bank of France above [2]600,000,000 in their vaults. The import
of the precious metals goes on but slowly. Nothing opposes, then, such
a patient and careful examination of the subject as can alone satisfy
the inductions of science.