MONEY AND CURRENCY
In a land where food and drink and readymade clothes grow on trees
and may be had for the gathering, it is not easy to see how a man can
run very deeply in debt for his living expenses,--for which, indeed,
there need be no barter, and if no barter, there is no need for any
medium of exchange. In fine, as far as mere existence is concerned in
Uap, there is no use for money. But nature’s readymade clothes, though
useful, are not ornamental, and the soul of man, especially of woman,
from the Equator to the Poles, demands personal adornment. And like all
adornments, polished shells, tortoise-shell, variegated beads, etc.,
demand labour in the making. Here then the simple-hearted natives of
Uap, who never heard of Adam Smith nor of Ricardo, or even if they
should hear of them would care no more for them than for an English
song from the phonograph, have solved the ultimate problem of
Political Economy, and found that labour is the true medium of exchange
and the true standard of value. But this medium must be tangible and
enduring, and as their island yields no metal, they have had recourse
to stone; stone, on which labour in fetching and fashioning has been
expended, and as truly a representation of labour as the mined and
minted coins of civilisation.
[Illustration: THE LARGEST “FEI” ON THE ISLAND]
This medium of exchange they call _fei_, and it consists of large,
solid, thick, stone wheels, ranging in diameter from a foot to twelve
feet, having in the centre a hole varying in size with the diameter
of the stone, wherein a pole may be inserted sufficiently large and
strong to bear the weight and facilitate transportation. These stone
“coins,” if I may so call them, are not made on the Island of Uap, but
were originally quarried and shaped in Babelthuap, one of The Pelao
Islands, four hundred miles to the southward, and brought to Uap by
some venturesome native navigators, in canoes and on rafts, over the
ocean by no means as pacific as its name implies; and, with the stones
safely landed, these navigators turned speculators, and, with arguments
as persuasive as those of the most glib book-agent, induced their
countrymen to believe that these “novelties” were the most desirable
things to have about the house. Of course, the larger the stone the
greater its worth, but it is not size alone that is prized; the
limestone, of which the _fei_ is composed, to be of the highest
value, must be fine and white and of close grain. It is by no means any
large stone, however skilfully fashioned, from The Pelaos that will be
accepted as a _fei_; it is essential that a _fei_ be made of
this particular variety and quality of limestone.
After having been stored in houses, out of sun, wind and rain, the
_fei_ present a white, opaque appearance, somewhat like quartz,
but not so translucent nor of so fine a grain; when by luck it happens
that a man’s wealth outgrows the capacity of his house, his money is
then stored outside, and, thus exposed to tropical weather, its colour
changes to a dirty gray, somewhat like sandstone, and the surface
becomes rough and covered with moss and lichen. As far as purchasing
power goes, this does not, however, detract from its value; this
“unearned increment” can be readily scraped off and the quality of
the stone and its diameter, on which depends its value, be no whit
diminished. I saw several æsthetic possessors of stone money polishing
their wealth and cheerfully chipping away at their riches, thereby
plainly evincing that they did not deem the acquisition of moss
desirable for rolling stones.
_Fei_ are cut as nearly circular as primitive resources permit,
and through their centre a hole is cut whereof the diameter is, roughly
speaking, about one sixth of the total diameter; this hole is, as I
have said, for the insertion of a pole sufficiently strong to bear the
weight of the wealth upon the shoulders of men when passed as currency.
The smaller, more portable “coins,” used for the purchase of fish from
the _failu_, or of pigs from the wealthy chiefs, slope from the
centre in one or two step-like gradations; wherefore, if at the centre
they are six or eight inches thick, they are but an inch and a half,
or two inches thick at the periphery. Their diameter, and, therefore,
their value, is measured in spans, which in Uap means the stretch of
the index finger and thumb.
In front of a _failu_ there are always many _fei_, which are
thus displayed as evidence of the industry and wealth of the inmates;
they are acquired by the hard work of members either on fishing
expeditions or by their labour in building houses for the villagers.
Another noteworthy feature of this stone currency, which is also an
equally noteworthy tribute to Uap honesty, is that it is not necessary
for its owner to reduce it to possession. After concluding a bargain
which involves the price of a _fei_ too large to be conveniently
moved, its new owner is quite content to accept the bare acknowledgment
of ownership and without so much as a mark to indicate the exchange,
the coin remains undisturbed on the former owner’s premises.
[Illustration: STONE MONEY BELONGING TO THE “FAILU”]
My faithful old friend, Fatumak, assured me that there was in a
village nearby a family whose wealth was unquestioned,--acknowledged by
every one, and yet no one, not even the family itself, had ever laid
eye or hand on this wealth; it consisted of an enormous _fei_,
whereof the size is known only by tradition; for the past two or
three generations it had been, and at that very time it was lying at
the bottom of the sea! Many years ago an ancestor of this family, on
an expedition after _fei_, secured this remarkably large and
exceedingly valuable stone, which was placed on a raft to be towed
homeward. A violent storm arose and the party, to save their lives,
were obliged to cut the raft adrift, and the stone sank out of sight.
When they reached home, they all testified that the _fei_ was
of magnificent proportions and of extraordinary quality, and that it
was lost through no fault of the owner. Thereupon it was universally
conceded in their simple faith that the mere accident of its loss
overboard was too trifling to mention, and that a few hundred feet of
water off shore ought not to affect its marketable value, since it
was all chipped out in proper form. The purchasing power of that stone
remains, therefore, as valid as if it were leaning visibly against the
side of the owner’s house, and represents wealth as potentially as the
hoarded inactive gold of a miser of the middle ages, or as our silver
dollars stacked in the treasury at Washington, which we never see nor
touch, but trade with on the strength of a printed certificate that
they are there.
There is one undeniable advantage in this form of weighty wealth among
people whose houses are as fragile as those in Uap:--when it takes
four strong men to steal the price of a pig, burglary cannot but prove
a somewhat disheartening occupation. As may be supposed, thefts of
_fei_ are almost unknown.
* * * * *
There are no wheeled vehicles in Uap and, consequently, no cart roads;
but there have always been clearly defined paths communicating with the
different settlements. When the German Government assumed the ownership
of The Caroline Islands, after the purchase of them from Spain in
1898, many of these paths or highways were in bad condition, and the
chiefs of the several districts were told that they must have them
repaired and put in good order. The roughly dressed blocks of coral
were, however, quite good enough for the bare feet of the natives;
and many were the repetitions of the command, which still remained
unheeded. At last it was decided to impose a fine for disobedience on
the chiefs of the districts. In what shape was the fine to be levied?
It was of no avail to demand silver or gold from the chiefs,--they
had none,--and to force them to pay in their own currency would have
required, in the first place, half the population of the island to
transport the fines; in the second place, their largest government
building could not hold them; and finally, _fei_, six feet in
diameter, not having been “made in Germany,” were hardly available as
a circulating medium in the Fatherland. At last, by a happy thought,
the fine was exacted by sending a man to every _failu_ and
_pabai_ throughout the disobedient districts, where he simply
marked a certain number of the most valuable _fei_ with a cross
in black paint to show that the stones were claimed by the government.
This instantly worked like a charm; the people, thus dolefully
impoverished, turned to and repaired the highways to such good effect
from one end of the island to the other, that they are now like park
drives. Then the government dispatched its agents and erased the
crosses. Presto! the fine was paid, the happy _failus_ resumed
possession of their capital stock, and rolled in wealth.
_Fei_ are not prized merely because they are old, nor have they
any sanctity as the legendary work of gods or ancient heroes. This
was proved by an enterprising Irish-American copra trader, who, while
living in Uap, carried on for many years a brisk, profitable trade by
sending a schooner to The Pelaos with several natives, experts in all
the essentials of _fei_. There the stones were quarried, properly
shaped, and the schooner returned with a full cargo of genuine wealth,
which was given in exchange for tons of dried coconut and bèche-de-mer.
The exchangeable value of _fei_ seems to depend largely upon the
eagerness of buyer and seller at the time of trading. Fatumak gave
me, however, the following valuations, which possibly are a little
high,--he was intelligent and a dear old fellow, but close-fisted
to a degree, and his avaricious soul would no doubt have insisted,
when trading, upon the very highest value. A three span _fei_ of
good whiteness and shape ought to purchase fifty “baskets” of food--a
basket is about eighteen inches long and ten inches deep, and the food
is taro roots, husked coconuts, yams, and bananas;--or, it is worth
an eighty or a hundred pound pig, or a thousand coconuts, or a pearl
shell measuring the length of the hand plus the width of three fingers
up the wrist. I exchanged a small, short handled axe for a good white
_fei_, fifty centimetres in diameter. For another _fei_,
a little larger, I gave a fifty pound bag of rice--a somewhat
extortionate price, but then the good, close-fisted Fatumak was not
on hand to bargain for me. I was told that a well-finished _fei_,
about four feet in diameter, is the price usually paid either to the
parents or to the headman of the village as a compensation for the
theft of a _mispil_.
For “small change” the people of Uap use flat pearl-shells, also
obtained from The Pelaos. The smaller shells, about five inches in
diameter, are always strung on a cord of plaited _kaya_ twine at
intervals of about five inches apart, with a cowrie in the middle of
each interval; seven shells, thus strung, constitute what is known as a
_botha-ayar_. The shells may be trimmed along the sides, but the
thin edge facing the hinge must be always left intact, and a small hole
is drilled only through the umbo, or base of the shell, whereby it is
strung on the cord. The value of the shells is always computed by their
width from the hinge to the opposite thin edge; to mutilate this edge
is as depreciatory of its value as the boring of a hole in a coin is in
our currency.
Charles Lamb reckons it as one of the choicest blessings to do good
in secret and to have it found out in public. From this blessing a
philanthropist in Uap is shut off; no alms can there be given in
secret; there is there no keeping the left hand from knowing what the
right hand doeth; for open, trumpet-tongued proclamation, the ponderous
_fei_ and the jangling shells are as efficient as a housetop.
Likewise, there can be no pocket-money in Uap,--even granting the
pockets.
Next higher in value to the _botha-ayar_ is the single large
pearl shell, called _yar-nu-betchrek_; it, too, may be trimmed
at the sides, but the thin outer edge is always left in its natural
state, no matter how chipped and ragged. To the hinge of the shells is
attached a stiff loop of _kaya_ twine which serves as a handle and
also as a means of hanging them up out of harm’s way. Their value is
estimated by measuring them on the arm from the finger-tips; a shell
having a diameter of about an average hand’s length is worth one entire
_botha-ayar_, every width of a finger beyond this almost doubles
the value. Four of them are always placed upon the corpse of a notable
man or woman before it is removed to the grave; whereof two are the
perquisites of the undertakers, who are always of the slave class; the
remaining two are buried with the corpse to pay for food on the journey
to _Falraman_, the Uap heaven.
These shells are never used as ornaments, although they are often
exceedingly beautiful and sometimes measure ten or twelve inches in
diameter. They are money pure and simple.
Next in value to the _yar-nu-betchrek_ comes the _umbul_, a
sacred mat of banana fibre. A mystery shrouds the _umbul_; the
manufacture of them is a lost art; they are believed to have been
made by the primeval ancestors of the present race. As far as I could
ascertain, they are about five feet wide (their length I do not know),
and woven of extremely fine and soft shreds of banana leaf, with
loose ends left sticking out all over them, almost like fur. I never
saw one unrolled; they are always kept rolled up and enclosed in a
case of matting; the _umbul_ itself is never exposed nor seen.
Some day, should a curator of “The Free Museum of Science and Art” in
Philadelphia, unroll the _umbul_ which I brought away from Uap, I
hope that he will either correct or corroborate my description, which,
I admit, is founded only on hearsay.
_Umbuls_ vary somewhat in the diameter of the roll, but very
little in the width; when they are used by way of exchange, their value
is computed according to its diameter measured in spans of index and
thumb, or _deh_. They are ordinarily valued as equivalent to the
largest size of _yar-nu-betchrek_, or a good white _fei_,
three _deh_ in diameter.
The red shell necklaces, or _thauei_, might be also enumerated as
currency. Their owners, however, rarely, if ever, sell them outright,
but, as payment for work or labour done, permit their use for stated
periods. This I discovered when trying to buy one, as I have already
mentioned. Many men wore them but refused to part with them at any
price; they could not; they had merely bought the privilege of pranking
themselves up for a while. I did, however, obtain, as I have already
said, an excellent _thauei_ through the kindness of old Ronoboi,
who paid for it, so he averred, ten _botha-ayar_, or seventy pearl
shells.
Between traders and natives the medium of exchange is the ripe coconut,
from which copra is made; they have in general agreed upon a rough
standard of values for the articles most commonly in demand; for
instance: the price of a large pilot biscuit is three coconuts; a
stick of “nigger-head” tobacco, together with a box of Japanese safety
matches, is worth six coconuts. The most extravagant deal I heard of
was negotiated by that same royal old Ronoboi, who paid twenty thousand
coconuts for a cooking stove, “made-in-Germany,” of thin sheet-iron.
He was absolutely shut up in measureless content with his bargain, and
vowed he was going to make bread in it; doubtless the kind of bread he
will bake in it will, if possible, augment his content, but he will be
forced either to begin or end with a new set of teeth and a rejuvenated
digestion.