from
henceforth
made of such fineness .
A-Companion-to-the-Cantos-of-Ezra-Pound-II
?
?
616
97/672
97/672-673
used instead of clipping to remove small quantities of gold or silver from coins.
92. Mons of Jute . . . record: King Christian of Denmark, "a tyrant as well as a Zealot," and his minister, "who was little better than a wild beast," by "the grossest indigni- ties . . . had fired the Gothic blood. " The Pope's legate "by the sale of indulgences and other artifices . . . [had] managed to squeeze Qut of the poorest country in Europe nearly 'two millions of florins'. . . . " At this point, "It was not merely Norway and Sweden that rose up to throw off the shackles of Rome, it was all Scandinavia. . . . Jutland . . . trans- mitted to the tyrant of Denmark a demand
of deposition which was read to him by a single unarmed man . . . whose act should never be permitted to fall into oblivion. This hero's name was Mons, and it deserves to be written over the gateway of every oppres- sor" [HMS, 278-279]. Justice, as in Dante's "Thrones," demands that he not be for- gotten. .
93. Vasa klipped . . . : "The unlooked? for result of Mons' brave act was the abdication and flight of the cowardly Christian. His uncle Frederick was chosen in his place but the real sovereign was Gustavus Vasa. . . [King] Christian . . . had introduced the klip- pings for the sake of personal profit; Gusta- vus issued them for the benefit of his country" [HMS,279].
94. Lycurgus, nomisma: "All the great en- franchisements of society have been accom- plished with the aid of fiduciary money. The Spartans won their liberties with the iron discs of Lycurgus; the Athenians . . . rehabil- itated the republic with 'nomisma,' a highly overvalued copper issue" [HMS, 279].
95. "limitation . . . OJ: "When the people take the government of a country into their own hands wealth naturally hides itself, and the first form of wealth to disappear is the precious metals. The moment a revolution or a civil war is declared gold and silver disap- pear [cf. 67 above]. Thereupon the emission of fiduciary money by the State becomes imperative" [HMS, 280]. A central thesis of
Social Credit, Douglas, and The Cantos. But the key to preventing infiation is the proper relation of "fiduciary money" to tax policy and the production of goods and services, or "limitation": "These [are the] principles of money-namely, that Money is a Mea- sure, . . . that the Unit of money is All Mon- ey within a given legal jurisdiction, [and] that the practical Essence of money is Limi- tation" [HMS, preface, 8; Science, 25-55].
96. Goertz von Schlitz: George Heinrich de Goertz, Baron von Schlitz, financial adviser to Charles XII of Sweden. "After the defeat of Charles XII. at Pultowa and his return from captivity money was scarce. . . . " Goertz had what seemed a good idea: issue copper dollars with the king's stamp as legal tender. The idea might have worked except for two factors: "First, government was too prostrate and weak to sustain a fiduciary money. Second, Goertz did not place any limitations upon the coinage. This (limita- tion) is the main principle and essence of money" [HMS,295. 296].
97. executed: After the death of King Charles in 1718, Goertz was charged with a dozen monetary crimes, including pecula- tion and ruining the public credit. Del Mar quotes from another source: "'the case went on without regard to formality or per- haps to equity. The court and the citizens seemed equally determined to hound him to death. _. . He was condemned to lose his head, and at a place appointed for the execu- tion of felons'" [Modern Univers. Hist. , XXX, 288]. Del Mar concludes: "This cruel
was ordered. " After that the king quit, and "a new bank was created which was . . . in- dependent of the government. " Then the bankers began their crooked deals over again [HMS, 303? 304].
99. 15. 08 . . . 1873: "The Scandinavian States practically demonetized silver. . . . 'The basis of conversion adopted was the proportion of silver to gold of 15. 08 for 1'. . . . These provisions were adopted in the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian laws of May 23,1873" [HMS, 306].
100. Mr Benton: [88:80,95:22].
101. Friesland . . . : In a chapter on the Netherlands, Del Mar traces the coinage of early centuries and relates it to the coinage of other states at the time. "1 regard the silver pieces of Friesland. . . as typically quarter-dirhems _. . or half-deniers. It is of no practical consequence [which] _. . jf as half-deniers, they should bear a ratio of 12 to the gold shilling of the empire, which they do not; whereas, if as quarter-dirhems,
they should bear a ratio of 61/2 to the quarter-dinars of Saracenic Spain, which they do" [HMS,312].
102. "The olde double-ducat: "During the Burgundian period, some of the Dutch du- cats now called double ducats . . . were 23 carats 31/2 grains fine (Budelins, p. 249, 'Old Double Ducat')" [HMS,315].
103. The olde turkish grouch": '7here was also a silver dollar . . . the prototype of the eXisting German thaler, the old Turkish grouch, and many other coins" [ibid. ].
104. Amsterdam . . . : "The 'Confederation of Bergers' was formed in 1566; the revolu? tion was proclaimed in 1572; paper money
. was issued in 1574; the Jews of Amsterdam organized a sort of Wissel bank in 1607; and the bank of Amsterdam, which, under the authority of the city, imitated and then des- troyed the Wissel bank and forbade the Jews from dealing in exchange, was established in 1609" [HMS,321. 322].
617
not in the source, are Pound's summary of a central Social Credit thesis.
106. Ike, '55: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890-1969, president of the U. S. , 1953- 1961.
107. Baffico . . . papers: In "Economic Na- ture of the United States," Pound wrote: "A perfect example of instinctive monetary good sense is met today in this small town. The newsvendor, -Mr. Baffico . . . because he lacked the necessary sma1l change . . . has had some little tags printed which he now gives to his patrons" [IMP, 39;SP, 184].
108. giornaIi: I, "newspapers. "
109. legat de Leices! re: L, "envoy from Lei- cester. "
sentence was enforced
[HMS,297-298].
March 3,
1719"
98. Copjenhaven . . . : "In 1745 it [the Bank of Copenhagen, founded in 1736] was released from the obligation of discharging its notes in coin. . . . This bank had issued paper to the amount of eleven millions of riksdalers, when the king returned their de- posits to the shareholders and became him- self the sole proprietor" [HMS, 303]. Then, "all further emission of notes was forbidden, and a progressive liquidation of the p~per
105. Del Mar . . . buyables: These four
lines,
110. Thomas
Henry VI11 issued an ordinance to "Thomas, Cardinal of York, . . . legat de Leicestre of the See Apostolic. . . . " Since gold and silver coins, "in the realm of France, as also in the emperor's Low Countries," were bringing higher prices than they were in England, "the money of our realm is daily . . . con-
veyed out of this realm into parts beyonds the seas. " Something had to be done to stop the flow. The king "determined that OUr coins . . . shall be . . .
from henceforth made of such fineness . . . as may be equivalent . . . in outward parts" [HMS, 323].
111. "Ad perpetuam . . . memoriam": L, "In perpetual memory of their divine libera- tion from tyranny" [HMS, 327].
112. "'Rien de ce rnonde": P, "nothing in this world. "
113. "Godt behoede": D, "God protect. "
114. Pugno pro patria: L, "Fight for [your] country. " "The revolutionary moneys of Leyden were of white pasteboard, round, about I 1/2 inches in diameter and stamped or embossed to resemble a coin . . . . Their deonominations were 24 and 40 stivers. The former bore on one side . . . 'Godt behoede Leyden,' or God protect Leyden. The latter
. Realm: In 1526
? I
618
had the city arms on one side, and 'Pugno propatria' " [HMS,327n. ].
97/673
. . .
"Is it
of Prussia were nationalized in 1806 and are in circulation today" [HMS, 353].
120. Octonary sun-worshiping: Del Mar dis- cusses two systems of weights for coinage in the 16th century and concludes: "To the experienced metrologist it is evident that both of these are hybrid systems, originating remotely in the octonary numbers and rela- tions of the sun-worship practiced in the countries of the Baltic" [HMS, 356]. Pound uses it as a musical figure recalling the sun- rites of Sargon the Great [94:55; cf. 240
below], already dealt with, and rites to come in later cantos [Peck, Pai, 1-1,27-28].
121. 371 1/4 grains: "In Spain and America during the eighteenth century it [the thaler] never fell below 3711/4 grains fine, and there it stands today in the coinage of the United States" lHMS,359].
122. as I have seen them: Pound's memory of watching men shoveling coins in a Phila- delphia mint that he visited with his father at the age of 8. He wrote Sir Montagu Webb, a British businessman: "Silver I saw, as no Aladdin, for when Cleveland was elected there was the recount of four million in the Mint vaults, the bags had rotted, and the men half-naked with open gas flares, shov- elled it into the counting-machines, with a gleam on tarnished discs" [NS, Life, 7].
123. Theresa's 390- . . . Salzburg: [Cf. above]. Other data from the tables: "Aus- tria, before 1753-390; . . . Saltzburg-
125. Kitson: Arthur K. , 1860-1937, one of Pound's favorite writers about monetary pol- icy [SP, 179,339,341,448]. Kitson wrote A Scientific Solution of the Money Ques- tion, Boston, 1894; A Fraudulent Standard,
1917, rpl. Omni Publications, 1972.
126. Legal . . . Zollverein: "From 1st Janu- ary, 1841, the thaler . . . was to be the sale full legal-tender money of the Prussian States. . . . Besides this, a new coin . . . was to be struck, 7 to the mark fine, which should be legal in all the States of the Zollve- rein" [HMS,359-360].
127. crisis: "In 1873 there was a crisis,S" note 8 says: "Paper money 106 millions more than previous year" [RMS, 363].
128. in vain did Hume: A great fear grew in the commercial world: so much gold would be mixed and become money that disastrous inflation, "that is disastrous to millionaires," would result. "In vain had Hume . . . shown that rises of prices occasioned by an increase of metallic money had benefited not only the poor, but the rich as well" [HMS,370].
129. Hume: Joseph H. , 1777-1855, a mem- ber of the House of Commons who made a number of speeches over the years on mone- tary questions, many of which were pub- lished, such as: "On the Banks of England; and the State of the Currency" (1839) and "Economy and Retrenchment" (1822).
130. in vain Von Humboldt: In vain had Von Humboldt, whose familiarity with his- tory . . . and with mining should have enti- tled him to speak with some authority . . . assured the world that the vast disparity between the world's stock of coins of the precious metals, compared with any addi- tions that might be made to it, rendered the latter a very trifling factor in the account . . .
His 5-vo1. Cosmos proved him one of the great minds of the 19th century. Del Mar calls him "this most illustrious of Germans and of savants" but says, "Von Humboldt's book, 'The Fluctuations of Gold,' was COll- signed to obliVion, and the essays of the Metallic School were hailed with applause, translated into all languages, and published in every country of Europe and America"
[ibid. ].
132. Such suckers . . . Liverpool: The "Me- tallic School" taught that "the unit of mon- ey is both the whole volume of money and each indivisible fraction of it; money is me- tal, and metal is money; finally, the national honor is subject to the comparative output of the gold and silver mines! All these and many other sophistries will be found in the essays of Harris, Chevalier and Lord liver- pool" [HMS, 371]. This issue involves a central doctrine of Social Credit, now several hundred years old. One must understand why Hume, Von Humboldt, Douglas, Kit- son, Orage, Pound, and dozens of others found these arguments "sophistries" to un- derstand the central thesis of Social Credit.
To agree with the "Metallic School" is to agree that money is just a form of barter and not a legal instrument [Del Mar, Science, 25-56].
133. Cobden: "[These sophistries] led . . . Mr. Cobden to recommend corn rents and payments in kind. " A footnote says: "Che- valier's essays were published . . . shortly af- ter the opening of California. Most of the sophistries [are] . . . in the first chapter of his subsequent work 'The Fall in the Value of Gold,' translated by Cobden" [HMS, 371].
115. degradations
yet clearly understood that whatever degra- dation of money was committed by the em- perors, whatever debasement was afterwards committed by the kings, these have since been vastly exceeded by the dishonest use made of 'individual' coinage and the control of bank issues? Not at all. The Emperors of Rome controlled emissions . . . for thirteen centuries, and the kings and dukes for nearly four centuries afterwards; whilst the usurers
have held it to the present time, for about two centuries. . . . During these two centu- ries . . . more losses have been occasioned to the industrial classes . . . than were made by alI the degradations and debasements of the Imperial and regal periods put together. . . . 'The control of money' says an eloquent writer on the subject, 'is the ground upon which an international or cosmopolitan com- bination "finances" the world and "farms" humanity. ' " [HMS,330-331].
116. Kitson, Fenton . . . : Del Mar footnote identifying the eloquent writer: "Reginald Fenton, Esq. formerly of Kim- berly, South Africa, now of San Diego, Cali- fornia. 'The distribution of wealth and the exploitation of some men by others are de-
pendent upon money. ' Count Leo Tolstoi in his Essay on Money in Kitson's 'Scientific Solution of the Money Question'" [HMS, 33In. ; EH,Pai, 4-1,182-185].
117. Brooks Adams: American historian, 1848-1927, whose works, especially The Law o f Civilization and Decay, were admired
by Pound [SP, 307-309].
118. "Salzburg: Saltzburg. "In 1763 an im-
perial decree. ,. established a convention coinage rate [for North German States]: . . . 360. 8 grains fine siher to the riks thaler effectives . . . the Austrian 'effectives' struck under this convention actually contained but 353. 7 grains . . . Saltzburg alone struck them
of full weight" [HMS, 352].
119. The 1806 . . . years: "The paper notes
resemblance:
has a
3581/5; . . . Austria 1753 (nominally actually-3533/4" [HMS,358].
118
361 gr)
124. Bryan: William Jennings B. ,
1925. During Bryan's campaign for president in 1896, Arthur Kitson jumped on his free- silver bandwagon. Since Kitson was for de- monetizing silver, that seemed strange. After Bryan's death, Kitson said Bryan understood "that the real issue was to gain presidential control of the national credit" [EH, Pai, 4-1,
183]. Pound wrote to Stock years later: "William J. Bryan admitted to Arthur Kitson many years ago that the 'Free Silver' cam- paign was window dressing" [ibid. ].
1850-
97/673-674
619
usurers . . .
131. V on Hutnboldt:
von H. , 1769-1859, German scientist, ex- plorer, and natural philosopher, who served in the Prussian department of mines and afterwards made worldwide explorations.
the money-lenders and ter" [HMS, 370] .
knew bet-
Alexander
Freiherr
134. V on
more power to banks to issue money, "in the interest of international circulation," were opposed by some: "the declaration of Von Schultz, that to sign away the indepen- dence of the State in reference to money would constitute an act of treason. " A foot- note to this statement says: "Sir Wrn. Har- court said he was 'not willing to place the
Schultz:
Arguments
to extend
? ? 620
97/674
97/674-675
currency of England at the mercy of foreign States' " [HMS,378].
135.
97/672
97/672-673
used instead of clipping to remove small quantities of gold or silver from coins.
92. Mons of Jute . . . record: King Christian of Denmark, "a tyrant as well as a Zealot," and his minister, "who was little better than a wild beast," by "the grossest indigni- ties . . . had fired the Gothic blood. " The Pope's legate "by the sale of indulgences and other artifices . . . [had] managed to squeeze Qut of the poorest country in Europe nearly 'two millions of florins'. . . . " At this point, "It was not merely Norway and Sweden that rose up to throw off the shackles of Rome, it was all Scandinavia. . . . Jutland . . . trans- mitted to the tyrant of Denmark a demand
of deposition which was read to him by a single unarmed man . . . whose act should never be permitted to fall into oblivion. This hero's name was Mons, and it deserves to be written over the gateway of every oppres- sor" [HMS, 278-279]. Justice, as in Dante's "Thrones," demands that he not be for- gotten. .
93. Vasa klipped . . . : "The unlooked? for result of Mons' brave act was the abdication and flight of the cowardly Christian. His uncle Frederick was chosen in his place but the real sovereign was Gustavus Vasa. . . [King] Christian . . . had introduced the klip- pings for the sake of personal profit; Gusta- vus issued them for the benefit of his country" [HMS,279].
94. Lycurgus, nomisma: "All the great en- franchisements of society have been accom- plished with the aid of fiduciary money. The Spartans won their liberties with the iron discs of Lycurgus; the Athenians . . . rehabil- itated the republic with 'nomisma,' a highly overvalued copper issue" [HMS, 279].
95. "limitation . . . OJ: "When the people take the government of a country into their own hands wealth naturally hides itself, and the first form of wealth to disappear is the precious metals. The moment a revolution or a civil war is declared gold and silver disap- pear [cf. 67 above]. Thereupon the emission of fiduciary money by the State becomes imperative" [HMS, 280]. A central thesis of
Social Credit, Douglas, and The Cantos. But the key to preventing infiation is the proper relation of "fiduciary money" to tax policy and the production of goods and services, or "limitation": "These [are the] principles of money-namely, that Money is a Mea- sure, . . . that the Unit of money is All Mon- ey within a given legal jurisdiction, [and] that the practical Essence of money is Limi- tation" [HMS, preface, 8; Science, 25-55].
96. Goertz von Schlitz: George Heinrich de Goertz, Baron von Schlitz, financial adviser to Charles XII of Sweden. "After the defeat of Charles XII. at Pultowa and his return from captivity money was scarce. . . . " Goertz had what seemed a good idea: issue copper dollars with the king's stamp as legal tender. The idea might have worked except for two factors: "First, government was too prostrate and weak to sustain a fiduciary money. Second, Goertz did not place any limitations upon the coinage. This (limita- tion) is the main principle and essence of money" [HMS,295. 296].
97. executed: After the death of King Charles in 1718, Goertz was charged with a dozen monetary crimes, including pecula- tion and ruining the public credit. Del Mar quotes from another source: "'the case went on without regard to formality or per- haps to equity. The court and the citizens seemed equally determined to hound him to death. _. . He was condemned to lose his head, and at a place appointed for the execu- tion of felons'" [Modern Univers. Hist. , XXX, 288]. Del Mar concludes: "This cruel
was ordered. " After that the king quit, and "a new bank was created which was . . . in- dependent of the government. " Then the bankers began their crooked deals over again [HMS, 303? 304].
99. 15. 08 . . . 1873: "The Scandinavian States practically demonetized silver. . . . 'The basis of conversion adopted was the proportion of silver to gold of 15. 08 for 1'. . . . These provisions were adopted in the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian laws of May 23,1873" [HMS, 306].
100. Mr Benton: [88:80,95:22].
101. Friesland . . . : In a chapter on the Netherlands, Del Mar traces the coinage of early centuries and relates it to the coinage of other states at the time. "1 regard the silver pieces of Friesland. . . as typically quarter-dirhems _. . or half-deniers. It is of no practical consequence [which] _. . jf as half-deniers, they should bear a ratio of 12 to the gold shilling of the empire, which they do not; whereas, if as quarter-dirhems,
they should bear a ratio of 61/2 to the quarter-dinars of Saracenic Spain, which they do" [HMS,312].
102. "The olde double-ducat: "During the Burgundian period, some of the Dutch du- cats now called double ducats . . . were 23 carats 31/2 grains fine (Budelins, p. 249, 'Old Double Ducat')" [HMS,315].
103. The olde turkish grouch": '7here was also a silver dollar . . . the prototype of the eXisting German thaler, the old Turkish grouch, and many other coins" [ibid. ].
104. Amsterdam . . . : "The 'Confederation of Bergers' was formed in 1566; the revolu? tion was proclaimed in 1572; paper money
. was issued in 1574; the Jews of Amsterdam organized a sort of Wissel bank in 1607; and the bank of Amsterdam, which, under the authority of the city, imitated and then des- troyed the Wissel bank and forbade the Jews from dealing in exchange, was established in 1609" [HMS,321. 322].
617
not in the source, are Pound's summary of a central Social Credit thesis.
106. Ike, '55: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890-1969, president of the U. S. , 1953- 1961.
107. Baffico . . . papers: In "Economic Na- ture of the United States," Pound wrote: "A perfect example of instinctive monetary good sense is met today in this small town. The newsvendor, -Mr. Baffico . . . because he lacked the necessary sma1l change . . . has had some little tags printed which he now gives to his patrons" [IMP, 39;SP, 184].
108. giornaIi: I, "newspapers. "
109. legat de Leices! re: L, "envoy from Lei- cester. "
sentence was enforced
[HMS,297-298].
March 3,
1719"
98. Copjenhaven . . . : "In 1745 it [the Bank of Copenhagen, founded in 1736] was released from the obligation of discharging its notes in coin. . . . This bank had issued paper to the amount of eleven millions of riksdalers, when the king returned their de- posits to the shareholders and became him- self the sole proprietor" [HMS, 303]. Then, "all further emission of notes was forbidden, and a progressive liquidation of the p~per
105. Del Mar . . . buyables: These four
lines,
110. Thomas
Henry VI11 issued an ordinance to "Thomas, Cardinal of York, . . . legat de Leicestre of the See Apostolic. . . . " Since gold and silver coins, "in the realm of France, as also in the emperor's Low Countries," were bringing higher prices than they were in England, "the money of our realm is daily . . . con-
veyed out of this realm into parts beyonds the seas. " Something had to be done to stop the flow. The king "determined that OUr coins . . . shall be . . .
from henceforth made of such fineness . . . as may be equivalent . . . in outward parts" [HMS, 323].
111. "Ad perpetuam . . . memoriam": L, "In perpetual memory of their divine libera- tion from tyranny" [HMS, 327].
112. "'Rien de ce rnonde": P, "nothing in this world. "
113. "Godt behoede": D, "God protect. "
114. Pugno pro patria: L, "Fight for [your] country. " "The revolutionary moneys of Leyden were of white pasteboard, round, about I 1/2 inches in diameter and stamped or embossed to resemble a coin . . . . Their deonominations were 24 and 40 stivers. The former bore on one side . . . 'Godt behoede Leyden,' or God protect Leyden. The latter
. Realm: In 1526
? I
618
had the city arms on one side, and 'Pugno propatria' " [HMS,327n. ].
97/673
. . .
"Is it
of Prussia were nationalized in 1806 and are in circulation today" [HMS, 353].
120. Octonary sun-worshiping: Del Mar dis- cusses two systems of weights for coinage in the 16th century and concludes: "To the experienced metrologist it is evident that both of these are hybrid systems, originating remotely in the octonary numbers and rela- tions of the sun-worship practiced in the countries of the Baltic" [HMS, 356]. Pound uses it as a musical figure recalling the sun- rites of Sargon the Great [94:55; cf. 240
below], already dealt with, and rites to come in later cantos [Peck, Pai, 1-1,27-28].
121. 371 1/4 grains: "In Spain and America during the eighteenth century it [the thaler] never fell below 3711/4 grains fine, and there it stands today in the coinage of the United States" lHMS,359].
122. as I have seen them: Pound's memory of watching men shoveling coins in a Phila- delphia mint that he visited with his father at the age of 8. He wrote Sir Montagu Webb, a British businessman: "Silver I saw, as no Aladdin, for when Cleveland was elected there was the recount of four million in the Mint vaults, the bags had rotted, and the men half-naked with open gas flares, shov- elled it into the counting-machines, with a gleam on tarnished discs" [NS, Life, 7].
123. Theresa's 390- . . . Salzburg: [Cf. above]. Other data from the tables: "Aus- tria, before 1753-390; . . . Saltzburg-
125. Kitson: Arthur K. , 1860-1937, one of Pound's favorite writers about monetary pol- icy [SP, 179,339,341,448]. Kitson wrote A Scientific Solution of the Money Ques- tion, Boston, 1894; A Fraudulent Standard,
1917, rpl. Omni Publications, 1972.
126. Legal . . . Zollverein: "From 1st Janu- ary, 1841, the thaler . . . was to be the sale full legal-tender money of the Prussian States. . . . Besides this, a new coin . . . was to be struck, 7 to the mark fine, which should be legal in all the States of the Zollve- rein" [HMS,359-360].
127. crisis: "In 1873 there was a crisis,S" note 8 says: "Paper money 106 millions more than previous year" [RMS, 363].
128. in vain did Hume: A great fear grew in the commercial world: so much gold would be mixed and become money that disastrous inflation, "that is disastrous to millionaires," would result. "In vain had Hume . . . shown that rises of prices occasioned by an increase of metallic money had benefited not only the poor, but the rich as well" [HMS,370].
129. Hume: Joseph H. , 1777-1855, a mem- ber of the House of Commons who made a number of speeches over the years on mone- tary questions, many of which were pub- lished, such as: "On the Banks of England; and the State of the Currency" (1839) and "Economy and Retrenchment" (1822).
130. in vain Von Humboldt: In vain had Von Humboldt, whose familiarity with his- tory . . . and with mining should have enti- tled him to speak with some authority . . . assured the world that the vast disparity between the world's stock of coins of the precious metals, compared with any addi- tions that might be made to it, rendered the latter a very trifling factor in the account . . .
His 5-vo1. Cosmos proved him one of the great minds of the 19th century. Del Mar calls him "this most illustrious of Germans and of savants" but says, "Von Humboldt's book, 'The Fluctuations of Gold,' was COll- signed to obliVion, and the essays of the Metallic School were hailed with applause, translated into all languages, and published in every country of Europe and America"
[ibid. ].
132. Such suckers . . . Liverpool: The "Me- tallic School" taught that "the unit of mon- ey is both the whole volume of money and each indivisible fraction of it; money is me- tal, and metal is money; finally, the national honor is subject to the comparative output of the gold and silver mines! All these and many other sophistries will be found in the essays of Harris, Chevalier and Lord liver- pool" [HMS, 371]. This issue involves a central doctrine of Social Credit, now several hundred years old. One must understand why Hume, Von Humboldt, Douglas, Kit- son, Orage, Pound, and dozens of others found these arguments "sophistries" to un- derstand the central thesis of Social Credit.
To agree with the "Metallic School" is to agree that money is just a form of barter and not a legal instrument [Del Mar, Science, 25-56].
133. Cobden: "[These sophistries] led . . . Mr. Cobden to recommend corn rents and payments in kind. " A footnote says: "Che- valier's essays were published . . . shortly af- ter the opening of California. Most of the sophistries [are] . . . in the first chapter of his subsequent work 'The Fall in the Value of Gold,' translated by Cobden" [HMS, 371].
115. degradations
yet clearly understood that whatever degra- dation of money was committed by the em- perors, whatever debasement was afterwards committed by the kings, these have since been vastly exceeded by the dishonest use made of 'individual' coinage and the control of bank issues? Not at all. The Emperors of Rome controlled emissions . . . for thirteen centuries, and the kings and dukes for nearly four centuries afterwards; whilst the usurers
have held it to the present time, for about two centuries. . . . During these two centu- ries . . . more losses have been occasioned to the industrial classes . . . than were made by alI the degradations and debasements of the Imperial and regal periods put together. . . . 'The control of money' says an eloquent writer on the subject, 'is the ground upon which an international or cosmopolitan com- bination "finances" the world and "farms" humanity. ' " [HMS,330-331].
116. Kitson, Fenton . . . : Del Mar footnote identifying the eloquent writer: "Reginald Fenton, Esq. formerly of Kim- berly, South Africa, now of San Diego, Cali- fornia. 'The distribution of wealth and the exploitation of some men by others are de-
pendent upon money. ' Count Leo Tolstoi in his Essay on Money in Kitson's 'Scientific Solution of the Money Question'" [HMS, 33In. ; EH,Pai, 4-1,182-185].
117. Brooks Adams: American historian, 1848-1927, whose works, especially The Law o f Civilization and Decay, were admired
by Pound [SP, 307-309].
118. "Salzburg: Saltzburg. "In 1763 an im-
perial decree. ,. established a convention coinage rate [for North German States]: . . . 360. 8 grains fine siher to the riks thaler effectives . . . the Austrian 'effectives' struck under this convention actually contained but 353. 7 grains . . . Saltzburg alone struck them
of full weight" [HMS, 352].
119. The 1806 . . . years: "The paper notes
resemblance:
has a
3581/5; . . . Austria 1753 (nominally actually-3533/4" [HMS,358].
118
361 gr)
124. Bryan: William Jennings B. ,
1925. During Bryan's campaign for president in 1896, Arthur Kitson jumped on his free- silver bandwagon. Since Kitson was for de- monetizing silver, that seemed strange. After Bryan's death, Kitson said Bryan understood "that the real issue was to gain presidential control of the national credit" [EH, Pai, 4-1,
183]. Pound wrote to Stock years later: "William J. Bryan admitted to Arthur Kitson many years ago that the 'Free Silver' cam- paign was window dressing" [ibid. ].
1850-
97/673-674
619
usurers . . .
131. V on Hutnboldt:
von H. , 1769-1859, German scientist, ex- plorer, and natural philosopher, who served in the Prussian department of mines and afterwards made worldwide explorations.
the money-lenders and ter" [HMS, 370] .
knew bet-
Alexander
Freiherr
134. V on
more power to banks to issue money, "in the interest of international circulation," were opposed by some: "the declaration of Von Schultz, that to sign away the indepen- dence of the State in reference to money would constitute an act of treason. " A foot- note to this statement says: "Sir Wrn. Har- court said he was 'not willing to place the
Schultz:
Arguments
to extend
? ? 620
97/674
97/674-675
currency of England at the mercy of foreign States' " [HMS,378].
135.
