2
Capitel I.
Und endlich behauptet man, dass das Geld eine
Waare sei, die sich von anderen Waaren nur dadurch
interest and raising the value of money 1691 II ed. London 1696.
p. 31: ^.Mankind, having consented to put an imaginary value
upon gold and silver, hy reason of their durableness, scarcely, and
not being very liable to be counterfeited, have made them, by general
consent, the common pledges, tvhereby men are assured, in exchange
for them, to receive equally valuable things, to those they parted
with, for any quantity of these metals/*
D. Hume, Ess. & Treat, vol. II. London 1754 p. 54: „Of
money“: ,,Money is nothing but the represen tation of labour
and commodities and serves only as a method of rating or estimating
them.'* „Of interest“ : ,,Money having merely a fictitious
value, arising from the agreement and convention of men**.
Vgl. auch Montesquieu, de l’esprit des lois L. XXII Ch.II:
,,La monnaie est un signe qui represente la valeur de toutes
les marchandises.**
In neuerer Zeit sind einige Schriftsteller in diese Auffassung
zurückgefallen. So insbesondere Macleod, Diet, of pol. economy.
London 1863. vol. V. Art. Currency: „IVhatever material the
currency may consist of, it represents transferable debt and
nothing else. The true character of money being a pledge. As
he takes is not for any direct use it can be to him, but only
because he believes he can get what he wants when he pleases , it
is general credit, or a bill of exchange on the commercial community.**
AehnlichS. Oppenheim, „dieNatur des Geldes“ (Mainz 1855).
Alle diese Schriftsteller übersehen, dass, wenn auch das Geld
bei jedem Einzelnen zunächst nur deshalb Annahme findet,
weil man sich vermittelst desselben Alles andere zu verschaffen im
Stande ist, der Werth des Geldes in letzter Instanz doch
