Gresh'am, Walter

QUINTON, statesman, born at Corydon, Ind., March 17 1832; educated at Blooming ton University; studied and practiced law; was elected to the Indiana Legislature (1860), but resigned to accept a commi ion in an Indiana regiment of volunteers; served gallantly with Sherman, was severely wounded at Atlanta, and received the brevet of major general for meritorious conduct. Was appointed a U. S. judge in 1869 by President Grant; resigned in 1882 to become postmaster-general under President Arthur; on the death of Secretary Folger (July, 1884) he succeeded to the Treasury portfolio, but in October of the same year accepted an appointment as U. S. judge for the 7th circuit. This position he resigned in 1893 to enter President Cleveland's cabinet as Secretary of State. Mr. G. was a man of unquestioned integrity, whose somewhat erratic political affiliations were doubtle due to the faithful following of his honest convictions. Died May 28, 1895. Gresham's Law. ( Polit . Economy.) The dictum accredited to Sir Thomas Gresham (q. v.), that "bad money drives out good money;" or, stated more explicitly, if two forms of currency, of unequal value, be concurrently in circulation, the inferior or cheaper form will drive out the other through the proce of hoarding or exportation. Contemporary economists are disposed to attach undue importance to this axiom, which, after all, is merely the application of the general law of commodity to money viewed as a commodity, and a restatement of that well-known law of human nature which forbids the use of an expensive article when cheaper one will answer exactly the same purpose. If a coin be "clipped," but still pa es for its face, it will continue to do monetary duty while the unabraded, full weight coin is "driven" into the strong-box or melting pot by the force of its extra grains of metal (and thereupon the latter ceases to be money, and becomes simply and solely a commodity). This is in accordance with the laws of both nature and human nature; upon the same principle no farmer would put 8 quarts into a peck if 7 quarts would command the same in exchange. It was obedience to this very law that caused the disappearance of all the silver money of the U. S. after 1834, when a change in our coinage ratio made the silver dollar slightly more valuable than the gold dollar; that "drove out" all our gold money, after 1861, when the gold currency became worth more, dollar for dollar, than paper; that forced millions of gold (and paper promises to pay gold) into retirement in 1893, when it was alleged and commonly believed that our greenbacks and various forms of silver currency were likely to fall below the gold level. But, acknowledging all this, the question still remains: Which is "good" money, and which "bad"? The Gresham law a umes that the best money is nece arily the dearest; while experience shows that money ceases to perform the monetary function, and actually disappears from the channels of trade, the moment it becomes dear as compared with any other contemporary form of currency. A razor that will not cut can hardly be considered a "good" razor, though made of gold and studded with diamonds; a "bad" one, made of ordinary cast-steel with a horn handle, will "drive it out," providing the latter will shave smoothly. It may be fairly questioned whether a form of money that is, or may become, so dear that it will not perform its function as a circulating medium of exchange, or that is likely to be driven completely 1 out of the channels of trade at any time by the operations of speculators, the alteration of coinage laws, or the changing fortunes of mining enterprises, can be properly considered "good" money. If it be true that the primary purpose and most important duty of money is to facilitate the exchange of commodities and services, it must logically follow that "good" money is that which circulates freely, and "bad" money that which circulates imperfectly. The worst form, then, would be that which does not circulate at all; and this is undoubtedly the condition a umed by Sir Thomas Gresham's "good" money when it is "driven out" by his "bad" money-the latter alone remaining to serve the needs of trade. See MONEY; BIMETALLISM. Gret'na, in Louisiana , a post-town, cap. of Jefferson parish, 3 m. W. of New Orleans, on So. Pac. and two other railroads. Has large oil mills and cooperage works. Pop . (1890) 3,332.