That new Money should be coined at twenty pence an ounce,Silver;and that the old Money should be still left current at the third part of the value for which now it goeth,as six pence to be current for two pence,and twelve pence for a groat,so as all Fractions should be avoided:and the gold should be reduced to a like Proportion,and that all contracts and payments,from such a day to come,should be made and paid in new Money or in old Money,valuing it only at the third part of the new Money;But if the Proposition were simply thus,it were insupportable,for then he that sits now at a rent of 10l.a year,and is hardly able to pay it should in effect,after the day when the new money is to be current,pay thirty pounds a year;and he that borrowed ten pounds before that day,after that day shall pay thirty,and so it would be of all other payments.And it is no satisfaction to say,That would be no Injustice,because he that pays Money,either for Debt or Rent,or any other waies,must receive it from others,be it either in Debt,Rent,or for the price of any thing to be sold,and so he shall pay no more in Proportion than he shall receive:for it if be true,which is the mainest Benefit propounded by this Reduction,that as the price of Money shall be abased so the price of all things will abate in Proportion,then he that is to raise his payments out of the price of other things shall raise no more in intrinsical value than he should have done before,yet he shall pay in intrinsical value thrice as much as he did before.
To solve this Objection,there are two ways propounded,but either of them have their Inconveniences;The first is,that this payment in new Money shall only extend to future contracts and that all former contracts shall either be paid in old Money or in new Money valued at three times the old Money:but if you admit of this,you shall by this Reduction only raise a great rumour and confusion among the people,and all the benefits propounded are quite blown away.
Besides the Injustice,as it was very apparent to all that were to pay Money in the former way,so it is as apparent in this way to all that are to receive Money,for that they shall receive in extrinsical value but two pence for six pence,and one shilling for 3shillings,but above all others,the King would be most prejudiced.
The second way of solving the former Objection is this,That all payments,for the future,should be made in new Money or in old,valuing the old a third part,and that in like manner all antient Contracts,Rents,and Rights reserved should be acquitted in new Money,or in old Money valued at the third part of the new,and that his wold of antient Contracts and Rights,should be defined from such a time as since which the prices of things have encreased,as the value of Money is by this Reduction to be abated;As for Example,Since the year of the eighteenth of Henry the Eighth,when he began to coin Base money,since which time generally the price of things is trebled at the least,in some more,in some less.And that all Contracts and payments reserved,since the eighteenth year of Henry the Eighth,until the day when the new Money is made current,should be acquitted in old Money,or in new Money valued three times as much as the old:By this means the Injustice of the former ways seemeth to be equally parted,in that some Receivers by this way should gain and some Receivers should loose,and some Payers should gain and some should loose.
But this Proposition brings with it a new Inconvenience,which is,That this time of the eighteenth of Henry the Eighth,being so antient,it would breed many Controversies,as to what payments were contracted for or reserved before that time or not.
But suppose that this Reduction were effected,and that our Moneys were both by reputed valuation and by exchange compared with Forrein Moneys,according to their true intrinsical value,yet do I not see that this Reformation,for all this,would be stable and permanent;for if afterwards other Nations shall by degrees again diminish the Intrinsical value of their Moneys,either we must resolve to stand firm to this Reduction,and so to take the hazard of all losses and Inconveniences which the not raising of our Moneys when our Neighbours raise theirs do bring with it;or if we shall raise again as they shall raise theirs,then all the benefit of this troublesome Reduction will be,That we shall yet be three hundred years longer ere we do grow to so great a diminution in the Intrinsical value of our Moneys,as we do at this present undergo.
