But,  if  a  right  adjustment  of  the  matter  be  truly  of  such
nicety  and  difficulty,  a  question  naturally  arises,  whether  it  may
not  be  most  advisable  to  leave  things,  in  this  respect,  in  the  state
in  which  they  are?  Why,  might  it  be  asked,  since  they  have
80  long  proceeded  in  a  train  which  has  caused  no  general  sensa-
tion of  inconvenience,  should  alterations  be  attempted,  the  pre-
cise effect  of  which  cannot  with  certainty  be  calculated  ?

The  answer  to  this  question  is  not  perplexing.  The  immense
disorder  which  actually  reigns  in  so  delicate  and  important  a
concern,  and  the  still  greater  disorder  which  is  every  moment
possible,  call  loudly  for  a  reform.    The  dollar  originally  contem-


150  HAMILTON'S    WORKS.  [Mi.U.
plated  in  the  money  transactions  of  this  country,  by  successive
diminutions  of  its  weight  and  fineness,  has  sustained  a  depreci-
ation of  five  per  cent.,  and  yet  the  new  dollar  has  a  currency,  in
all  payments  in  place  of  the  old,  with  scarcely  any  attention  to
the  difference  between  them.  The  operation  of  this  in  depred-
ating the  value  of  property,  depending  upon  past  contracts ;  and,
(as  far  as  inattention  to  the  alteration  in  the  coin  may  be  sup-
posed to  leave  prices  stationary)  of  all  other  property,  is  appa-
rent. Nor  can  it  require  argimient  to  prove  that  a  nation  ought
not  to  suffer  the  value  of  the  property  of  its  citizens  to  fluctuate
with  the  fluctuations  of  a  foreign  mint,  and  to  change  with  the
changes  in  the  regulations  of  a  foreign  sovereign.  This,  never-
theless, is  the  condition  of  one  which,  having  no  coins  of  its  own,
adopts  with  implicit  confidence  those  of  other  countries.
