9. In a recent election seven ballots were placed in the hands of each voter. On each ticket were printed the names of forty candidates. Most of the voters were not familiar with even the names of any except two or three at the head of the ticket. According to the short ballot plan, votes would have been cast only for these well known candidates and those elected would have been made responsible for selecting the rest of the long list. List the arguments for and against the short ballot.

10. Explain the use of the referendum.

11. Sea captains, railroad engineers and school teachers are not selected because of membership in a political party. Compare civil service examinations with the test of party membership as a means of securing capable officers.

PART THREE

THE PROBLEMS OF GOVERNMENT AND HOW

WE ARE MEETING THEM

Successful business demands the correct use of words. Study these terms relating to money until you can use them correctly.

How Money Came into Use. The use of money as a medium of exchange was common among ancient peoples. At first all exchange of goods was accomplished by barter or trade. Soon some well known, desirable article became a standard of value. The cow was frequently used among early peoples as such a standard. The amount of grain, the number of sheep or manufactured articles of value equal to a cow became common knowledge in the community. In time the value of some metal which was comparatively scarce became established. The cow could not be carried around and

traded for other articles, but a lump of the metal equal in value to the cow could be substituted. Metal had large value in small bulk and could be easily divided into lumps one-half or one-fourth the value of a cow without loss. It was thus convenient to use in making exchange of goods. Rings and bars equal in value to a cow became common. Weighing the metal to make sure that the pieces were full size became necessary; traders carried scales to weigh metal used in making exchange for goods. The next step was stamping the lump of metal by some one in whom the people had confidence, usually the king.

A people who lived in Asia Minor known as Lydians are thought to have been the first to coin money. The practice of coining money spread to the Greeks and Romans and has continued since. Many times standard money has been scarce and something else has been used instead. The use of tobacco in Virginia is one instance.

Good Money. Good money must be valuable itself, readily divided and reunited without loss, easily carried from one place to another, not too hard to recognize and distinguish from other substances, and must hold the same value for long periods of time. No substance meets all these requirements perfectly, but gold more nearly does it than anything else yet discovered.

The Uses of Money. 1. Money is used as a medium of exchange. We are all familiar with this use. If we have money we can exchange it for clothing, food, books, a trip to Europe, or almost anything we desire.

2. Money is used as a standard of deferred payments. A man without money needs a suit of clothes and agrees to pay a certain amount of money for it in six months. In this way

he is using money not as a medium of exchange, but as a standard of deferred payment. All saving and borrowing, as well as our entire banking system depend upon this use of money.

3. Money is used as a standard of comparison. Suppose a boy wants a bicycle and a baseball. He learns the price of each, compares the two desires in terms of dollars and makes his decision. A man receives a salary of $100.00 a month. If he spends wisely, he compares things he may secure for himself and family in terms of dollars. He can rent one house for $15.00 or a better one for $25.00. The costs of clothing, fuel, groceries and other articles are compared and a list of items for which he will spend the $100.00 is made out. He has used money as a standard of comparison. The list he has made out showing his income and the items he has decided to buy is sometimes called a budget.

In

Standard Money. Gold and silver each have many of the qualities of good money. Gold has much greater value in the same weight, but both metals have been extensively used. Their market value changes with supply and demand. 1792 our government made both silver and gold standard money and fixed a ratio of value between them by law. There was just fifteen times as much silver as gold in a dollar. This was called a legal ratio of 15 to 1. The value of one grain of gold was a little more than the value of fifteen grains of silver; for this reason people did not have gold coined and there was little in circulation. In 1834 Congress changed the ratio from 15 to 1, to 16 to 1. But sixteen grains of silver was worth more on the market than one grain of sold as bullion instead of being coined. circulation and there was little or no

gold, and silver was Gold then came into silver money. The

United States government had since Washington's time coined both silver and gold at its mints making only sufficient charge to pay the expense of the work. Anyone could take all the silver or gold he had to the mint and have it made into money. In 1873 Congress prohibited the coinage of silver on these terms but gold was coined as before. That act had the effect

of making gold the only standard money. Finally in 1900 a law was passed making gold the standard money in the United States. Gold standard has been adopted in all the great countries of the world. The use of the same metal as standard money in all the countries simplifies the problems of trade very much.

Kinds of Money. There are eleven kinds of money in circulation in the United States. The government keeps all of them on an equality (or at par value) by giving gold in exchange for any of the other kinds of money at any time. The

1