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THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF

pressed, of money, which can be lent at interest in any coun-try, is not regulated by the value of the money, whether paperor coin, which serves as the instrument of the different loansmade in that country, but by the value of that part of theannual produce, which, as soon as it comes either from theground, or from the hands of the productive labourers, isdestined not only for replacing a capital, but such a capitalas the owner does not care to be at the trouble of employinghimself. As such capitals arc commonly lent out and paidback in money, they constitute what is called the moniedinterest. It is distinct, not only from the landed, but fromthe trading and manufacturing interests, as in these last theowners themselves employ their own capitals. Even in themonied interest, however, the money is, as it were, but thedeed of assignment, which conveys from one hand to anotherthose capitals, which the owners do not care to employ them-selves. Those capitals may be greater in almost any propor-tion, than the amount of the money which serves as the in-strument of their conveyance; the same pieces of money suc-cessively serving for many different loans, as well as for manydifferent purchases. A, for example, lends to W a thousandpounds, with which W immediately purchases of 13 a thousandpounds’ wortlyof goods. 13 having no occasion for the moneyhimself, lends the identical pieces to X, with which X imme-diately purchases of C another thousand pounds’ worth ofgoods. C, in the same manner, and for the same reason,lends them to Y, who again purchases goods with them of 13.In this manner the same pieces, either of coin or of paper,may, in the course of a few days, serve as the instrument ofthree different loans, and of three different purchases, eachof which is, in value, equal to the whole amount of thosepieces. What the three monied men, A, 13, and C, assign to thethree borrowers, W, X, Y, is the power of making those pur-chases. In this power consist both the value and the useof the loans. The stock lent by the three monied men isequal to the value of the goods which can be purchased withit, and is three times greater than that of the money withwhich the purchases are made. Those loans, however, maybe all perfectly well secured, the goods purchased by thedifferent debtors being so employed, as in due time to bringback, with a profit, an equal value either of coin or of paper.And as the same pieces of money can thus serve as the in-strument of different loans to three, or, for the same reason,