Alexander del Mar
Encyclopedia
Alexander del Mar, also Alex Delmar (1836–1926), was an American political economist, historian, numismatist and author.
In business affairs he was frequently referred to in contemporary reports and newspapers as Delmar; however, many of his published works appeared under the name of del Mar. He sometimes appended the letters C.E. and/or M.E. (respectively "Civil Engineer" and "Mining Engineer") to his name. He was the first director of the Bureau of Statistics at the U.S. Treasury Department
from 1866–69. The US Treasury Department's Bureau of Statistics (1866–1903) should not be confused with the Bureau of Statistics of the US State Department (1874–1897). The two were eventually merged in 1903 under the Department of Commerce and Labor. See
Del Mar was a rigorous historian who made important contributions to the history of money
. He was distinctly hostile to a central monetary role for gold as a commodity money
, championing the cause of silver and its re-monetization as a prerogative of the state. He believed strongly in the legal function of money
. Del Mar dedicated much of his free time to original research in the great libraries and coin collections of Europe on the history of monetary system
s and finance
.
, was born in New York City, August 9, 1836 as oldest son of Jacques and Belle del Mar. He lived for a short period of time in the United Kingdom with his uncle Manuel del Mar and there received an education in humanities by a private tutor
, Sir Arthur Helps
. He was instructed in history, literature
, law, and political economy
.
After graduating from New York University
as a civil engineer
, he was educated as a mining
engineer in Spain at the Madrid School of Mines.
Aged 18, he returned to the U.S. in 1854 to become the financial editor of the short-lived Daily American Times
. He moved to Hunt's Merchant's Magazine in 1860, and in 1863 co-founded and edited with Simon Stern the prestigious quarterly New York Social Science Review (first published in January 1865). He was also involved with the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, founded in 1865 by William Dana.
In 1866 del Mar was appointed as the first director of US Treasury Department
's Bureau of Statistics (now part of the Bureau of Economic Analysis
). At the time the bureau was a board of trade
, with executive functions, among others the supervision of the commissioners of mines, commerce, immigration, etc. Del Mar pioneered the use of a modern and scientific approach to statistics. He remained director until 1869, overseeing numerous reports. He was forced to resign by his superior, David Ames Wells
, and was replaced by Francis Amasa Walker
. Both were ardent supporters of specie
money and opposed to del Mar's convictions of fiat money
.
In 1866 he was appointed the American delegate to the International Monetary Congress which met in Turin
, Italy
.
During the close-fought 1868 presidential election
he was nominated for Secretary of the Treasury under Horatio Seymour
's Democratic ticket.
In 1869 he purchased the Washington-based National Intelligencer
, merged it with the Washington Express and moved its offices to New York in January 1870. It later became the New York City and National Intelligencer which he edited and published until 1872.
He ran under Horace Greeley
's ticket for Secretary of the Treasury during the United States presidential election, 1872
. The coalition between the Democrats and Greeley's Liberal Republican Party was soundly defeated, and the LRP ceased to exist shortly after. In the same year del Mar represented the United States at the international monetary congress in St. Petersburg, Russia
.
In 1877 del Mar was appointed mining commissioner to the U.S. Monetary Commission. This commission was created by Congress in 1876 when it discovered the subterfuge that led to the Panic of 1873
. It was charged to investigate:
In 1878 del Mar was appointed as clerk to the United States House Committee on Expenditures in the Navy Department
.
In 1879 he published his History of the Precious Metals, the labor of twenty-two years of research during his own free time. From 1880 onwards he mainly devoted his professional career to writing.
In 1881, he published A History of Money in Ancient States, in 1885 Money and Civilization, in 1889 The Science of Money, in 1895, A History of Monetary Systems in Modern States, in 1899 A History of Monetary Crimes, in 1900 A History of Money in America, in 1903 A History of Monetary Systems of France. Del Mar also published several archaeological treatises of great interest.
Del Mar was the New York state chairman of the Silver Party
, and spoke at its 1896 Chicago meeting in support of William Jennings Bryan
.
He was editor-in-chief of the American Banker
, 1905–1906. Upon his death, he donated his private library of 15,000 volumes to the American Bankers Association
. Alexander del Mar died in 1926 at the age of ninety.
Del Mar received no scientific or academic recognition from contemporaries, and as a result from this his prescient views were totally excluded from the history of economics.
In business affairs he was frequently referred to in contemporary reports and newspapers as Delmar; however, many of his published works appeared under the name of del Mar. He sometimes appended the letters C.E. and/or M.E. (respectively "Civil Engineer" and "Mining Engineer") to his name. He was the first director of the Bureau of Statistics at the U.S. Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
from 1866–69. The US Treasury Department's Bureau of Statistics (1866–1903) should not be confused with the Bureau of Statistics of the US State Department (1874–1897). The two were eventually merged in 1903 under the Department of Commerce and Labor. See
Del Mar was a rigorous historian who made important contributions to the history of money
History of money
The history of money spans thousands of years. Numismatics is the scientific study of money and its history in all its varied forms.Many items have been used as commodity money such as natural scarce precious metals, cowry shells, barley, beads etc., as well as many other things that are thought of...
. He was distinctly hostile to a central monetary role for gold as a commodity money
Commodity money
Commodity money is money whose value comes from a commodity out of which it is made. It is objects that have value in themselves as well as for use as money....
, championing the cause of silver and its re-monetization as a prerogative of the state. He believed strongly in the legal function of money
Fiat money
Fiat money is money that has value only because of government regulation or law. The term derives from the Latin fiat, meaning "let it be done", as such money is established by government decree. Where fiat money is used as currency, the term fiat currency is used.Fiat money originated in 11th...
. Del Mar dedicated much of his free time to original research in the great libraries and coin collections of Europe on the history of monetary system
Monetary system
A monetary system is anything that is accepted as a standard of value and measure of wealth in a particular region.However, the current trend is to use international trade and investment to alter the policy and legislation of individual governments. The best recent example of this policy is the...
s and finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
.
Biography
Alexander del Mar, of Jewish-Spanish descentMarrano
Marranos were Jews living in the Iberian peninsula who converted to Christianity rather than be expelled but continued to observe rabbinic Judaism in secret...
, was born in New York City, August 9, 1836 as oldest son of Jacques and Belle del Mar. He lived for a short period of time in the United Kingdom with his uncle Manuel del Mar and there received an education in humanities by a private tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
, Sir Arthur Helps
Arthur Helps
Sir Arthur Helps, KCB, DCL , English writer and dean of the Privy Council, youngest son of Thomas Helps, a London merchant, was born in Streatham in South London....
. He was instructed in history, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, law, and political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
.
After graduating from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
as a civil engineer
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
, he was educated as a mining
Mining engineering
Mining engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the practice, the theory, the science, the technology, and application of extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring environment. Mining engineering also includes processing minerals for additional value.Mineral...
engineer in Spain at the Madrid School of Mines.
Aged 18, he returned to the U.S. in 1854 to become the financial editor of the short-lived Daily American Times
Daily American Times
The Daily American Times was a newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1853–1854.The Daily American Times was first published on 8 August 1853 by C. G. Baylor & Co., publishers, and edited...
. He moved to Hunt's Merchant's Magazine in 1860, and in 1863 co-founded and edited with Simon Stern the prestigious quarterly New York Social Science Review (first published in January 1865). He was also involved with the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, founded in 1865 by William Dana.
In 1866 del Mar was appointed as the first director of US Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
's Bureau of Statistics (now part of the Bureau of Economic Analysis
Bureau of Economic Analysis
The Bureau of Economic Analysis is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that provides important economic statistics including the gross domestic product of the United States. Its stated mission is to "promote a better understanding of the U.S...
). At the time the bureau was a board of trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
, with executive functions, among others the supervision of the commissioners of mines, commerce, immigration, etc. Del Mar pioneered the use of a modern and scientific approach to statistics. He remained director until 1869, overseeing numerous reports. He was forced to resign by his superior, David Ames Wells
David Ames Wells
David Ames Wells was an American engineer, textbook author, economist and advocate of low tariffs.-Biography:...
, and was replaced by Francis Amasa Walker
Francis Amasa Walker
Francis Amasa Walker was an American economist, statistician, journalist, educator, academic administrator, and military officer in the Union Army. Walker was born into a prominent Boston family, the son of the economist and politician Amasa Walker, and he graduated from Amherst College at the age...
. Both were ardent supporters of specie
Hard money (policy)
Hard money policies are those which are opposed to fiat currency and thus in support of a specie standard, usually gold or silver, typically implemented with representative money....
money and opposed to del Mar's convictions of fiat money
Fiat money
Fiat money is money that has value only because of government regulation or law. The term derives from the Latin fiat, meaning "let it be done", as such money is established by government decree. Where fiat money is used as currency, the term fiat currency is used.Fiat money originated in 11th...
.
In 1866 he was appointed the American delegate to the International Monetary Congress which met in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
During the close-fought 1868 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1868
The United States presidential election of 1868 was the first presidential election to take place after the American Civil War, during the period referred to as Reconstruction...
he was nominated for Secretary of the Treasury under Horatio Seymour
Horatio Seymour
Horatio Seymour was an American politician. He was the 18th Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States in the presidential election of 1868, but lost the election to Republican and former Union General of...
's Democratic ticket.
In 1869 he purchased the Washington-based National Intelligencer
National Intelligencer
The National Intelligencer newspaper was published in Washington, D.C. from about 1800 until 1870.Until 1810 it was named the National intelligencer, and Washington advertiser. Its name changed to the National Intelligencer starting with the issue of November 27, 1810...
, merged it with the Washington Express and moved its offices to New York in January 1870. It later became the New York City and National Intelligencer which he edited and published until 1872.
He ran under Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
's ticket for Secretary of the Treasury during the United States presidential election, 1872
United States presidential election, 1872
In the United States presidential election of 1872, incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant was easily elected to a second term in office with Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts as his running mate, despite a split within the Republican Party that resulted in a defection of many Liberal Republicans...
. The coalition between the Democrats and Greeley's Liberal Republican Party was soundly defeated, and the LRP ceased to exist shortly after. In the same year del Mar represented the United States at the international monetary congress in St. Petersburg, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
In 1877 del Mar was appointed mining commissioner to the U.S. Monetary Commission. This commission was created by Congress in 1876 when it discovered the subterfuge that led to the Panic of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
. It was charged to investigate:
First. Into the change which has taken place in the relative value of gold and silver; the causes thereof, whether permanent or otherwise; the effects thereof upon trade, commerce, finance, and the productive interests of the country, and upon the standard of value in this and foreign countries; Second. Into the policy of the restoration of the double standard in this country; and, if restored, what the legal relation between the two coins, silver and gold, should be; Third. Into the policy of continuing legal-tender notes concurrently with the metallic standards, and the effects thereof upon the labor, industries, and wealth of the country; and Fourth. Into the best means for providing for facilitating the resumption of specie payments.Although the commission reported unfavourably on the switch to the de facto gold standard and recommended a return to silver, gold's status as a reserve currency was to remain unchallenged until the 1930s.
In 1878 del Mar was appointed as clerk to the United States House Committee on Expenditures in the Navy Department
United States House Committee on Expenditures in the Navy Department
The United States House Committee on Expenditures in the Navy Department is a defunct a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives....
.
In 1879 he published his History of the Precious Metals, the labor of twenty-two years of research during his own free time. From 1880 onwards he mainly devoted his professional career to writing.
In 1881, he published A History of Money in Ancient States, in 1885 Money and Civilization, in 1889 The Science of Money, in 1895, A History of Monetary Systems in Modern States, in 1899 A History of Monetary Crimes, in 1900 A History of Money in America, in 1903 A History of Monetary Systems of France. Del Mar also published several archaeological treatises of great interest.
Del Mar was the New York state chairman of the Silver Party
Silver Party
The Silver Party was a political party in the United States, most successful in Nevada, active from 1892-1911. The party supported a platform of bimetallism and "Free Silver."...
, and spoke at its 1896 Chicago meeting in support of William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
.
He was editor-in-chief of the American Banker
American Banker
American Banker is a daily trade newspaper covering the financial services industry. Founded in 1836and based in New York, American Banker has approximately 50 reporters and editors in six U.S. cities who monitor developments and breaking news affecting banks...
, 1905–1906. Upon his death, he donated his private library of 15,000 volumes to the American Bankers Association
American Bankers Association
The American Bankers Association is an industry trade group and professional association representing the United States' banking industry...
. Alexander del Mar died in 1926 at the age of ninety.
Del Mar received no scientific or academic recognition from contemporaries, and as a result from this his prescient views were totally excluded from the history of economics.
Family life
With his wife Emily he had three sons, Algernon, William and Eugene; and a daughter, Francesca Paloma del Mar, who trained as an artist.Quotes
- John Stuart MillJohn Stuart MillJohn Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
spoke highly about del Mar:Del Mar is a remarkable writer. There is stuff in him. He is the sort of man you need in America. He knows what he is about. He is the sort of man to put things right in your country, or in any country.
- From del Mar's 1895 book History of Monetary Systems:
In the United States the same bag of coins often masquerades now as the reserve of one bank, and now of another. How far similar subterfuges are employed in the various private banking establishments of Germany is not known, and in the absence of such knowledge it is deemed safer to include the entire paper issues in the circulation. This at least is a known quantity; the " reserves," as experience has too often and too sadly proved, may only exist in the playful imagination of that fortunate class who have secured the prerogative to issue bank money.
-
A la mort, l'argent!
-
-
- (Silver until I die!)
-
Selected bibliography
- del Mar, Alexander, (1862). Gold Money and Paper Money. New York: Anson D.F. Randolph. (Pamphlet) (Cornell University Library reprint 200... ISBN 978-1-4297-2841-6)
- del Mar, Alexander (1864). The Great Paper Bubble or the Coming Financial Explosion. New York: Office of the Metropolitan Record. (Cornell University Library reprint 200... ISBN 978-1-4297-1435-8)
- del Mar, Alexander, (1866). Statistics of the World. Washington (DC): Government Press. (Pamphlet)
- "Emile Walter" (del Mar, Alexander, pseud.) (1867). What is Free Trade? An adaptation of Frederick Bastiat's "Sophismes Economiques" New York: G.P. Putnam and Son. (repr. Dodo Press, 2009 ISBN 9781409938125)
- del Mar, Alexander, (1867). History of Money and Civilization, (repr. NY: Burt Franklin, 1969)
- del Mar, Alexander, (1867) Decadence of American Shipbuilding. Washington: Government Press
- del Mar, Alexander, (1868). The Whiskey Tax for 100 Years. Washington (DC): Congressional Subcommittee on Retrenchment.
- del Mar, Alexander, (1879). Usury and the Jews. San Francisco (CA): I.N. Choynski,
- del Mar, Alexander, (1879). Theory of Value. San Francisco (CA): Mining and Scientific Press.
- del Mar, Alexander, (1880) The history of money in ancient countries from the earliest times to the present. London: George Bell and Sons. (repr. Kessinger Publishing (2003) ISBN 0-7661-9024-2)
- del Mar, Alexander, (1885). The history of money in modern countries. London: George Bell and Sons. (repr. Kessinger Publishing 200... ISBN ...)
- del Mar, Alexander, (1885). The science of money. London, George Bell and Sons. 2nd Ed, 1899 (repr. Kessinger Publishing (2008) ISBN 1-4372-8281-4)
- del Mar, Alexander (1885) History of the precious metals from the earliest times to the present. London: George Bell and Sons. (repr. Kessinger Publishing 200... ISBN 0-7661-9054-4)
- del Mar, Alexander, (1895). History of monetary systems. New York: Cambridge Encyclopedia Co. (repr. NY: A.M. Kelley, 1978)
- del Mar, Alexander, (1899) The history of money in America, from the earliest times to the constititution. New York: Cambridge Encyclopedia Co. (repr. NY: Burt Franklin, 1968)
- del Mar, Alexander, (1899). Barbara Villers, or a history of monetary crimes. New York: Groseclose, Money & Man. (repr. Omni Publications, 1983)
- del Mar, Alexander, (1899). The worship of Augustus Caesar: derived from a study of coins, monuments, calendars, eras, and astronomical and astrological cycles, the whole establishing a new chronology and survey of history and religion. New York: Cambridge Encyclopedia Co.
- del Mar, Alexander, (1899) Ancient Britain in the light of modern archaeological discoveries New York: Cambridge Encyclopedia Co.
- del Mar, Alexander, The Politics of Money.
Sources
- Tavlas, George S., Academic exclusion: the case of Alexander del Mar, (2004). European Journal of Political Economy, 20, 1, Amsterdam (The Netherlands).
- Ascheim, Joseph, & Tavlas, George S. (1985). Alexander del Mar, Irving Fisher, and Monetary Economics Canadian Journal of Economics, 18, 2. Montréal
- Robertson, J.R., (1881) The life of Hon. Alex. del Mar, M.E. ("Mining Engineer"), formerly director of the Bureau of Statistics of the United States. London: E.F. Gooch & Son.
See also
- Coinage Act of 1873
- Free silverFree SilverFree Silver was an important United States political policy issue in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the "free coinage of silver" as opposed to the less inflationary Gold Standard; its supporters were called...
- Monetary reformMonetary reformMonetary reform describes any movement or theory that proposes a different system of supplying money and financing the economy from the current system.Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals:...
- Veil of moneyVeil of moneyVeil of money describes a problem in economics, which centers on the question of whether money is a commodity like other commodities, such as oil or gold or food - or whether it has special properties....
- Money illusionMoney illusionIn economics, money illusion refers to the tendency of people to think of currency in nominal, rather than real, terms. In other words, the numerical/face value of money is mistaken for its purchasing power...
- Criticism of fractional-reserve banking
- Stephen Zarlenga
- American Monetary InstituteAmerican Monetary InstituteThe American Monetary Institute is a non-profit charitable trust organized in 1996 for the "independent study of monetary history, theory and reform."...