The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-01-23


ILrhed, there Ia o greater evil of which We
Gnplasn, Apd which If not removed. th,
oducers Of wealth must remain enslaved
! xs shall be free, popular government
t6nly IN name.
The entire monetary system Of this gov.
4nment, copied, a. u is, from the monar-
c1tes Of the old world, 10 snti-democratic and
edbversive of the rights and destruc
de 70 the interests Of the masses O.
the. people The hole range q
legislation on finance, 10 cunning
|dsvice to rob labor Of les just rewards, and
seihnp and sustain N av!ssocracy OF wealth.
inpncial reconstrrstion ID now q necessity
With boundisss undeveloped resources, with
inv!sssg fields for the employment OF labor,
IthCrs Ars to-day Ia eur land 100000 men
spa women, who are able, willing, and snx-
ions to work, who can 6nd nothing to do,
cd. who are on the verge Of starvation.
TsI6 Of thoussds more are only partially en-
pi6ysd and those who do toll early and late
ars scarcely able. with niggardly economy, to
Isnpply themselves, and their depen-
doni families, with the common neces-
- >ceof life. Wills this 10 the sad condi.
80 b ne million, the few cnpifslisls ars. n
oting IN luxury and fatscning upon the earn
logs of others.
AT the last session Of Congress lntroduc-
ed bill 70 establish uniform currency and
provide for the management and liquidation
Of the public debt. Believing that the edop-
ton Of the principles Of that bill ~ill be q
proclamation of emancipation to the toiliDg
millions Of my courirymen., would give
them full and remunerative employment,
make capital the servant instead Of the mas
Ter Of labor, and ttAt relief can only be found
In this direction, shall, ln the remaining
portion Of the hour SLOWED me, give the rea-
sons for my faith. The change proposed in
our entire monetary or financial system, is
radical and fundamental While our faith
ers rejected the political institutions Of the
old world, and carved out q rev model Of
civil government, they adopted, and we still
retain, the monarchical systems and theo-
ries of money And finance.
The system proposed by INV bill, and
which has been fully indorsed by the Nation
al Labor Union, involves the abandonment
Of the cherished idea that gold and silver are
the only fit materials out Of which to coin
money. The opinion which has obtained
and still influences the public mind, that
circulating medium must be coined out Of
some material which is scarce and disfiuIt to
procure, arises from the misconception OF
the nature and functions Of money.
Whatever Is endowed by the sovereign
power in the nation with the Qualities Of re-
measuring, exchanging, and ac-
value By interest in money; and
any circulating medium not endowed BY
Congress with all these powers or functions
s not money, though the material be the
hnest gold. The most important function Of
money Is to facilitate exchanges of property,
and It's value, therefore, is purely legal. The
idea that the value Of money inheres in the
Of which il is made, il wholly false
and pernicious. When this heather super
stition, this fundamental error. and the mys-
trfcatione by which interested tinanciers and
political economists have concealed the true
nature of money are dispelled it will be found
that its pres snt centralzing D wer is as gross
Ia imposition upon the common sense Of
men ~ It 10 upon the rights OF labor and pro-
oerty. photographers, political economists,
bankers, usurers, and even statesmen tell US
that money is stamped coin Of gold and sill
Eer, but the necessities Of our modern civil
ization and the emergencies Of the people
lre making Il necessary TO modify our def
1itlons and revise our theories. Locke and
etheT writer's, on political economJ, declare
nat gold and silver are selected as the most
suitable materials for mon ey, because Of
heir inherent or intrinsic value. Ii is true
hat these metals have an intrinsic value and
an be wrought into useful utensils and beau
liul ornaments, and when 30 wrought they
become articles Of commerce, but when
'oined and stamped as money, their intrin-
nc value Is not considered. Intrinsic value
commercial /; money value is legal. A gold
1oilar Is worth one hundred cents only be-
'anse Congress has so decreed, and it would
ssaii be worth one hundred cents if the qu an
'iiy OF gold in the country was quadrupe ed
. IN hour. Ifevery gold coin In the United
states was annihilated our property, our
wealth would remain the same we would
'nly lose its legal representative, the means
D exchanges Of commodities. Benjamin
franklin truthfully said:
"Goid and silver are not intrineically Of equal
Taiue with iron, metal capable Of many more
oenehcial uses TO mankind and but for the es
'imation iL which they we're held, pound Of
yoid seald not be real equivalent for a busheI
u wheat. Any other well-founded credit Is as
much an equivalent as gold and silver"
The same wise man said:
''Gold snd silver have undoubtedly some pro.
'sr.ies that give them q fitness above paper as a
medium Of exchange, especially when country
1as occasion to carry its money abroad"
But he adds:
'Tbe estimation In which these metals are
held abroad deprive q country of the quantity
'f currency that should be retained az q neces-
'ary instrument Of its internal commerce"
If this was true when Franklin wrote. ii
% pre-eminently true now, when our inter
nal trade and commerce are ten thousand
Iold greater, and our foreign trade has in
definitely Increased without corresponding
Increase in the quantity Of gold and silver.
In rude state OF society, where articles
10 be exchanged are few and the exchanges
IRE easily effected, bur little money is requir-
cd. Ia more complex and cultivated COM
where there is m infDlte division
Of labor and industries are diversified, more
money 10 indispensable. WAmpum and
beads will answer the purposes OF q legal
tender among savages. Almonds and shells
may purchase the necessaries Of life in India.
Iron nails were once money in Scotland;
dried Goldfish wasa legal tender in Newfound-
land /; sugar 10 the West India islands mus-
k:: salls in Massachusetts; tobacco 10 Mary
land and Virginia, and whisky was the cCr-
rency with which. we paid the Indians for
their lands. IL Is worthy Of passing re-
mark that here in the District Of C ambia
By unfepealed laws, tobacco Is declared to
be lawful currency, and in some cases to
the exclusion Of even gold and silver many
fines and penalties are assessed and must be
paid In tobacco. The law sven prescribes
the anneai interest which may be taken for
ths leans Of tobaocc, ana pays5le only In TO-
bscees Gold and silver may answer the
purposes Of exchange among semi-barbar-
isns, bit they are wholly iBsdequate 70 the
demands Of our civilization.