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

~~3e'--N ~ 80 ~3t5 @t1HtI 1AVM0H RUHNQluA
civilization, the Infinite division and snbdi
vision Of labor, diversified industries an.
empl0ymehts, vast extent Of territory greai
enterprises, extensive exchanges. Ill requir'
an increased and constantly increasing vol
ume OF money. III to-day gold aud silve
were suihcent In quantity, on soecunt 0
thar commercial value thsv are exportabl
commodities, tomorrow they may be 20 re
duced ~ to seriously affect the exohangeabl,
values OF all other commodities and injur,
all kinds OF legitimate business.
4 The sole object and Office of money, al
that il 10 wanted for, 10 Co be used a. le
gal instrument in facilitating exchanges ans
making payments. II isEoleIy a creature oI
law, and IL IL . matter Of no moment what
ever whether ito material has or has mos az
intrinsic or commercial value. The value
OF gold and silver az commodities 10 regu-
lated BY the law OF supply and demand. just
like wheat or cotton. As money, however,
then value being purely legal. She ab1nd.
anee OF scarcity OF the metals does NOT af-
feet it. How absurd, then, is the assump-
tfon that The Inherent properties OF gold.
which gives IL valas ~ an article Of com
smereosa hos anything 10 do with its being 4
measure Oh value Es money Asa cornm0ds
| ity, 1t is one thing, as money it is another
and very different thing. The legal value
Of gold dollar Is purely an arbitrary as
sumption, not absolute or independent OF
law.
| IL is said that gold and silver are the
money Of the world, and as our commercial
rotations are world wide re cannot change
IL that as all commercial nations have le-
galiEed the e0-called precious metals, we
cannot maintain commercial relations with
them unless we also legalixe them as money.
To this 1 answer that our coin is not cur
rent or legal money beyond the limits OF our
own national jurisdiction. Foreign nations
receive our coinage BY the standard fixed BY
their own laws, and greatly prefer bullion
to coin. The very fact that other nations
use gold and silver as materials for the coin
age of money, added to the undeniable as
sertion that they are insufficient in quantity
to answer she necessities OF domestic and
foreign trade, is an unanswerable argument
against our employing them for this pur-
pose.
Legitimate commerce 10 the exchange Of
the products Of one country for those OF
another. All beyond mere barter is mat
ter Of debt, an il we imported in excess OF
our exports $500 200, 600 worth (this beng
about the sum OF IT eoinage) we must part
with all our coin, and we are left without
anything to represent our domestic values
and make home payments, thus deranging
the entire industrial and commercial inter
ests Of the patton, and Involving men Of en-
terprise In hopeless bankruptcy. With
money not valuable as an article Of CON-
merce, IL there are balances OF trade against
rs, aud foreign creditors will not receive in
payment our corn, and -four, and cotton,
let them have our bullion and welcome.
Having no use for il ourselves as a cu.-
rency, II would be cheap, and we can part
with it T7ithout producing panics or re-
vulsions, or disturbing our nwa measures
Of value
III lmportations are excessive those en-
gagged IN foreign trade only would suffer.
One OF the indispensable requisites Of a
safe, uniform circulating medium is that it
should be inexportable. Ia no other way
can we avoid being at the mercy fnan-
cislly, OF every political or monetary dis
turbance in Europe.
Ii the Bank Of England raises the rate
OF interest on money, draws few millions
OF gold from New York, our great CONNER
cial center, discounts are Immediately con-
tracted throughout the country, business is
deran Led, failures occur, the products of
the farm, mandatory, and workshop de-
preciate, labor is thrown out of employment
and tens Of thousands of men Of enterprise
are ruined. This state OF things has been
brought about more than once BY this very
cause. These caIarnitles which have pro-
duced distress and misery to the remotest
cabin in the land have been attributed to
short crops, excessive production, overtrad-
ing-ln short, to everything but the true
cause. IL Is abs1rd-it is more, i is a cri me
for a nation competent to manage its own
affairs to % legislate az 10 leave the indus
try, prosperity, and welfare Of this grea.
people at the mercy Of the money kings,
stock-jobbers, and gold gamblers Of Europe.
Thus It will ever be with an exportsble
money.
To have staple and uniform currency il
should be inexportable, and vet legal ten
der, for the payment OF every debt, public
and private, within the limits of our nation
al jurisdiction. To prove the instability and
uDreiiabiiity OF gold as a currency, we will
refer to fact mentioned In the Presidents
last message. 'sHe says, s'the aggregate
product OF precious metals in the United
States from 1S49 to 1867 was Sl,l74, ,O00,-
900, while for the same period the exports
of specie were $74l 900 ,00O." He estimates
the entire specie in the country now nc
$500, 100000. This furnishes the beggarly
sum OF about seven dollars per Capita TO
supply the immense requirements Of forty
million people scattered over Q continent
engaged In vast enterprises, and In develop
ing boundless resouroes-s sum much small
or than 10 required OF each individual annu-
ally, for the payment Of national taxes
alone.
IL gold and silver are insufficient in quan-
tity, and unstable and unreliable as circu-
lating medium how much more unreliable 10
a paper currency based upon a metallic
coinage, and especially when the volume or
paper laoney is increased i've or ten fold be-
yond the amount Of coin available for its
redenption2 A bank note promising to pay
gold is cheat and deception. Ii answers
very good purpose ne long ss payment is
not demanded, and is tolerable only because
poor currency 10 better than none. IN the
gold is Withdrawn by foreign demand, or
the holders Of any considerable amount of
Ias :ssyes present them for redemption, the
bank necessarily closes its doors. Il Is not
possible that currency legAlized az repre-
senting com, when there 10 not q dollar IN
coin for every promise TO pay q dollar, can
De stable, Lniforms and adequate TO the
purposes OF exchange and payments. The
of repeated experiments, With their disas-
ftrous failures, demonstrate that paper
money based on coin 10 fraud and swindle.
As the value Of money il wholly extrinsic
from the material Of which it is coined, and
10 purely legal Or representative, Ii shonld
be mede Of some Substance that Il cbeap.
portable, light, and not easily counterfaited.
As deed for farm written on paper. IA
Just as good as K on parchment, Or a. Il
engrsven on . plate Of gold, 50 i piscs .!