Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1872-11-12
Spirit Of gefferso1l.
Charlcstown, Jefferson County, West Va
TUESDAY MORNING. NOVEMBER 70. 1s7s.
For the Spirit of Jeftsrson.l
WHAT rs MONEY?

Having discussed this question, until all
persons not directly interested in obfuscatine
it, must fully comprehend and understand
that it is not a commodity and subject of an
rcstment, but at a rate agreed upon by the
whole community who creute it; and who at
/ that fired rate. and in order to make it an ec-
| changing medium. may make it legal con,>
| modify by attaching to it a fired rate of in
terest or profit; and when the person who
holds this thing of public creation may choose
to use it as a legal commooity, and not as an
exchanging medium. I shall take it for grant
ed that my proposition is both understood and
admitted. and shall, for the present. dispense
myself from writing long articles, nnd the
community from reading ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS;
and only comment, in brief, upon the effects
/ of using it as legni commodity and at fre9
rate, and of using it as a con,modtty in itself
and other things are commodities: For
were it in truth commodity in itself, and
equal in intrinsic uaIae, as con1modIiy with
any other intrinsic cOmmo0ty. for which a
| piece of paper or ofher money might he ex>
! changed, then, it would follow that this ,,icrc
of paper or other money being equal intrisi
| culiY to a 11rticu'ur commodity of Intrinsic
value, and that the parts being equal to the
whole, that, the ,rhole an,ount of money. in
any given country. as this. and whether it was
of paper and srecie, was equal to the acho1e
amount of property in Intrinsic ruh,e: which
would be manifest ahsurditv AS no one
could be found dot enough to believe that
the 1O0 millions of paper money in this couu-
try, was in intrinsic rnfue equal to the "a
Mo"sond millions Of all other property, real
and personal; and much less that its 200
millions or 800 nnIions of gold and silver
were of intrinsic uaf"e with 81 thousand
millions of property.
But, [ have said above, that will in the
present. only comment on money and "the cf.
iects of using it as a legal commo9ity and at
f."ed rate of Interest. and of using it as
commo7'ty IN itself, and as ofhcr things arc
commodities - Now monev of itself is not
commodity, for n"thine issues ont of it : nor
IS IT. arg one of the "nri~ci,1W Minqs for the
,nhole usc of mans Hf. :" For according to
the son Of Sirac. "1Hr principal ihjn1s far
MemhoA use 81 fmnn'S life are ar0tcr ire iiron.
and snkf, .tRor cf mAcot, Aoncv. mill. ondMc
L"o1 Of the grape. and OIL and cI,,,Ain1. -
trI clap. 80. u. 2G: aud he might have
added to the list similar commodities: but
not, of """essHu, money; far mans 'twhoIe
liic" had existed and could still exist, with-
out money.
Money, then. is not commodity in the
sense in which the ahnvn cnnmarated and
IN
the snnse-accordng to Webstcr-of s.cnn-
venicnce" or "advantage :" and hc adds "i,,
Ills sense nenr!y "h.o'cfr' Ifvou call money
then " conamo'iitY. in the sense of .scom-
nIerce" or "advartagc. it is clear that there
is no substance in money for tho F'7rhohc msc Of
mans ff":" for it yields nothing: it rro-
dnces nothing; 0f hseit-aud as Shakcsrcar
said in good philosophy-it is "barren - let
the nuihbl'ng hire'ings of usury laugh as thcy
will! In this condition Of the ''c0nn7o7ity:" :"
(ns its friends so anxious to thristrn It y
tn>wit yielding nothing. producing nothing,
and "barren - the law, the common agent Of
society. comes IN, and gives to it mower of
production, that it did not before possess. hv
annexlng t" it a t.re1 rnI"e IF interest. or per.
mittIng to it unlimited interest; hv confininc
in the first instance. the fire to the hearth:
and where it will be a "convenicnce" and
'advantage; = or by casting il nt randum MS
fire brand to consume and burn nm everv
thing before it ! Such are the cfFects-to
stick to the text laid down-of using money,
on one hand, ''hgn1 commo9iiy nnd Mt n
Jfrcd rate Of interest, - and. on the other. of
using it as ''commo7ity IN iisr7f. anil MS
other things are commo0itics," and at an am,
limited rate of interest!
The Constitution Of the United States OK.
rressly provides that ''ConGrcss shall coin
money and regulate Tie ro1ue Mrreof:" Now,
which do you prefer, the '.f,'e on the HEARTH,
or 'the fire Irond' cast among your house.
hold goods and Gods, ant consuming every
thing before it profanc and sacred, labor.
property, mind, morals, and reigion7 All
these latter evils aud curses, far worse than
the plagues of Egypt, do flow, believe me.
from the consuming fires of unlimited usurv
They have always, and in all ages of the world
~.
and fountain of all the ignorance, and crime.
and poverty, and wretchedness on Earth
Give to men the earnings and fruits of the
'sweat of their face y don't by unlimited
"s"ry rob them of all the pratt of their toll;
and they will accumulate capital amply suf-
fcient for all their bodily, and mental, and
moral, and spiritual. wants! You must save
a mans Gn0y, before you can save his soul
Usurv sinks it beyond the arm of salvation
the Ghosts Of ages shake at it their ."gory
locks y The Jail, the gaIlows, the peniten>
t'ary and the brothel are ITS fruits Cato,
when asked what he thought OF usurv, an
swered' TASK me what think of murder ?"
Summit Pt Oct. 81, -. OBSERVER.
FoR TIE BoYs.-Henry Ward Bcecher
has written this: Il never saw ANYBODY do
anything that ! did not watch him and see
how he did it, for there is no telliD. but that
sometime | might have to do it myself
was going across prairie my horse began to
limp. Luckily | came across blacksmith's
shop, but the smith was not at home ] asked
the woman of the house if she would allow me
to start the fire and make the shoe. She said
| might If | knew how. So I started a fire
and heated the shoe red hot and turned it 70
fit my horses foot. and pared the hoof. and
turned the points of the nails out cunninplv
as l had seen the blacksmith do. so that in
driving into the hoof they should not 90 into
the quick, and shod the horse. At the next
place [ wen. to. I went Immediately to a
smith, and told him to put the shoe on props
erlr He lnnInH M hn-sa,. e.