Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1873-01-28

/ IL receivable as a tegdE teRder T0r de6fS ana
taaes (: And that in this receicability for
| debts and taxes, and in the credit the people
i have mutually and conjointly agreed and de-
termined to give it, is its whole life, and soul,
and entity as money; and not in the material;
which, is only the s'outward aud visible sign
| of its inward aud spiritual grace ~. That if
money should contain labor's value, then, the
labors value of money should not be the la
boris value of one particular species of labor,
to>wit: the labor of raising or producing gold
and silver, but it should be, in all justice to
all other labor equally meritorious and valu>'
able, the Average value of all labor fairly aver
aged, and which would be evidenced, ascer-
tanned, and liked by the net annual increase
or profit, of all branches of labor and which
net increase, or profit, Wells, in his report
to Congress, fixes at 80 per cent. Aud, then,
| surely, the people in giving to money, which
is only the representative Of labor and pro-
duction, a legal vo1ue which makes it an earn
ing Po,ccr equal, intrinsically, to all the labor
of the country, would have gone far enough,
and too far too; for left to its true nature and
fuoction of token, .:demand" or .pledge,"
by which it is entitled to receive in intrinsic
things or uafues. the value of the intrinsic
things or labor parted ,oith when the token,
"pledee" or 'demand'' was accepted for them.
use in exchanges, would be the cost of issue-
ing and distributing it; and that cost has
been estimated at from per cent per annum,
to t.
Either of these theories of currency, or
money. the first, which would never tolerate
an interest for the use of money exceeding
the net increase of labor per annum, or the
other, and frue one, which would bring ex-
changes to udtue for Udiue received, with on,
~ l>1O per cent. tax per annum, for the
convenience furnished by the people them>
selves for that sole purpose-and never for
speculation and investmcnt-would produce
more just distribution of wealth and in
stead Of giving the whole currency or money
of the ''whole country" for which the Bos>
ton committee has so much sympathy)-its
consolidated cred't-into the hands of few
such cuisines men" as those Of Philadelphia
and Boston and other cities, would distribute
the exchanging medium all over the sswhole
country and into those hands which pro-
duced most ''nanterinl su5stancps" and, on
which, are founded and grounded not only
their bodily wants and comforts, but the i'm
provement of their minds and morals, and all
the blessings of civilization. Now. it is this
very knowledge the ''business men, of Phil>
adelphia, and Boston, and other cities do not
wish the people of the country to acquire and
become familiar with and hence it is thew
are seized with holy horror that breaks out
in the imperial orders of Philadelphia and
the patriotic protests of Boston, not in behalf
of the "whole people," but of themselves in
particular, and of the cities generally, when.
ever any proposition appears or is even hint
ed at, Of coming back to the constitutional
NANCY of the "whole country" to wit, "money
issued and its value regulated" by "Con-
gress, the common and accredited agent, of
the peorle and the "whole country" for that
Gerry purpose. Give to the people of the
''whole country" such currency-a fair and
honest currency-and not under the manipu-
lations of Philadelphia and Boston "business
men" and boards of trade, and Banks in the
hands of merchants, to lessen the quantity of
money when they are buyers, and to increase
it when thew are seNcrs. and, then, the Lnf>
unce of trade would be with city or country
as the one or the other furnished most ina
terial substances or values. And as to
which, the tiles or the country, furnish, re.
cprocally to each other, most material sub
stances" or values, or wealth, or whatever
Won may call it. when fully three fourths of
thes'whole country" are agriculturists or graz
ziers, each man, in the country, with his plain
common sense, or mother wit, ought to be
able to judge, and without going into statis,i.
cal minutia It is plain that the country.
with its millions of population of farmers in
its cattle and corn and wheat and forests fur
nishes to the cities incalculably more values,
more wealth, than the cities furnish to the
country; and that the only reason why mo-
ney. the representative of values, is not as
common in the country as the cities, and
more SO, is, that the balance of trade Is
thrown against the country, by plain, downs
Ri A.
under the mauipulations of the business
men" and boards of trade, and manutactur-
ers, and merchants of the cities who control
the banks, aided by railroad monopolies, and
expand and contract TO suit their operations
with the ''whole country" With fair and
honest currency, issued and regulated by the
common agent of the 'whole country" money
would be more abundant in the country than
cities, and of course, in that event, the popu-
latlon would spread over the country, lands
would be improved, towns and villages would
spring up, and the people would have, in
their midst and at hand every thing thew
wanted, and without the monopoly charges
OF miles upon miles of railroad Transportation.
Everything would be near home, and in abun-
dance. Thomas Jefferson, and other great
thinkers. have pronounced great cities oreot
e0its, and in fact 'sconcers." eating, devour>
lne, cancers upon the body polite: And snch
they are! The Creator, himself, put the frs.
veto upon this consolidation of men, when,
after the flood He sent confusion of tongues
to scatter the Babel builders over the face of
the earth; and, when, by honest labor. thew
could make living by the sweat of their own
brow, and without cheating other people
If, now, left to honest labor, the will of
heaven would be accomplished, and men
would multiply and replenish the earth But,
these descendants of the old Babel builders
have found ont way to live without work.
and to compel the country, aye "the whole coun.
try to support them and that way, is, through
their business men, and boards of trade, and mo-
nopolies of railroad companies. and bounty craving