Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1873-04-29
9Hn,lt Of getfersoll.
Jenofsoh County, Wss. Va.
TUESDAY MORNING, APRIL 20, 1913.
[For the Spirit OF Jetfsrson.l
WHAT Is MONEY

%.
come back to this old inquiry for see,
from the papers, In every quarter, it will be at
last the issue, upon which the whole discuss
sion now going on, not only in this country,
but throughout the whole world, in regard to
money, and its legitimate, or llegitimate uses,
is to be decided. And, l believe, too, that
this is the proper issue for ind it. in exact
accordance, with the Virginia bill of rights of
June 18th, l716, art Is, that, .sno free gov
ernment, OF the blessing of liberty, can be
preserved to any people, but by a Grm ad.
hereuce to justice, moderation, Temperance,
trugality and virtue, and Gy a frequent recur-
renee TO Fundamental prtnciples''
Let u.s. then, III regard To money, come
back to Fundamental principles" What is
1t; for what purpose was il created; and, who
created it?
To the question, "what is it 2" l answer.
that whether its material be gold, or silver,
or paper, money as pnblic credit Gold and
silver are not money by nature but ouly pro.
duets of the earth dug out by labor as wheat
and corn: To constitute gold and silver;
money, the Indispensable ingredient of public
credit must he added and it is added BY law;
and only by law; and. when il is made legal
tender for debts and taxes. Then. law con-
st'tutes money; and constitutes it, by the in
fusion OF pudttc credit; that is bv the agree
mens of the whole people, through their agent
the law making power, that they will give
credit to it, and receive it for any labor. or the
production of labor Then, it must be plain.
that the justqueston, to wit: 'what is MONEY! -
is fully answered and that, money, is public
credit, and nothing else
Having established, then, the first proro,
sition, that money, of whatever material it is
made, is public credit, we come to the next
proposition, to-wit: for what purposes was
it created 2"
As to the purpose, for which this public
credit, or money, was created, there can be
little doubt: All agree that tho object aud
the sole object, was, to have common and
joint ro"ccnicncc-and a common and Joint
convenience, in which all have common and
Jo,nt property and interest-to exchange their
labor, and the productions of their labor, in
lien of the old and barbarian method of barter.
or the exchange of one Commodity for another
IT this be So, then, the second question. to-
wit: 'tor what purpose was it (,noncy) cre-
ated' Is, also, fully answered and disposed of
And this brings us to the 3d question. to wit !:
''who created it'-that is money? Allknow
that no individual eau create money: and that
the consent of the whole people, alone.
through their cannon government, can make
any thing legal tender for debts and taxes
for tins constitutes money-and, therefore
the people have laid it down in the Constitu-
ti"n of the U"itcd States "Cougress shall
nave power to coin Cor stamp money, and
regulate the value theranf!"
ii these propositions, u regard to money,
in lis nature. purpose, apd origin, are clear
and demonstrated. then, insist i. follows in
regard to the nse of it:
That If rODunp ha tEruhl;o 5;+
individual can have an absolute 7,ropertv in
money; hut only a9mntfe1 property. to>wit
the "se OF 1t to exchange his labor or the pro.
duotions of his labor: The public meant ii
as c0nrenirnce for that so:c purpose and no
other; and never. for profit to him or specu-
lation. If he sells horse, for example. and
takes the 'puLi,c credit" or money, all the
public means to assure and guarantee to him.
is that the "puhIic credit" or money. which
he so receives for his horse, shall he recev-
able, and pledge" aud demand" for anv
other horse, or any other property or thing,
as it may be rated in the market by supply
and demand. This is to him a great con>
cemte"cc, and all in justice, lie has any right
to expect and demand His horse was the
product OF his individual industry and he has
the full right to sell him for any price he can
get; but when he takes for him the .spublic
credit or money, as an exchanging medium
to get the equivalent of his horse that is
very different thing to the frnnsuJsfortiation
OF his horse into the public credit, or money.
and, an authority to him to sell the spubic
credit" or money, as he might the horse.-
The horse, or any other product, has in its
creation, only the brain and muscle of an n-
dividual, whilet the "public credit" or money.
has, in it, the power of forty millions of ,,eo>
9,Io ,,,h;o ~ Al. L.
is only the millionth part
3D. That if no individual has right to
use the ''public credit" or money, as a tran
s"bSfnnfidtion of his horse, or other product:
and, if in doing so, he has the power of the
whole nation brought to bear on any individ
ual he deals with that. then. it must be
manifest that money, or the "public credit"
has been perverted from the purnose-the
useful and legitimate purpose-of exchanges,
for which it was solely intended; and, that
such an evil and mischief must be corrected
by the sternest and strictest usury laws-even
by the gallows aud penitentiary. if necessary
or, money, or "public credit" designed as
public convenience, will become (has, al
ready. become y an instrument, in the hands
of few, for the spoliation and ruin of the
honest and unthinking many. That it is, in
fact. au usurpation of ''public credit"-the
absolute property IF all-over and above the
mere use of it for exchanges-to the absolute
property of few individuals and corpora
tions. who sell it for price to its owners and
creators.
To tortify the views. heretofore. expressed
in regard to money, as well as those now nd
vanced /; and particularly to fix, in the minds
and consciences of the people, the eternal and
fundamental distinctions and differences be-
tween the public credit" or money, and all
other things, or commodities; will close
this paper BY an extract from the New York
Mercantile Journal, iu which no less than
tscenty-three distinctions are made; and fol-
lowed up by comment to inforce them by
the 'strong protecting power of law:
The difference between money and mer-
chnn1ise hos nauar haan fraI half i;s+;nn4i.r