Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-07-07
HONEY.
what 1t Is and What L. Is NOt-The
Law Of Currency Values Clearly Ex-
planned.

/ 70 and what il is are widely different. L
/ is Onlg a tool for efiectiHC exchanges
| itself property, but only the title to prop
| erty. To each individual, it is the same a.
| the property for which it will exchange; e
the nation, it is not the same. The reason
! for the difference is simply this: if an in
diyidual gets more money he gets more
property, because he gets a larger share
transferred to him from the others who
did hold IT. Of the aggregate Of the prop
eTty which exists; if the nation
prints more paper money, the aggTe
gate Of property is not affected, and
the nation gets only the money itself
which is nothing, being nOn-expOrtaOle and
intrinsically not worth the slight cost Of
manufacture. Whether this is so can be
tested by the strictly logical method, thus
the proposition is that printing more paper
does not increase the aggregate wealth;
now if this is not true the contrary must
be true. Then (by the suppOsition) the
wealth Of a country may be doubled, quad
rupled,Or indefinitely multiplied, by simply
increasing the quantity of money-unleSs
the inhatiOnist can demonstrate that at
some particular limit the process must
cease. But if this is true, the increase in
N4OAlELLN llALeG NC TIT luAAtGoC VI 1LOilEN
Itself, which must possess intrinsic value
that constitutes it true property; or else it
must be eXchangeable for a greater amount
of property than before; or else the process
Of increasing money must in some way pro
duce a corresponding increase Of things to
be exchanged. The first of these three
suggestions is untrue, because money no
tOriously has no value except in exchange;
the secOnd is untrue, because the increased
money cannot exchange for increased prop
erty when there is no increase Of property;
theythird is a wholly different proposition
and asserts the utility Of more money as
a tool in exchanges, but the inflatiOnist
makes BO attempt to subStanLiSte the as
seItiCn. Stated squarely, there is not a
man alive so densely ignorant as
to be unable to see instantly the truth of
the proposition that if gTeenbacks were to
become as plenty as diTt-thUs realizing to
the fullest extent the notion Of "cheap
mOney'-they would become as worthless
as dirt. HOlg plenty they should be, in
order to come within the reach Of every
poor man and give 'the people" enough,
without getting into worthless abundance,
is question which no infiatioDist has yet
attempted TO answer; on the contrary they
avoid it, and every man Of them, from the
highest TO The lowest, talks in a set and
vague way about the inteTcOnvertible 3.6j
and about a currency regulated by the
wants Of trade. But precision Of state
ment, demonstration that there is not now
money enough for the wants of trade, ex~
PLANTATION Of the manner in which money
is to make business, or even any infOrma-
ton as to how much money they wish to
have, never comes from any of them.
The greenback is a debt, according to
the circumstances which produced it, &C
cOrding to general understanding, and &C
cOrding to IFS Own terms, which make it an
UnpeIfOnned promise. It's value really
consists in the fact that the performance Of
the promise ultimately is expected. If that
expectation is disturbed and the "faith' on
which it is proposed to found the new and
unlimited issues IS destroyed, as it will be
If the course taken is to make more prom
ises Instead Of attempting to fulfill the old
ones, the paper will be deprived of its value
and Will sink 10 the level Of the rags Of
which it IS fabricated. L Is idle TO alege-
what is not disputed-that nobody receives
q nOte with the expectation that the prom
ise Of hat particular note VIII be fulfilled
to him; lie receives it because it represents
some value. EuCtuating although it is, and
that value depends upon the faith in final
performance and upon the belief that tue
maximum Of issues is now fixed. If the
barrier comes down, It can never be set up
again, for one might as well jump from a
ureCipice with the idea Of stopping half
way Gown; there is nothing fixed to check
the increase at any point short OF making
the notes rs C0IpnOu as leaves, and they
will speedily acknowledge the fact by de-
clining 10 the value Of leaves.
As to cheap money it Is obvious that
cLedpuess and DEAFNESS are comparative
terms, used relative to something else, and
that there must be some standard Of meas
uIemcHt. When cloth Cor any other aTti-
cle) is cheap, its price is low as measured
ii money, -Or IN (Which is the same thing
other commodities; thai is, as cloth becomes
cheap, a given quantity Of Il exchanges for
less and less Of other things. So when
money becomes cheap, a given quantity Of
iJ exchanges for less and less Of other
things; the purchasing pOTer-Or value
Of tie dollar sinks, o. (whal IS the same
thing prices rise. Cheap money therefore
means dear commodities, when prices were
highest, during the war, money was cheap
esI: since then there has been a gradual
rise in money and decline in commodities,
% process which the paper maniacs want
d, rCyersg although their failure % notice
Ia .rr.--t lUl wherein All increased number
~ 5IIIgrs ~, oUUrtiOnatsly reduced in size
car, c,Tfsr ant- q. 'v2llage is another Oftheir
omissions. Tha. the General law that the
value Of money is iuversely q is Iuanslly
is iuvariablG is proven by the recon- I"cS
Thai along with the increase in supply Ca
gold aud silver during the last fifty years
there has zen q gradual increase Of prices
on the average; and as TO government paper,
lest the iullatlOnists should assert that the
more paper the more valuable, they have
only 20 read history CUTsCrily to find that
the law affects it even more positively.
The fatal iullmity Of iTredeema5le paper
is that it CunfusGs the mind, debauchcs the
moral sense, and leads into a crazy wander
ing those who once give themselves up 10
its intOxicatiOn. Use Of IL is insepaFable
from abuse Of il; moderation in it is i'm
possible. 1t cUuce3ls the hurts it inf cts,
Dersuades people that they come from its
own insuiicieuCy Of quantity, and beguiles
them TO think that more Of itself viii work
a cure. If there is general prosperity, il
if there is depression, it offers itself as
cure and leader. White The customary ex-
lasts, !. pTUciaiIus itself the only
true money, the money which works
magic; when the customary depression
comes, Il makes It's victims believe, in spite
Of facts before their eyes, that renewed
doses Of itself viii restore the delightful
condition. il never deals honestly, but
sootbcs conscience and disauns reason by
promising resumption by-and-by, after
while, when business is in a better shape,
and then proposes a little more stimulus as
a preparatory step. IL has all the sps
and persistence which iEhere in
falsehood: and the question is whether the
oeople Of the United States, at this age Of
he world. without a particle Of excuse,
will decide 60 turn their backs on wisdom,
courage and honor, and be led by this great
curse.
The Buffalo Express, relating some
Of the adventures of the census-take
IN that neighborhood, says that IN
some Of the wards Of the city the idea
prevails that the census is simply the
precursor Of a draft and another war.
He was Just sixteen years old on last