The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1876-10-20
some Facts About MONEY.

Money ia not a standard or basis
OF value, but only a medium of ex-
change. Value in the strict sense
of the word, has no standard, and
can have none. Supply and de-
mand regulate vslue; and money
is its measure. We ssy q barrel of
flour, horse, an acre of land, or a
days labor is worth SO many dol
lars or cents as the case may be.
Thus money is used as the measure
of value however much values
may vary from year to year.
Money itself has q value, as COM
pared with other things, in accor-
dance or scarcity. While both gold
and silver coin were lawful money,
or legal tender, to any amount,
money, of course, was more album
dant than it has been since the act
of Congress of 1873 demonetizing
and declaring silver coins arc not
legal teuder to an amount beyond
five dollars. That bad stroke of
legislation struck out of existence
perhaps one half of all the money
of the country, and brought about
the disastrous shrinksge in values
which has been witnessed since
that year. 1t added a large per
centage to all the debts of the coun-
try both public and private, ind by
making gold the sole measure of
value and the only coin in which
the interest and principal of our ma
tional securities can be paid, added
largely to the value of those secur-
ities, thus benefiting the holders of
public bonds and private mortgages
at least ten per cent, and injuring
the debtor classes, including Uncle
Sam himself and nearly all his peo-
pie. to q considerable amount.
No law was ever enacted by Con-
gress more unjust and Injurious
than that act of 1873 demonetizing
silver. Although we can easily
trace the influence under which the
thing was done to capitalists and
heavy bond-holders, it seems to
have slipped through almost with
out the knowledge of the larger
portion of the members of Con
gress, and certainly without due
consideration of its bad effect upon
every interest save that of capital
lists.
All our national and state bonds
were Issued under the double stand
ard, and are payable in the lawful
coin of the United States at the
time, and can be honestly and hon.
orably paid in either metal as the
debtsr party may elect. But the
late issue of and AZ per cent.
bonds, owing to the existence OF
this foolish law demenetizing silver,
is payable exclusively in gold.
Public sentiment in all parts OF
the country, irrespective of party,
is setting strongly in favor of q re-
turn to the double standard, and
the repeal of the law or 1873. That
action in conjunction with the i'm
mense production of silver from
the mines of our own country, will
| afford US abundant currency, and
render return to specie payment
easy and safe. The relative value
of gold would decline a little, that
of silver would advance, and both
meet about where the green-back
is now.
If we restore the double stand
ard, the capitalists of Germany
will be constrained to do the same
thing in selfdefense. That govern
ment demonetized silver about the
same time we did; and as large
masses of our $40 bonds are held
over there, and as our government
can then pay the interest and the
principal in silver, We can thus
make it their interest to give to
liver its old place as money.