Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-04-06
Good Money the Only Honest Wages.

A CORRESPONDENT, speaking in the in
terest of what he calls the "middling
class" wants to know how the return to
hard money would affect them. If by the
middling class he means the producers
and laborers of the country, the men who
create its wealth and prosperity, we re-
ply that they VIII be benefited above all
other men. When the farmer is paid for
his products, and the workmen for his
labor, in dollars, everything depends to
them upon the value of these dollars.
The better the dollar the better their pay
There is really but one honest dollar, and
that is composed of certain fixed guam
Gty of gold; and when the laborer is paid
in that he cannot be cheated. But every
other form of q dollar that we now have in
this country is a cheat The greenback
dollar is cheat and the bank note not
redeemable in gold is a cheat, because
neither is as good as a gold dollar. The
laborer and producer are now paid in
these paper dollars, worth no more than
eighty-five cents each. How can they
fail to perceive that if they were paid in
dollar worth hundred cents instead of
eighty five, it would be just so much the
better for them? Let anyone 60 and buy
a gold dollar with the paper fractional
currency, or with copper cents, or nickel
five-cent pieces, and see how much hey will
have to pay to get il. He will find II will
cost him 115 cents. And yet this gold
dollar is what he is honestly entitled to on
every contract to pay him dollar; and
when he doesn't getititis because he is de-
frauded
We think it may be plainly seen from
this, that whenever we get back to the gold
dollar, the laborer and producer will be
greatly benefited; because they will then
be paid in good money instead of bad.
The pretense that paper money makes
times better, makes better markets, makes
more demand for labor, us another cheat
Haven't we got paper money now?
Haven't we had it for long years? But
is labor in demand, are wages high, are
times good? Not at all On the con-
trary, it is just the reverse. Things are
about as bad as they can be. Prices are
low, and wages are clear down. There
are few foolish people who say this is
because we have not paper money enough.
But paper money was never more plenty,
and interest never so low. Money lies
piled up and idle as it never was before.
Anybody can get it who can pay for it.
There is just as much money as we had
three years ago, and five years ago, when
the country was doing twice the business
it now is, and when there was no COM
plant of scarcity in any quarter. 1t isnot
paper money then that is wanting, and it
is a tremendous fraud and mischief to
represent that it is.
What is at the bottom of our difficulties
is want of honest dealing. Our paper dol
lar is swindle, and we need to get back
to honest money. Until we do things
will go on from bad to worse. We can
not lie and cheat in our finances, any
more than we can lie and cheat in any
thing else, without suffering from it. The
first thing now to get out of our low and
exhausted condition, is to return to honest
courses, and restore our lost prosperity by
industry, economy and fair dealing. A
good honest gold dollar is the basis of it
all. We have given irredeemable paper a
fair trial, and it is failure and the more
we have of it the worse off we shall be.
The effort of the 1nf1ationists In Congress
to issue more, is what is now pOstponing
the revival of business more than any
other one thing. If the laboring classes
would set up clamor to be paid in good
money instead of deprecated paper, it
might bring some of these members to
their senses.-N. 7. San.