The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1876-05-02
The Comm mercIaps Reply to The
Enls.Hf

The CommercIaps Reply 20 The
Spirit.
From the Cincinnati Commercially
Perhaps the editor OF the OHIO
(Woods6eld) Spirit of Democracy
knows some other metal than gold quite
as steadfast in value II the Spirit of
Democracy has such metal. perhsp,it
might I've used as a standard Of value -
That gold has. in comparison with other
articles, declined in value since the Iii.
coverv Of Americ', AMI within the lat
century, We are aware. The effect is that
of iraation, lnt is it net an ilfl alton pr,
dnced bv the vote of squad Of dema
gogues in Congress assembled and used
by lobby of spectators to provide
funds for gsmb|ing-that is to say, to
make the currency eqlal to the wants oi
trade tits one thin! to have the value
OF the standard ",iollar" change from
generation tn generation, and another
thing to have that value subject to tho
caprices Of any gang Of legislators,
ground out of the slimv alleys Of corrupt
cities The Spirit Of Democracy says: ::
''To claim that the value Of gold remains
hxed. while all other things factuate with re.
lation to it. but not with relation to each other
is as fallacious as to claim that tha Garth re-
mains stationary. and that all the heavenly
bodies revolve around it."
But we are not claiming that the value
Of gold remains absolutely and forever
fixed What is it, thou lh, that the heav
emily bodies Of finance revolve aroun !?
Is it paper? Shall we measure with a
yarls,ick 80 elastic that mile to-day may
he bnt seven furlongs Tomorrow
We had something to say the other tlav
in appreciation Of the substitution Of sill
yer change for the fractional currency
which we have regarded as great afiic
ton and nuisance. The Spirit Of De-
mocracy says:
The Commercials reply il disingenuous 1t
assumes that with the return Of silver to cir.
culation, the people would no longer handle
money, which will tear or burn, Or smell bad
ly, or propagate contagious diseases, or wear
out in the pockets Of taboring men, The Com
n,ercidl knows that there never will be time
when paper currency will be out of uss. 1t
knows that az commercial science advances,
more paper and less metal will be used in max
ing exchanges"
But we have never advocated the total
destruction of paper money. We are
aware Of the uses of paper money. butt
should NOT he issued Of small deuomina-
sions There should he larg" bills, to fa-
cili'ate exchanges. and they should be
convertible into g Id at the will Of the
holder; hut the peoples money, the peck
ct money, should ALWAYS be Of gold and
silver. As commercial science advances,
the paper that will be used will not be
bank paper or Govcrnm mt notes, bu,
checks and kilograms. The currency is
required now for but small proportion
Of transactions, a. fact that shows how i'd
lotto is the cry for more money to cure
the evils of q redundant currency. The
Spirit saws:
"The fact that greenbacks are 'depreciated.
that is of less value than gold dollar for dollar
has heretofore been the ons uncnnquerable OBJ
lection to them. This has been the weak point
against which the bullionists have pointed all
| their batteries"
This is not true. The weakness of the
ercenbackis, that it has no intrinsic val.
ue, bu. is forced upon the people by un-
constitutional law as legal tender. The
depreciation Of this money is not so oh
jcctionable in itself, as its liability to va.
riations in value. The only thing con-
slant about it is its incessant fluctuations.
This uncertainty OF the dollar destroys
enterprise, because it battles calculation
II one could be sure that the value Of the
greenoack would be steadily eighty.fve
or ninety cents of the gold dollar, or anv
other number Of cents, the greatest oh
lection to the greenback would pass
away but an irredeemable currency is
unsteady. Itdepends not upon the pro-
duction Of q precious metal, but upon the
caprice of the caucus and the interest of
the lobby. We again quote the Spirit:
Stupidity itself cannot fail to see that if II
currency 'depreciated' to sSlHa tas the CONNER.
eial is SO fond of quoting greeubacksl rob, the
laborer Of his earnings.' currency 'derrscia'
ted to IS must rob them still more"
The Spirit should see that it is
not the depreciation Of the paper tha,
robs the laborer, but the variableness OF
the paper that cuts down business by
frightening capital and destroying the
profitable employment of labor. We no.
tice that the Spirit ignores carefully that
silver has and paper has not intrinsic
valueathat silver money is, therefore real
money, and paper money sham money
that silver money must be worked for
and that ito produc ion is limited, while
paper circulation, according to the legal
tender lunatics, is unlimited, except BY
the view that locsl politicians may take oI
its sufileiency. The depreciation Of sil
yer will not hurt the laborer. The Ia
borer with silver dollar in his hani has
real dollar The silver dollar is not
like the grecnback, broken promise,
representative of reputation and fore
ed loan together. The silver dollar j.
not promise to pay money--it is mon
ey. Look at the new dimes. They ar,
not promises to pay dimes. They ar'
dimes. Why any one, not by nature OF
thorough cultivation fond of dirt and con