The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1877-05-03

the present financial policy is radically
changed.
THE INTRINSIC Value OF GOLD.
The Pioneer Press had learned arti-
Gle the other day the purpose Of which
was to demonstrate that silver should
not be recognized as money in these
United States.
Let US consider some OF its positions.
Replying to leading authority in favor
of retaining the bi-metallic standard the
Pioneer-Press says:
eff you suppose that gold is not money, is
not legal tender If you suppose that silver is
not money, is not legal tender-the value OF
gold and the value OF silver is lost II Eng
land, France, Germany and the United States
renowned the use of gold money, all the gold
will remain without value. This proves, he is
quite sure Of it. that the value of gold or silver
is ga raluc created by lalc." This is the shall
low reasoning of man who gets his ideas Of
economical science from Aristotle and the
Pandects of Justinian. 1t might be said with
equal truth that if the United States, ngland,
France and Germany renounced the use OF
wheat as food it would case to have exchange
value 1t is true that there must be demand
for an intrinsically valuable thing before it has
exchange value, and so far as government by
making gold and silver legal-tenders create
demand for them for that purpose, they con-
tribute to that extent and temporarily to their
value But the value of gold or silver does
not depend primarily or ultimately On the
quality of legal-tender impaired to 1t by the
law. 1t is valuable because it is a useful thing
which many men desire and which it requires
labor to produce.
The Pioneer-Press forgets that there
is this distinction between wheat and
gold: Wheat Is an article of food; GOLD
is not. Wheat is useful because it meets
universal human necessity; gold is
simply an article of luxury, OF ornament.
The destruction of the worlds wheat
crop would bring physical suffering to
millions but if gold ceased to be money
it might totally disappear from the world
and, apart from the loss of a few ear
rings and breast pins, the human family
would endure no hardship by its disap-
pearahce.
Gold is "a useful thing which many
men DESIRE" says the Pioneer.Press.
Yes; because it is recognized as money ;
because they can exchange it for food
and clothing because they can pay their
debts with it. But deprive it of its
character as money and it will be worth
no more than SO much stone. Who
would care to hoard in his trunk a lot OF
pondrous metal, be it yellow, green or
blue, which had no exchangeable value ?
AS soon as he found he could not buy a
breakfast with bushel of it he would
throw the whole pile on the ash-heap.
The Pioneer-Press continues:
The permanent element Of its value is the
cost of producing it where it costs most tc
produce it, modified temporarily by demand
and supply
Here is another absurdity. II it cost .
!, dollar OF labor to produce dollar O.
gold we should see no swarms of people
rushing nowadays to the Black Hills.
It is because with dollar of labor they
expect to procure hundred dollars o
gold, that they risk their scalps in tina
savage wilderness. Last fall four mer
took out of oneiplacer in the Black Hills
S40o, 900 in three months. If the Pioneer
! Press is right they ought to have beer
) 100, 900 days each. or 800 years. produc
J iny it. Take the case of the owners o
the Comstock lode-four men with al
: annual income Of Sl00,000,000. If
, cost dollar of labor to produce dolla
, of gold or silver, as the Pioneer-Pres
! pretends. these men would earn no NOR
9 than day laoorer in st. Pau.
+ Then the Pioneer-Press proceeds:
! In the case supposed that the chief nation
f of TIE world demonetizei gold and silver, til
p temporary result would be that the suppl
! would largely exceed the demani-goId an
silver would be- greatly deprecated, the go
u and silver min all over the wor would n
longer be worked, all production OF bulllo
| would cease, while the coins would be melte
: and consumed in an extent never known b.
a fore in the ornamentaland useful arts Gradual
+ " the volumes OF gold and silver, released fror
= monetary channels, would be absorbed an
5 then demand would arise for more bullion
Il At first only the best paying or most east
worked mines would Be reopencd and gol
,. would be intrins calIy worth what it cost
q produce it in these Then, as the demand in
creased the inferior mines would b. opene
: and gold would b. intrinsically worth what
= cost to produce it in the least profitable mine
which could BE- worked at all. So that it
lt not true that the 'tlaw creates value." the la
. NAV create Temporary demand which is or
: transitory element of value; but ifthe deman
re increases.t the supply will proportionately ceas
"a and production will cease till new deman
an and then the cost of production will a
q wak appear as on the permanent and col
it trol Ing element Of value
i the nations of the world demons
!. -~1d II c;lvor and u0sd : nd o;Iv1