Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1877-10-20
COllMUNICATED.

columns to falr and open ulscussloh oE
all important subjects of pnblic interest;
and, besides, as you were kind enough
TO invite me, at our last interview, TO
send you articles, at any time, touching
the question of money now agItatlng
this country from one end to the other,
l will avail myself both of your just
views of the duty of the press to afford
to the public an opportunity OF beng
heard in matters that deeply concern
them, and, also, of your polite aud lib
eral invitation to myself personally.
In your issue Of the 1st of September
ult., you say: Gas for ourselves we
confess we are not able to perceive how
an increase of irredeemable paper mon
ey can help matters. Whenever pa
per dollar is worth dollar in gold or
silver, we will have reached solid and
proper business foundation aud not be-
fore"
Now, in this declaration, Mr.. Editor,
I must give you credit Tor the candor
with which you state the doctrine OF
the bullionists, while, at the same time,
| must protest against it as utterly er-
roneous and unsound. The false doc
trine the bullioniSts maintain, in their
"specie basis" for money: may arise
from their ignorance Of the true nature
of money, or from design: | am inclined
to think the bullionists err by design,
for the error is very profitable to them.
However this may be, 1t must be OBJ
vious TO all that no one can understand
or discuss this question Of money, and
whether it should De expressed by gold
dollars, or paper dollars, or silver dol
lars, unless he first understands, wha
money is, and, thus, sets out with
proper definition of money itself. When
;he true nature of money is compre-
hended. it will be seen that the mere
material of money is matter of small
importance, and that the po'0er OF mon
ey, to-wit its "legal tender Q"al'fy Is
everything.
I have written many articles for the
Spirit of Jefferson, headed "W hat Is
Money!" and now present for your
readers one by Comstock, and would
ask their close attention to 1t. quote
from page 9:
s'wHAT is MONEY
sNot what Webster and Worcester
define it to be, bnt what is money, de-
fined by its constitution and character? ?
The multitude, uttering the voice OF eX.
perience, have said, "mOney is power!
! But they are unconscious Of utterlng
scientific truism, because ii is the echo
of rustic experience, not supported by
acknowled ged authority. 1t is indeed
power, a purt Of the f.recntiue poTer OF
sovereignty. The proof: 25S grains OF
gold, troy weight, 90 fine, are gold,
and are of the value of an eagle (SlO,
but you will not, and cannot, be COM
pelled to receive them inpayment OF $40
due YOU, because they are not money.
Iherffore neither gold nor value, nor
The iwo combined, are money. l have
the identical grains Of gold pressed into
an eagle at the mint. Agnin | tender
them in payment of the 80 due. The
debt is e.r,in gmshed as with sovereign
power, even though you refuse tc re-
ceive it. No more gold and no more
value has been added; poWer atone has
been added-the sovereign power to
pm $40, to measure $40 in value, and
to guarantee to the holder so worth
ofpropefiy in exchange. These
THREE OFFICES
of money, viz; to measure, pay ana
guarantee equi values, are absolute and
imperative in execution therefore SOW
ereign in character and constitution,
there being no appeal from or evasion
of their action. Money, fher9ore III It's
essential character is power, souer19n
power. Sovereignty is sidmp'a in letters
and figures all over the eagle; look at
it. On one side is fouud an eagle with
scroll over its head bearing the words
"In God we trust" That refers to the
sovereign Of the universe. Around the
margin are the words Omitted States OF
America the name of another soyer-
eigu power. On the opposite side is
the bust of the Goddess of Liberty-
not a God, but Goddess, and the ca
ole is the king OF birds, another sover-
eign. All are emblems OF sovereign
power, raised and stamped on the gold
itself, nothing more. Underneath the
eagle is "Ten D."-Sl0, the measure OF
the power, which acfs through that in
strument No more gold and no more
value has been added, yet it now pos
sesses money powsr. Hence money is
not mqfter nor vQlue, but power, sousr-
eign pOWer.
ANOTHER PROOF.
The new and perfect eagle is taken
to England, or any foreign coun-
trv. where the language and definition
of money is the same as in the United
States. 1t is all there, the gold, value,
letters and emblems. 1t is perfect, the
language and definition OF money the
same; but the eagle is no longer moa'y,
only bullion. 1t is all there except The
money; ii stopped in the United States.
The eagle ceased to be money when
and where it crossed the boundary line
between the countries. Why! Because
the sovereignty of the United States is
bounded by that line; money beng
part of that sovereignty, stopped there
also. Therefore "money is power,
sovereign power, not matier OF gold,
silver, or paper 1t is also national,
because a part of national sovereignty,
and not international, or logic has losV