Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1877-10-23
5plrit of geffrrsola.
CharlestoWn, Jefferson County. West Va.
TUESDAY MORNING. oUrOBER %. 1871.
A LETTER.
From, John A. Thomson, of Summit Point,
Jefferson County. w. Va, to the Green-
buck Conpention held at Charles


ton, Vest Jd., august 15ih.
Gentlemen - Approving, most earnestly,
the object of your convention, it is matter
of great regret to me that it is impossible for
me to be present at your councils As far
as have seen Your views, and understood
them, in regard to the nature, object, and
purpose of a currency, l am in full accord
with you. r.
In views, publicly printed under my name,
have denomiuated currency the "mobiliEed
power" of society to effect its exchanges. 1
have, also, termed it the cooperative power
of society y aud for the same purpose, sole
purpose of exchanges. If this be its true
nature, then, clearly, it is the common crea>
ture, ''tooP or property, of the whole peo-
pie. and it matters not in whose hands it may
be, the people, who created it, have deep
interest, aud the right to supervise it, and |
see that it shall be used for the purposes for
which they created it, and not for gambling,
mischievous aud oppressive purposes. 1t is
essential, always, to keep in view, and not
lose sight of it for moment, this peculiarly
distinct and idiosyncrstio nature of money.
If you lose sight of the true meaning, nature,
or definition of money. for an instant, you
will fall into mystifcation and error and
you will End the Bankers, brokers, shayers
and Shylocks, who, producing nothing, live
only by the mystiication of the nature of
nouey, ever ready and prompt to take adj
vantage of your error. Right here, and ss
an example Of the errors in definition l
would call your attention to, is the error of
terming money capital 1t is not capital,
but the representative of capital, and the
mere aymbol, or token, that the person who
holds it is entitled to capital; it is not capi-
tal but simply, and only the "tool' of capi-
tal and to exchange and to distribute capi
tai. Peter Pindar said, and we'll and truly
said, that "aeas were not Holsters, damn
their souls )" and the same may be said of
money and capital whatever the resemblance,
they are entirely distinct. | have already
said that money was the "mobiized or CO.
operative power" of society for the sole pur-
pose of exchanges and Comstock. one of
the most able and exact writers | have read
on the subject of American finances, and
whose pamphlets should be in the hands of
all who want light on the subject, and who
particularly and properly treats of the impor
tance of terms aud definitions in the proper
understanding of it, terms it the "executive
power" of society he says: "1ereinafter
it will be assumed that money is sovereign
power acting through national currency, and
national currency is the instrument through
which the money power (czecutlve power)
true definition of money, to- wit the "mobil>
ized or cooperative power CT society to eff
feet exchanges" or, as Comstock defines it,
the executive power" for that purpose. it
must be plain that tho great issue of finance,
now, pressing itself on the American mind,
and by the throes of revolution in the agony
Of labor is not an issue between "labor and
capital" but between all capital whatever la
Dor being part and parcel of capital and the
management and control of this executive
power" CT, in one word, money. The issue,
then, is not "'lubor and.capital, but money
and capital )" aud, therefore, when labor, the
most sensitive part Of capital, the nerve of
capital, is pressed by the starvation point, to
resistance and revolution, all other labor and
the productions of labor which, alone, are
capital, are in sympathy with the afflicted
portion Of our common body, and must, and
will from the same intense and common in
terest, combine and act together to compel,
and enforce, the proper management of this
great Executive power"-mnney pre-
vent its mismanagemcnt, which is fast hurry>
ing tho whole ship of state, with it's precious
cargo of lives and property, into the mael-
stroms of anarchy and civil war
Now, how is the great and & igantlc money
power to be harnesscd up and managed this
great executive power" for the exchanges
OF this nation amounting to seven billions of
productions annually, and who are to control
and manage it? Most clearly not individuals
aud corporations we have tried them too
long already They have failed disastrously
snd brought US to the brink of ruin; they
have brought manufactures to stand still I;
crippled and destroyed commerce they have,
under their msmanagement, turned two mill
lions of laborers into tramps, and now, with
consummate impudence. propose through the
statesmanship of the New York Times" as
what they are pleased to term Capital cannot
be vested in any industrial uses, TO vest it.
under the pretense that the owners arc too
poor to farm, in their lands, to become the
land lords and to convert the freeholdeTs of
this country into their tenants, fOrsooth :
This wont do. We will never consent to
this experiment. The feudal system is an
ex poded humbug has no charms for
proud, free, Republican people and. would
hope, we are not yet humbled enough under
the pressure of our own money power, toen-
tertain the thought of a monied oligarchy.
king, or an emperor. We must take back
into our own hands this great sovereign
money power which, as Mr.. Jefferson says,
has been ''flched from US" and must our
selves, through bureau of our government,
SO manage it, that all the people whose pow
er it is, may have an equal benefit and use
of it, on the plane of financial equality.
There are different plans suggested among
greeuback currency men to bring about this
desirable result, but as have met no plan
more simple and effective to accomplish what
we all desire than the one suggested by Gems
stock, in his able treatise on American Fis
nances," will take the liberty to quote
r.. I,