Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1878-04-25

no appreciate difference can be discover
ed between them. Their commercial val
ne is so trifiing that it can not be express
ed in any of the coins of the country, as
it would take several of them to amount
to the value of the smallest coin. These
exactly equal blank pieces of paper are
taken and subjected 20 the manipulation
OF the engraver's and printers arts, are
covered with certain devices and receive
certain signatures involving equal labor
and skill, and are again placed before the
reader. They are now called "grecnbacks",
and their relative value has entirely
changed. One of them is now valued at
one hundred times as much as the other.
WHEREFORE The material is the same,
the labor and skill bestowed to them are
the same, the cost of the production is the
same, the intrinsic value is the same.
Whence then have they obtained value so
that one is worth hundred times more
than the other? 1t is not from cost of
production, it is not from aesthetic superb
ority, ii is not from mere caprice of chance.
The answer to this question points us to
the true notion of value in paper money.
There are not wanting those who assert
that the whole value of such paper is IN
parted to it by the decree of the govern
ment; and therefore that all that is neces-
sary to give any required value to these
bits of paper is for the government to de-
termine by law what shall be the decree
on each, that the government will receive
them for all taxes or other public dues,
and that they shall be legal tender in the
payment of all debts. 1t is alleged that
gold and silve have no value in them
selves, but derive all their value from the
stamp of the mint. The law says that Is.
8 grains of metal. nine-t enths gold, or
1925 grains of metal, nine-tenths silver
shall be dollar; and the value of the dol
lar is thus impaired when lawfully COIN
ed. And SO it is alleged that law can
give the same value and currency to q bit
of printed paper that it does to a bit of
stamped metal. All that is needful is for
the law to provide for printing on these
bits of paper, This is one DOLLAR "This
is one hundred dollars" guarding against
surreptitious issue, and they will be of the
value stated. If the government will take
them for taxes, and will enforce the pay
ment of debts with them, their currency
and value will be Immediately assured.
But the new ground is not tenable either.
The notion of dollar does not arise from
clature originate in legislation, nor can the
value be fixed by statue. The needs of
man, the customs of society, and the laws
of trade originated the notions of value, In.
vented the medium of exchanges, and
gave names to the instruments of CON-
merce, before the government undertook
to define and regulate them. When
debts have been created the government
can increase or diminish the. value OF
those debts by increasing or diminishing
the value of the medium in which the law
will enforce their payment. and that is all.
The government can say that 20 grains of
gold shall be a lawful dollar for the pay
ment of debts, instead of % grains. But
this does not mean. and it can not enforce,
that 20 grains gold shall be equal to
25 grains in value. 1t only means. in
practice, that the law will collect four
fifths of the debt and will outlaw the bal
ance.' 1t will not affect the relation of
value between gold and goods, if the
value of the gold coin Is reduced one
fifth to correspond. The trouble is in
that because the law may or
may not collect debts, and therefore be-
cause the law may say in what it will or
will not collect them. that it can create or
determine values. When the government
prints piece of paper and calls it dollar,
and declares it shall be a legal tender in
the payment of debts, all the value Impair
ted to it Is that which is taken from the
value of debts that is, il does not i'm
part any real value TO the paper; but it
does take so much from the value of the
creditors claim and transfer it to the le-
gal tender paper in the debtors hands for
the particular purpose of payment But
il has no value for any new purchase, be-
cause those who haye commodities of val
ue will not part with them for paper of no
value. The law can compel men to accept
paper or pine shayings i'm payment of
debts, but it can not compel men to &C.
ce2t paper or pine shavings in exchange
for goods. Legal tender does not mean
that the farmer must take il for his wheat
or the merchant for his calico; only that
the creditor must accept it for his claim
If, therefore. the law should declare that
to be legal tender which has no value,
the effect would be, not to give IL value,
but to stop all credit.
But it will be alleged that, as matter of
fact, paper money has a value that it will
buy wheat and calico as well as pay debts !;
and therefore that the government stamp
is worth something. Truly. When the
government coins golden eagle it there
by shapes it into a convenient form for
handling, and certifies that 1t contains
25S grains weight of metal, of which nine
tenths is pure gold 1t imparts value
TO the coin above the value of the metal,
equal to the service rendered in dividing
and certifying. That is, il saves the labor
and loss which the individual would en-
counter in dividing and refining the metal
himself. Hence the value of coin over
bullion, is the value OF the govern
ment service in coming. This and moth.
ing more. But what of paper? The bit
OF paper which passed for one hundred
dollars is not worth cent in intrinsic
value that is. it will not exchange for a cent
merely as paper. How has the govern.
ment service impaired to it so great val.
ne iniprinting itg The answer is found by
simple inspection. The greenback does
not read, This is one hundred dollars !"
but "The United States will pay one hun
dred dollars" The value of the paper is
not in what it is, but in what il promises
Government notes, bank notes, individual
notes, all derive value from the same
source their promise Of something in ex-
change. They are all evidences Of debt,
promise the payment of that debt and are
rated in the open market in the proportion
of the supposed certainty Of the fulfill
ment Of the promise. Minor canscs infiu.
ence price, but the grand elements in de-
Gliding the value of note, government,
bank, or individual, are what does it
promise? and will it be paid? If the pay
ment is uncertain the value is reduced.
Take tho promise off. and 1t is no longer a
note, it is emptiedIof all its value. Hence
the value in paper money is In the promise
upon il. The change IN the value of the
two pieces of paper We imagined, was
caused by the difference of the promise
printed on them. One promised a hun
dred times as much as the other. If
neither promised anything, neither would
be worth anything as money. Coin is of
value for itself Paper is of value for its
promise. This simple and evident dis
tinction solves the mystery of money.
A brutal and bloody crime occurred
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