Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-09-05
What is q Oollar2

name of something. At present It is given
by law to a coin OF gold weighing 25.s
grains and to a coin of silver Weighing
Az IL grains. These coins by any other
name would be worth as much Or the
name might be given to other things. and
those things be worth no more. The Gov
ernment might say thst the chip that falls
from the woodmsu's axe and the pebble we
pick up on the street shall be called "dOl-
lars" Would their intrinsic value be any
greater2 No. Would they receive sdded
value by this order, this nat OF the Gov
ernment? Yes, for time. Should the
legislative and executive branches Of the
government declare, and the judicial
branch sustain the declaration as lawful,
thai pebbles aud chips should be .'dollars"
and legal tender for the payment Of debts,
pebbles and chips would for time, until
debts are paid. have q value enormously
disproportionate TO their real worth. Pco-
pie would pick the streets and clean the
lumber camps, or go to chopping trees and
tearing down stone fences, and take the
chips and pebbles to their creditors and
say, Here is q full discharge from our
debts. Relieve u.s." And the creditor
would be forced TO do so. The man who
had sold bushel OF corn on credit, the
farmer who had taken a dozen OF eggs or a
and not caring for immediate payment, let
these commodities stand 10 his credit on
the books the carpenter or joiner who had
worked for many days on a building. and
had not collected his pay every day at sun
down; the laborer who had worked eight
or ten hours-all these, IL they contracted
for their pay 10 dollars" would be forced
20 take 10 discharge OF their claims chips
or pebbles. OF what use would these be 10
thcml IL they had debts to paw the chips
would answer the purpose. But when H
was once understood that pebbles and
chips were 10 be rcckoned a. dollars" no
more contracts would be made on that
basis. The farmer who had no debts would
refuse 90 take these useless things In ex-
change for hls corn aud butter aud eggs. n
he vas IN debt he would take them only
until the debt was paid. and would then re-
fuse to sell-fpr dollars" No order or
iiAt" of the Government could compel him
70 part with the produee Of his farm. To
al solicitations fur trade he would answer
that he want seliiog that day-ior dol
iar.." Tie would only exchange bis egg.
or corn Tor their worth or equivalent II
he wanted barrel Of four he would ex-
change for u a qusntiiy OF corn or hay OF
equal worth. But be certainly would not
part wirh the hay or corn for pebbles or
chips with which he could do nothing.
But he would gladly part with bushel OF
corn for - grains OF gold, for with that
gold he could buy anywhere 10 the world,
clothing or provisions, or furniture, or 9th
cr articles he wanted.
Now how j. Il with absolute money ?"
Absolute money" consists OF oblong
pieces OF paper bearing the Inscription
'.Ihi, Is q dollar" But these pieces OF
paper are OF little II any more intrinsic val
ur than the chips and pebbles. II the Gov
ernment calls them dollars" they may do
for the discharge OF existing debts. But
OF what worth will they be AFTER those debts
are discharged: Why should any man
take them In exchange for the goods he
has 10 dispose OF more than he would take
a chip bearing the same inscription? Why
should a slip o. paper. measuring say
twen'y inches by three-,he size OF $50
dollar greenback-be taken for twenty
bushels Of corn any more readily than
chip weighing say al ounce? II the farm
er exchanges his corn for lumber he wants
quantity Of Lumber OF equal exchanging
power. lie wants something of ust as
much worth TO him as the corn. SO il he
exchanges corn for paper he wants an
equivalent. II corn is worth eighty cents
q bushel, and paper ten cents a pound be
wants eight pounds OF paper In exchange
for his bushel OF corn. He doesn't want
piece OF paper weighing far less than an
ounce. II he be compelled TO take the
chip he will think he Is swindled. Is he
any the less swlndled II he is compelled 10
take the piece of paper?
The piece Of paper will pay debts. IL is
said. 50 will the chip II the Government
makes il legai-tender. But the man who
oil h,,ah 81 nf
suppose he is going TO take a chip for II
when payday comes round. He sells II
for dollar" and takes u piece OF paper
for 1t now because that paper bears upon
its surface a promise TO pay "dollar"-
a dollar meaning - grains OF gold-and he
believes the proIuise will be kept There
was time when there was some doubt a.
10 the iuiiilment of the promise, and men
speculated on the doubt. The promise.
that Is the greenback, fnctuated In value
with the belief in the readiness and ability
OF the Government to keepit. A, one time
IL was worth less than forty cents. 1t Is
now worth nearly hundred cents. because
people believe that the Government will
give - grains of gold for IL next January.
But take the promise of, as the Green
hackers propose. and what will II be
WORTH Or postpone the keeping Of that
promise, as the Democrats urge, and what
will il be worth? The value of the prom
ise is iu its fujti,iment. Let the Govern
ment announce that ii will give to-day 25
grains OF gold for every promise to pay
dollar" It has issued, and the greenback
will be worth 8 hundred cents. This keep
ing OF promises on the part of the Govern
ment Is all that resumption means.
Thus 1t seems that absolute money"
can only be good for the discharge of ex-
isting debts. Its only use is as an instru
ment for cheating. With it we can force
men who have been unwise enough to
give Us credit TO take something Of far less
valne than the commodities with which
they parted. For dishonest men, for men
who desire 10 procure the discharge Of
debts By something less than a full pay
mrnr OF debts, il will serve a useful pur-
pose. But honest men, that is the great
majority OF people in this country. will
have nothing to do with it when once they
discover its real nature. Portland Press.