Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1878-11-05
The Absurdiry of Fiat Money

This is term invented by the
Greenbackers. 1t means money
made by the simple command OF the
government, ''Let this piece Of
paper be money" says the secretary
nf the treasury, '.ard it is money"
saw the Greenbackers. This is the
doctrine advocated by the Greenback
financiers of this city. Said one of
the most respectable orators =
"Whatever the government calls
money, is money. If the govern
ment takes piece of silver or gold
and prints upon it, this is one dollar,
it is one dollar. If it prints upon a
piece of paper. or cloth or leather,
said the orator. d" this is ten thou
sand dollars it is ten thousand dol
lars" Waxing eloquent with his
subject, he claimed: ''Yea, il the
government take potato and prints
upon it, this is ten thousand dollars,
it is ten thousand dollars, and the
capitalist should be compelled to re-
ceive it in discharge of debt for
ten thousand dollars 7" And these
doctrines we're listened to and ap-
p'auded to the echo by the Greens
hackers.
These men forget or do n It seem
to know that there is dollars value
in each and every silver and gold
dollar, Independent Of the govern
ment stamp upon it Hummer
gold or silver dollar until the govern
ment stamp is effected. and there is,
if it's honest money, the value oi Il
dollar still in the m,s,hapen mass Of
metal. Put silver or gold dollar
INTO the crucible and meli it down
ard the value is still there. But the
,'fet money Of the GreeuG-ckeTs
would have 10 value. in itself. and as
the GreenbackeFs do not propose that
il shall ever be reieemabie 10y the
government i'm metal, it would s""n
have as little value IS thc paper up
ON which it is printed.
Ii the Greeubackcrs are correct,
their discovery is Of great value to
humanity, and will be q relief 10
many respects, especially 10 the i'n-
pecnuiuu~ portions OF the community
Whatever the government declares
is u, ,ney. is money, and must bc ta-
ken fsr money That looks plau>l-
blr, certainly. Nov, let tie q ecu
hackers 20 one step farther and BAY
whatever the government sh!s 10
milk, is milk whatever the govern
meut says is gin. brandy or whisky /;
is gin, bFnpdy or whiskey,' whatever
the government saws is cigar, Is
cigar; whatever the government says
is loaf of bread, a pound OF tea.
bar of soap or good sized Goldfish is
loaf Of bread, pound of tea,
bar of soap or good sized Goldfish );
Why not? If the government says
a piece of paper or piece of leather
is a dollar, and that makes it a dol
lar, why, if the government prints
upon piece of paper "this is pint
of milk" "this is a loaf of bread,
would they not be pints of milk, etc?
IF we can have ''fiat money" why
not eff 1t milk and "fiat Goldfish? -
But our Greenback friends will
say. "this is all bosh,. it is absurd y
When men stop to reason they will
come to the conclusion that the talk
about "fat money" is all bosh, too
When the government coins money
it simply puts it in convenient form
for use. 1t does not add to its VAL
ue, 1t takes the god and the siver
of the country, weighs IL out, cuts 1t
~ into convenient dimensions, and
labels it for use in commercial trans>
actions; and for the government to
make anything else money. or to Is
sue anything except promises to be
redeemed in real money at proper
time, would be to flood the country
with circulating medium of no fix
ed alue, and TO throw the business of
the country into inextricabie confu-
sion. All this is so plain that it is
difficult to see Why every intelligent
aud candid man may not fully COM
:. Oa,,ooo Vi;.noe