The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-11-30
POST ELECTIONAL THOUGHTS ABOUT FIAT
MONEY.

of YOUR readers few sober thoughts about
Fiat Money
The value of money, as of every article
known to commerce, is regulated by the law
of supply and demand, Il law higher than state
legislation and above constitutions, state and
federal Congress can no more establish the
purchasing power of money than it can the
value of corn or wheat, or regulate the price
of the neccssaries Of life
The Constitution of the United States gives
Congress the power ITO coin money! regulate
the value thereof and Of foreign COIN
The Supreme Court Of the United States,
until reconstructed for the purpose of revers-
ing its repeated opinions on this question, had
uniformly declared that the power to coin
0lOacy never gave congress shadow OF au-
thOrlty to issue paper currency OF any KIND A;
but, under an imaginary war power" claimed
by Stanton and others at the breaking out of
the rebellion, treasury notes" and afterwards
"rrccnbacks" and national bank notes, were
issued and became "fat money" worth what
ever the people would take them for, and new
er wcrcon a par with coin-always tuctuating,
AS the market rose and fell, here and in foreign
countries, like pork or beef, or any other ar;i-
clc,-merely II marketable commodity.
The intention of the constitution, in giving
Congress power to regulate the value of coin,
was simply to confer upon the national legis-
lature authority to designate the number
of grains Of gold or silver and of alloy neCes-
sary to constitute each denomination of coins
of foreign nations in comparison with those Of
our own. Hence, notwithstanding this parti-
san decision of the Supreme Court, ovcrslaugh-
ed by an increase Of It's members appointed by
Il republican president expressly for this pur-
pose to crafty the cupidity of the money
sharks, congress never had the constitutional
right to issue dollar Of paper money. Indeed,
when the first issue Of rag money was made
the governments acted in open and acknowl-
edged defiance of the constitution, only sup
ported by that fictitious "war power" which
Wall street invented for the occasion!
Hence grcenbacks and all other paper money
issued or backed by the government, If not un-
constitutional, Is OF extremely doubtful legal
existence, and has no value save what the peo-
pie choose to give it from time to time.
THIS Is "fiat' money, which "the govern
mcnt' backed by all the wealth of the nation,
has never been able to bring up to par with
gold and silver, the recognized circulating
mediums and standard money of the world
Fiat money has been in circulation about sew
entecn years and was never so nearly equal
with gold as at present, when it has reached
the last moaM IF its eristCnce 1t has almost
reached par value, because its career is over
because it is to be redeemed and displaced by
genuine money.
Fiat" money, as a purchasing power, has
proved a failure as compared with coin, for
the reason that is not n representative Of value
but substitute for com, which alone is the
universal indication Of value. Fiat money
is no representative Of tie representatives OF
value Gold and silver coins of themselves
have an intrinsic value as well rs money
power. EilaCe the stamp of the government
which has declared n piece Of gold or silver to
he money, and the coin will sell for its true
money value 10y weight 0csS the abrason) any.
where where there is Il civilized community
Greenbacks and other fiat currency, without
gold or silver to back them, are utterly worth.
less, even for paper rags, as the ink upon them
| is so nearly indcliblc that it cannot be rcmov.
cd without greater expense than the stock Is
worth,
! This irrcdccmablc fiat money was the kind
that grccnback candidates and orators urged
the people to vote for at the recent election!
Through every manner Of specous argu
mcnt thousands of votcrs-oi the unthinking
class-mcn who allow some dcmag0guc 30 &c
their thinking for them, were persuaded Ia
vote, as they supposed, for this unstable and
basecss imitation of money but rs it turned
out their votes were counted for the republican
party and the hardest OF hard money. Taking
advantage Of the fact that grecnbacks have
nearly reached par with gold, ana overlooking
the other fact that the rise in their value i.
due to their prospective immediate redemption
by honest, solid money, the speakers mislct
the unthinking and taX-oppresscd masse- anC
Iobaincd their votes.
These deluded voters were led to beIcv,
that the only thing for the good times" Of tn,
war would be for the government to issue
few hundred millions of grccnbacksl
| As well undertake to add to the value o
milk by making it half water, or OF sugar Is,
adding its weight in sand Every such ad
EDITION deteriorates the quantity in proportion "A
liz increases the quality. Greenbacks woul,
fall at once-shrinking in valuc-in direct "a
ito with the amount of the imitation.
The good times" of the war were phenom
email. They can never be repeated without III
, extraordinary causes which created them
war which withdrew million men from til
producing class and made them consumer
These men had to be clothed and fed and tran
= ported and cared for hy the government
Prices of everything went up enormously, an