New-York tribune., 1879-08-30
THE A B c OF FINANCE.
Dull TOOLS FOR nuYING.

NNal
o,her Thus Il heats no man. Why does any
-. ,,ort to have dull tools usedi When we can
- &c we'll Lave our dollars sharp what IL the use
=, having them dull : Clearly none, for those who
-, 90 buy. For them the dollars that will buy
80 are the best. But for the mon who have
..,rss 10 SELL are not dull and cheap dollars very
sns Cheap money makes high prices, so-called, lie
hos land or orcps or goods 10 sell, can get Tor
80 more peer dollars than good dollars, and he
s,.rs,apt 20 think only Of the number and 10 shut
-, 70 tho kind of dollars. "Thngs sell betor"
s.y. foreettng that they would sell still more
;Alv and for more pieces of paper called dollars,
- Tho notes IN use those of the late Confed-
- he is pleased TO think himself richer be-
bs has 100 halves called dollars instead Of
-. alars that aredollars. But the dealer in Rich
- 49, ,vbo Sold one pair of boots fer $500 i'll Con-
t-So,ate notes had the worst Of it, for the leather
80, worth moro than the paper, and lasted longer.
u;ob nrioes in bad money arc never so good re
a.. rr;ccain good money. Tue farmer who could
IN b;s bnshel of wheat for 80 during the var,
~. he Is doing very badly if he gOss only 81
Rrt ire dollar which he gets will buy tnlly
,-,ob GA three dollars would have bought in
-oea RSd money widens the gap between pro-
go, sn, consumer, as has been shown; at every
.or the cost is enhanced by tho higher
heroes Of dealers middle-men aud transporters, to
hpir
:, ,s as If every man who sells sbould put more
.ard ain the sugar. more chat in the wheat, and
moro water in the whiskey, to make sure of profits.
1be farmer would get an extra price for once mix
tns cbaa With bis grain. But he would pay four
evtra charges in tuying his whiskey, for the dis
.Hsr tho rectIfier, and the Wholesale and retail
so.lays ,youd each pour his pail of wstor into the
ho,rsl The distler, too, would get only one extra
,rost nv watering the whiskey sold, but would pay
all the profits of the farmer aud all the dealers who
had handled the wheat, each mixing more chaf
With n the farmer gets cheap-dollar prices for
b;s cattle or wool, be has to pay cheap-dOllar
nriees for clothing Implements, sugar tea, coffee,
snd everything else that he buys. aud all these
things pass through many hands before they reach
him. Thus it was that farms came to be thickly
covered and houses tbickly thatched with mort
eages years ago. ali producers were paying the cost
Of using bad money. We have tried all this; does
snv farmer want to 90 back to war prices If he
could tax Others when he sells, and paw no tax HIM
self when he buys, 1t would be very different
affair. But cheap money taxes everybody, and the
producer most Of all.
Men who have things to sell are apt to forget all
fbis. Cheap money TO them, means more dollars
for their wheat and cotton, their wool, hogs and
cattle. But how is it with the working mani Does
Il pay him 10 have dull tools to bny With Plainly
not If il holps the seller. Two boys locked mp
tovetber cannot both make themselves rich by
swapping Jack knives with eaOh other, and the use
of bad dollars cannot help both the buyer and
seller. If cheap money helps tine seller at all, 1t
hurts the buyer just as much. The country can
gain nothing: il is only "rohbing Peter to pay
Paul" But the working people live on wages which
change very slowly. If the dollars paid to them
grow du so that prices rise the cost of living gets
~ nod all "a Al q
ever planned, never yet have given tho workers
power to push their wages upward fast or as far
es prices in dull dollars have rsen The seller gets
more money for his pork OF beef, but the working
man buys and paws more money. The world over,
be suffers whenever cheap money makes food,
clothing and rent cost more.
Then the committee of wOrkmen waits on the en-
ployer: "It costs us too much to 1.-Two; higher
wages or we strike" The employer reflects; " If |
pay more wages, my goods will cost more.
and fewer people will buy them. The mar
kets of Canada, the West Indies, and Eu-
rope will be closed against me. Already
the material costs more in duh dollars, and interest
IS higher, and the dealer and transporter charge
more for mon will have pay foF risk when no man
can tell what his dollars may be worth tomorrow.
Higher wages mean ruin it is better to close the
mill" Or If be yields, the higher prices bring
fewer buyers. aud the mill can run only half time.
What shall the poor workman do Strike, and
waste his savings in barren struggle' Or yield,
pinch himself let the wife old clothes and the
children 90 without shoes. and try to bear IL still
iongeri Cheap money has no pity. Prices Will go
still higher, and the sellers viii want
stl more money. Higher wages the work
man ought to have. if food, clothing and
rent cost moro. But higher wages moan
fewer buyers, fewer hours work in a month or the
closing of the MILL For the seller as he counts his
handsome gans before he begins 10 spend them,
cheap dollars seem very nice But for tho buyer it
is anything but nice when higher prices bring
pinohing or starvation. unless bs get higher
wages And higher wages moan less work.
The wOrkinSmen have savings for time of need.
With tair prices the laborer knows that his $50 In
bank i'll keep has family from want six weeks, if
he should be sick or ont of work. But men who
have things 10 sell camOr for more money,
and il comes. Prices mount upward. Soon the
$50 viii buy less food or clothing than $50
would have brought. Instead of six weeks, the
workman has bnt three weeks between him and
want In this very way, two-:hirds of oil the
savings of the workingmen of this country were
taken from them between 1861 and 1854 The
dollars were left, printed the same paper, and
In number the same. but two-thrds OF their
buying power had gone. Are We to have auother
era Of luredeened paper aud another wholesale
conhscation OF the savings of the working peo-
pie, by aid of their votes 1t is bad for the work
man, when his candle is burDed at both ends at
once-bsd if his earnings are taken from him, and
bis cost of living increased at the same time. But
FOR him, that is the effect Of cheap money. 1t
wastes his savings and initiates his expenses.
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