Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1880-11-25

hiOit, anu hV iIluiullcS lllt tulllt CldllH
with his own property, then the ex-
ecutiye has been satisfied and the
claim of government discharged; but
he holds as valid a claim against
the property of all the rest, as
the same was valid and Just
against his own property. This current
instrument, then, effects sale trans
action-a different and distinct species
intrinsic or industrial value in the
property it purchases, is to say that the
intrinsic value of gold dollar is equal
to the intrinsic value of the bushel of
wheat bought with it, The latter has
infinitely greater intrinsic value than
the gold. Wheat, being food, has the
first or highest order of intrinsic value,
it being one of the necessarieS which
sustain life, All property that affords
comfort to life possesses intrinsic value
of the next higher or second order.
Property or commodity which affords
pleasure or gratifes the desire for lux
uries, us perfumery, iewelry, &C., has a
still lower order of intrinsic value. A
gold dollar having chiefly this low Or
der of intrinsic value of course cannot
equal, in this species of value bushel
of wheat. The industrial value of
% $40 grains of gold may equal that of
a bushel of wheat or it may not, ac-
cording to the relative status of the
supply of, and demand for, the two
commodities. If gold were the only
money in circulation, the prices of all
commodities in gold would necessarily
have their industrial value equalzed to
that of gold by the law of supply and
demand, regulated by competition in
the production of the gold, and of all
other commodities.
Economists of the metallic school
claim that "the province of government
is not to create money, but to coin it,
and thereby give to it the best authen-
tication of purity and weight" But
this seems to be superlluOus pains |
taking on the part of the government |
to do so much more to one commodity |
than another, if it is not to make money
of the precious metals. If the law does
not make them money, why doesn't it
let them alone? The law fixes and de-
clares that Sc avoirdupOis pounds of |
corn shall he one bushel; and also pro-
vides recourse for the damaged or de-
frauded party who has received rotten /
corn or spOilt flour for the sound article, !
or short weight for legal weight
1t is the duty Of government to pre- |
scribe and define the common standards .
of measure, for both substance and .
value, but beyond this is an infringe .
ment upon private rights.
The liability to abuse an OveT-issuc
of paper money is very truly answered .
on page i6 of the Report of the Silver
Commission in stating the arguments of
the paper money school: "Thcy claim
that every argument against investing
with the money function material not
possessing intrinsic value is. when ana-
lyZcd, an impeachment of the integrity
and capacity of the people of their fit
ness for self-government, and Il claim
that the most important institution of
civilization can he more safely remittcd
to the edicts Of chance than to the guild
ance of human wisdom.
"That the failure in times past to es-
tablish satisfactory systems of paper
money no more proves that such sys-
tens are impossible than the innumer-
able abo,itive attempts throughout the
ages to establish individual liberty