The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1881-04-28
MONEY 4 CREATURE OF LAW,


Interesting, Plain and Oonvinc-
ing.
Legal tender is impaired to currency
by law, and only that currency which
is legal tender is money. II has be-
come necessary to demonstrate that
money is solely creature Of law. The
prevalent sneering at the unfortunate
phrase, fat money" which means
simply money created BY law. exhibits
an amazing ignorance and justifies elab-
crate proof Of . proposition which in
itself is 80 clear that wayfaring man.
though fool, ought not to err there
In.
Plato says: Money i . creation Of
law, to effect exchanges" (Plato's Re
public.)
Aristotle says Money il measure
Of value, . medium Of exchange, an in
vention Of man, rot product Of nature"
(Aristotle's Politics.
The English courts give this defini-
tiOn:
"Money comes from monendo - to
stamp; as wax is not seal without tLe
stamp, 30 metal is not money without
the impression Of sovereign authority
These definitions are from the highest
authorities.
For centuries, when coin was the only
money Of Europe, the monarchs of En-
gland we're wont to increase the volume
Of currency in times Of stringency by
means Of alloy. If appeals were made
to the courts, they invariably decided
that the monarch, having the right to
make meney, could use any material,
and alloy gold and silver to any extent
demanded by his treasury. As the
alleged money was received for all debts
due the King or the Government, that
which was good enough for the ruler was
good enough for the ruled. As the King
had the right 70 decree what money
should be received in his treasury, he
had right to decree what should be
legal tender for the people Of his realm.
Nearly all the English and French Kings
resorted to alloying their coins, in order
to increase the volume Of the circulating
medium TO meet exigencies. In 1720,
the French made their coins more than
80 per cent. copper, without lessening
their legal value.
Having for centuries practiccdincreas-
ing the volume Of money by alloy, the
governments Of Europe at length changed
the mode to lessening the weight Of coins.
The Parliament aud King OF England
dccreed that pound Troy should
make sixty-two shillings instead OF
twenty, as had been the law for many
years before, thus reducing the bullion
value ola shilling moro than three toone
Those shillings, reduced SO much Mt a
single stroke, were made the lawful
money Of the nation. Twenty Of them
made pound sterling; that is, legal
pound instead Of . pound weight. Each
shilling had the same legal value as be-
fore, and the volume Of shillings was
trebled by IN act Of Parliament signed
by the King.
From 1897 until 1916 England had
been at war. Her silver had been drained
by the sustaining of armies in foreign
countries. The Government was com
PEELED to increase the volume Of money
and TO check its importation |; SO out Of u
pound (Troy) Of silver sixty-six shillmgs
were coined instead Of sixty-two
Up to 1916 both gold and silver coins
had always been full legal tender III
England, but since then gold alone has
been full legal tender, and other nations
have also demonetized it. Silver bulliol
has fallen Is per cent. below gold.
Notwithstanding the depreciation ol
silver bullion full Is per cent, and it,
demonetization in large sums, yet silver
coins s per cent. light are COOL As gold
for the sum Of 40 shillings in each trans
action. The retail trade Of England il
mainly carried on in these deprecated
coins and in those of copper. Thus
hundreds Of millions Of money made Out
of less valuable metal answer the same
purpose ~ gold, and law alone makes
them equal.
l have cited these facts from European
history TO show that money is made AMI
unmade solely by law.
In our own country, under the Con
federation, Congress made 875. 60 grain
Of pure silver dollar. Under the con
stitution, in 1872, 371{ grains Of pur'
silver were made . dollar and fixed q
the unit Of our money. The law of 179.
made one pound Of gold equivalent T
sixteen pounds Of silver. Under tn
law Of 1872 gold was eleven-twelfth
fne; under that Of 1884 it was requires
to be only nine-tenths fine. The law q
1892 made % grains Of gold, eleven
twelfths fine, dollar that Of 1885 mad
25.8 grains, nine -tenths fine, dollar. /
1873 a trade-dollar was created, contain
ing 42O grains Of silver, nine-tenths fine
and was made money by being legs
/ tender for $5 in one transaction. It ha
since been demonetized by having il
legal-tender power taken away, an
now it is worth ten cents less than tn
lcgai-tender or money dollar Of seve
and half grains less silver.
Previous to 1853 oil silver half on
quarter dollars and dimes were full leg,
tender. In 1853 fractional coins were
by law, reduced per cent. in weigh
and restricted in legal-tender power I
&5in one payment.
In February, 1873, the silver dolls
Of 412i grains, which had been mone
by force Of law from 1852, was demol
etized by an act passed in the intere
of tho money power. BY the force I
law the same amount Of silver VI
again made dollar Of money in 1877
Thus We see that all gold and silv'
money has been made SO by force
law that is. every dollar and fractie
Of dollar Of these metals which hav
been money at all have been 90 by for
Of law only. We learn also that has
metals, used IS alloy. have becon
money as really As gold and silver, u
idols Of Shylock Worship, thus explo
ing the theory that worth Of mater
has anything to do with fixing the vail
Of money. ].
We will examine for moment small
fractions Of dollars made money Who'll
out Of the baser metals.
The law in 1895 authorized the iss1
} of cents and half cents made Of coppt
The cent containing 260 grains Of 90
J per was made full legal tender. II
, law Of March, ITS, reduced the weig