The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1886-01-21


property.
It should be the aim of all legisla>
ton to regulate the value Of money
so shat individuals in making the
Exchange Of their property and prod
lcts of labor for money, should re-
'eive the full value for the same
All debts are mere postponements
or the stipulated time of payment
or actu"l value received. Money
oaned, as well as rents of property
IRE mere rents for the use of some
hing of actual value which is to be
'aid at tie time specified. In my
opinion, all money instituted and put
in circulation by the nation, should
be legal tender 70: all dues and
lebts. Certain peculiar properties
ire given by law to certain substan-
ces, which bear the name and per~
form the Office of money. What
hen in fact is money AS before
ntimated, it is simply legal pubs
ic medium of exchange and should
possess the requisite qualities to
fleet judicious and equitable ex-
;harge of property and the products
# labor. All Of its peculiar charao-
-eristics are the creations Of law,
md entirely different from the things
f,r which it is exchanged. In ana
'yzing the complicated question, we
ind that money has four indispensa-
o:e properties o. powers, to wit pow
r to represent value, power to meas
ire value, power to accumulate val>
le by interest, and power to ex>
change value. These are jndispensa.
,le properties and no medium Of ex
hange can exist without them; all
Of them are coessential to such medl-
lm, The material, then, out Of
which money is made is mere legal
ized agent used to express these
powers and render them available In
trade. This legal power Of money,
(which alone renders it useful, is the
creature of legislation then money
,an possess none but legal value.
From what has been said, all legal
value derends upon actual val1e
which it represents therefore mon-
ey must represent actual value
that is to say the value of property
or the products of labor, or as Thos.
II. Benton expressed it, land and la>
Dor. 1t will be readily aemitted
that money is only the legal repre-
sentative of property. This is obvi-
Gus from the fact that it would be
impossible to find any suitable MAJ
terial possessing the required essen
tial value to balance ,he value of the
property or PRODUCTS to, be exchanged,
It will, l presume, be as readily ad-
nitted that the value is in the prop
erty and products to be exchanged
md not in the money. If it is adj
nitted that money is only the legal
representative, it must be admitted
also that every representative is dis
tinct and apart from the thing
represented; The presence Of The
one implies the absence Of the other
Again. representative has power ts
act for something else-the thing
represented. This power to act as {
representative is superadded and del
egated, and cannot alter the first ca
pabiIities and qualities Of the agent
Delegated authority.gives the agen
a power and right which he did no
previously possess.
| A man acting for himself alone
all his acts are individual and bind
ing only on himself. He cannot Civ
an obligation which will bind others
unless the power be expressly dele
gated to him. This delegates au
thority does not alter his capabilities
ss an individual. We send our rep
resentative to a foreign court. In
storm at sea he Is shipwrecked ane
lost. We lose only an individual
: though he has the delegated authori
ty to act for more than fifty millions
: Now look at the picture reversed
) Suppose our government shoult
; cease to exist, and our agent shoul,
reach his destined port in safety, b
would cease to be an agent from th
fact that there would be nothing t,
; represent. He would only retain hi
natural rights and powers as an indi
, vidual.
Our members of Congress ar
elected and sent to the seat of govern
,nent to- enact laws for our govern
ment and protection in our stead. l
: is not to be inferred from this tha
: he possesses as much knowledge a