The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-04-25
The Power OF Money

The most fundamental and i'm
portant truths in relation to the ma
ture Of money have always been 50
covered up by technicalities. warped
and twisted by designing persons.
that it has completely deceived the
the people respecting its true char
acter. although they may have
known or felt that there was some
thing wrong in its power, yet they
never exert themselves to ascertain
the mysteries Of this power. Writers
upon political economy generally. a.
well as the people, have taken it
for granted that nothing was fit to
make money but the precious met
ais. and seem to forget that it is in
this very fact of their being made
into money from which these metals
derive great share Of their value.
Stop their use rs money and you
stop the demand, stop the demand
and they will fall in the price but
still they ignore this uncomfortable
law Of supply and demand and argue
from the standpoint Of intrinsic
value. Political economists may
continue to write. and the public
may continue to believe and argue
upon these premises for centuries to
come, and they will be just as far
from the truth as when they began.
Notwithstanding this mystification
about money. Its true character and
power are very simple. and need on
" to be clearly and fairly stated to
meet the approval Of any sensible.
and fair-minded, unprecedented per
son, 1t seems as though the people
must know and realize ifthey would
let their reason work-that the pre-
sent Capitalization power OF money
is gross imposition upon the rights
of the people and an injustice to the
rights of labor and money invested
in property.
The material of neither gold,
silver, nor any other substance as
money can in itself be used as food.
clothing or shelter, and certainly the
scarcity or abundance Of money. or
the scarcity or abundance of the ma
terials of money ought never in the
least interfere with general and
full supply of all the necessities of
life, for these necessities are evidently
the product of labor, and not the
product of money. Yet the present
power of money is such that the
people are compelled first to work
for money, and then depend upon
the power Of money to supply the
necessaries of life. Thus the power
of money is first and that Of labor
second. The money commands la
Dor. instead of labor commanding
money. This is exactly reversing
the true order Of things, for it is
making u dead, centralizing power,
the ruler and dictator that tyran-
nizes over the living, productive
power, whereas the productive ought
always to command the unproduc-
tive power. Ii the writers upon pc
litical economy have discovered the
t rue nature, power and use OF mon-
ey, and what makes il such, they
have but few of them made such dis
coyery manifest to the public
and this same old fossilized no.
ton of centuries ago. that money
must have intrinsic value before
| it can be money. and none other
is fit for money is taught by our col
lege professors to this day. and
blindly believed by the students, who
ought to have better sense than be-
lieve such stuff, even though it be
taught by q professor. Money is a
product of law, not of nature and no.
thing ever was money without that
law. Gold and silver are not money
until made SO by law, and it is this
law making it money that gives il
the greater part Of its value. not its
inherent value, for it has no value
only accordingly az it has use and
it is the snlne with money, no matter
Of what material it Ne made it will
have value regulated by its use
and the quantity to be had for that
use. The laws Of nations, as well as
the newspapers, and professors and
our men called statesmen are still
carrying forward and educating the
people to believe that money muse
have intrinsic value and is u product
i've, living power. Yet the power OF
money is entirely dead power until
set to moving by the live power Of
man. And still it holds the mastery
over him and makes him slave to
this thing that is incapable of NOV
ing or accommodating without his aid.
While h ought to be the siayef
These are important questions and
must be settled Alright if we expect
to endure as nation.-The Nation.
al Advocate, Lewiston, Maine.