The advocate., 1890-02-27

ui bne HuBmenthu demand, ana thereby au-
vance the exchangoable value Of the then In
adequate volume Of money, which is equiya-
lent 10 reducing the price ofthe agricultural
products True, agriCulturists should hold
their products and not sell al these ruinously
low prices. And no doubt they would II
they could, but TO prevent that, practically
all debts, taxes and interest are made TO
mature al that time, and they being forced
TO have money at a certain season when they
have the product of their labor TO sell, the
power Of money 10 oppress by its scarcity is
applied until II makes them turn loose their
products 80 low that their labor expended
does not average them hfty cents per day.
This illustrates the power OF money TO OPP
pressi the remedy, ~ before, lies in remoy-
ing the power OF the fulcrum--the inhexible
Government issue-Ond supplying Govern
mont issue, the volume of which, shall be
increased TO correspond with the actual ad.
dition TO the wealth Of the Nation presented
by agriculture at harvest time, and dimin-
ished as such agricultural products are con-
sumed. Such a Hedbility Of volume would
guarantee stability Of price based on cost
Of production which would be compelled TO
reckon the pay for agricultural labor AT the
same ratio as other employment. Such
6enbility would rob money Of its most po-
tent power-the power TO ooppress-and place
a premium on productive effort. But how
may 80 desirable result bo seCurodp Let
us see. BY applying the same principles
now In force in the monetary system of the
United States with only slight modification
in the detail of their execution. The Gov
ernment and the people OF this country
realize that the amount Of gold and silver
and tho certificates based ON these metals
do not comprise volume Of money sufficient
TO supply the wants ofth country, and in or
der TO increase thevolume, the Government
allows individuals TO associate themselves
into a body corporate, and deposit with the
Government bonds which represent National
indebtedness, which the Government holds
in trust and issues TO such corporation pa
per money equal TO ninety per cent. Of the
value of the bonds, and charges said cor
poration interest at the rate Of one per cent.
per annum for the use of said paper money.
This allows the issue Of paper money to in
crease the volume Of the circulating medium
on a perfectly safe basis, because the mar
gin is guarantee chat tho bankswill redeem
the bonds before they mature. But now
we find that the circulation secured by this
method is still not adequatei or TO take a
very conservative position, II we admit that
il is adequate on the average, we know that
the fact Of lbs being entirely inadequate for
half the year makes It's inaexibility an en-
gine of oppression, because a season In
which II is inadequate must be followed by
one Of uperabundance in order TO bring
about the average and such range in vol
ume means great fluctuations in prices
which cut against the producer, both in buy
ing and selling, because he must sell at a
season when produce is low, and buy when
commodities are high. This system, now
in vogue by the United States government
Of supplementing It's circulating medium by
a safe and redeemable paper money, should
be pushed a little further and conducted in
such manner as 30 secure q certain aug
mentation of supply at the season Of the
year In which Che agricultural additions TO
tho wealth Of the Nation demand money,
and diminution in such supply Of money
as said agricultural products are consumed.
Il is not an average adequate amount
that is needed, because under il the greatest
abuses may prevail, but certain adequate
amount that adjusts itself TO the wants Of
the country al all seasons. For this pur-
pose let us demand that the United States
government modify lbs present financial