Middletown transcript., 1891-03-12
est On his:investmant remained station

est On disbursement remained station
ary.
There does not seem to be any way
Of escape for those who bought ianu
when wheat was selling at $500
bushel but by return to the same
conditions which prevailed at the time
Of buying, viz: High prices induced
by deprecated currency. Now It is
firmly believed by many that had Con-
press authorized the free coinage OF
silver and compelled the acceptance OF
it as legal tender, that our currency
would soon have deprecated in value
and less wheat would have been re-
ouired to represent the value OF dol
lar. and as a consequence wheat and
the land producing it would have IN
creased in value. This would have
been the natural result OF curtalilng
The purchasing power Of money, either
bv its over production or by the use OF
a currency whose purchasing power is
small by reason Of the inability OF the
| government to redeem its pledges con-
yeyed through the medium of value
| less substance.
The paper dollar was never worth
anything of itself, but the pledge OF
the government to redeem it gave "
whatever purchasing power 1t had.
The mere stamping, by the govern
ment, of a piece Of paper or other
material, does not render 1t valuable
unless it is believed that the govern
ment authorizing the stamping thereby
conveys pledge which it is able TO
redeem. An example of this is seen
when a private individual agrees to
nav certain money at certain stated
time if it is believed that the person
making the promise is able to fulfill it
the note or ether obligation is yalu-
able, on the contrary when the one
giving the note is known to be unable
to fulfill his prem ise the paper has no
value.
So il has been with the government.
Now the only reason for the hope that
the free coinage Of silver would make
money cheap is found in the fact that
with free coinage every one would, in
a certain sense, have power to have
made all the money he saw fit provided
be could get enough silver to work on,
and such being the case and silver
being plentiful, as it is, everyone
would be able to secure more of the
cheap dollars than he could of gold
dollars. Money can be made of iron
or lead just as well as it can be made
of gold or silver, but il it we're so made
its intrinsic value would be SO slight
that every man would become bis own
coiner and money would become more
of drug in the M arket than Indian
corn is to-day. !
Had every man the right to make
all the money he saw fit our medium
Of exchange would become valueless );
so it would be with silver coin; it
would have no value other than its in
trinsic value as metal when every man
who owned silver could have it coined
whether the government needed it or
not. There seems to be disposition
among the safe men of the country to
prevent the depreciation of our cur
rency and it is well that such is the
case. What is there in the present
condition Of our country which points
to a different consequence of imitation
Of the currency from the consequence
of the last imitation ? Absolutely
nothing. The condition in which the
people would find themselves in ten
years would be as bad if not worse
than that which followed the imitation
of 1858. The business of the country
is now on comparatively sound basis
and although we are still suffering
from the faulty legislation Of the past,
that fact should not cause us to clamor
for a condition which would, in the end,
render our situation worse than it
now is.