Omaha daily bee., 1891-03-08
TuE MONEY QUESTION.
Correspondent Replies tothc state.
mcuts of MIR. IlnbCr

tlal lIUluSt uaNC uSktN me To fCplN 10 IL.
By your permission viii DO So, and will be-
rs brief rs possible. But as 1t is u question
that is up, and upto stay until change shall
be made in the whole financial system Of the
country, or the people are convinced that our
present system is the best, perhaps you vii
be willing to give considerable space to the
subject
Lotmo sec first, what MIR Baker thinks
Of the uprising OF the farmers, who are del
handing change lie saws! ".rhcy are
but demanding their rights aS American Citi-
zcns that the great question that Coufruuts
the people IS the money question; scarcity Of
money means silent factories, idle and suf-
icriug people; that the creation of values
comes through work of some kind that the
agricultural interests S have been dCprCssCda all
over the country for years, aud
farmers unable to hold their own;
that the farmer fluids bankers aud every body
else organized to protect their interests; that
a larger volume of money would greatly en-
haucc the value of land; that all the debts of
the government are subject to reputation;
that the present volume Of money is too
small; that law is necessary to prevent the
wealth from being concentrated IN the hands
OF the few; that the great great menace to
the country .s the concentration of capital;
that the currency OF our nation Is of supreme
importance to the welfare of the people:
that commercial trade cannot prosper under
u IdlNN SN nltlll Ol UnaNtt, tnat paper money
may ne preferred rs an actual circulating
medium; that our circulating medium is less
than one half of that OF France per capita;
that experience is the best test of truth that
the theory duty y of government Is to pro-
tcct life, property and the pursuit of happi-
ness that every person is entitled to the
fruits of his own labor; that the bulk of the
money is in the hands Of the banks, loan
agents and trust companies
The difference of opinion between the alli-
al. Il.,1r
all of the above points, as
the writer understands it, is OOJ, 900
Following the admissions of MIR Baker,
which arc in harmony with the farmers
view, he makes some thirty odd assertions
that places him and them at the extreme
ends OF the earth. The farmers demand that
the government shall loan money ON land Sc
curity at 2pcr ccut per annum.N This is
correct. "COlnlng money is not the creation
of value Lawful money is valuable of
whatever it may be made, as it Will enable
the people to exchange their products and
pay debts, the only uses there are for money.
Coming silver bullion into dollars creates
about thirty cents In every dollar coined by
our government, and Puck sald "the United
States mint is the only place where that can
be done. -
With a territory more than seventeen times
larger than France, MIR. Baker thinks SO per
capita in this country is about equal to -! in
France. lie says that issuing paper cur
renCy on the credit Of the government has al
ways proved disastrous.n Yes, for the all
sufficient reason that those who advocated
specie for basis have so far been able to
overthrow the laws making paper money
"The farmers alliance is on the wrong trail
in hunting more currency. They should hunt
down the money shark Mr. Baker
SAYS there should be more money.
Does he want the farmer to turn
highwaymCn, or anarChiStst or would
he have them 90 into the mountains to lool.
for gold: Or would Mr. Baker turn pat
riotn and have congress make dollar from
20 cents worth of silver instead of the 20
cents worth they now use, Or would he
have 25s grains of gold make $25 instead of
SO, as il now does
Mr.. Baker says the farmers cannot bor-
row money cheaper than at present. That
depends wholly upon what laws they make.
Sixty million of people are sixty million
strong as soon as they learn that fact
Mr.. Baker attributes the hard times of
1887, 1897 and 1873 all to the same cause
namely, redundancy of paper currency. In
1881 ana 1891 the paper currency was on as
sound "A specie basis as ever we have had
Corporations were allowed to issue more
paper than they had specie, and of course
could not redeem their issues, and when the
bankers could gather the peoples property to
themselves by failures to redeem, they did
so. The currcr cy in use from 1861 to 1863
mad no specie behind it. The cause of hard
times in 1873 was caused by destroying that
currency, as poor stun as Mr.. Baker
thinks it was. Hon. John a. Logan SAID that
that contraction amounted TO 81. .OlS, l61 Isl
AS a result of that contraction Mr.. Logan
could see our business operations crippled
and labor red uCed to mere pittanCc. Il can
sce,n said he. the hopes of the Industrious
farmer blasted, as he burns his corn for fuel
because it will not pay the cost of trans pOrta-
ton" He said much more, but hear what
John Sherman sand; "Nhen that day comes
(contractOn) every man, the sailor says,
will be -----: all enterprise will be
suspended every bank will have contracted
its currency to the low st limit; and the
de btor. compelled to meet in coin. debt con-
tracted in currency, will find the coin boarded
in the treasury; no representative of coin in
circulation; his property shrunk not only to
the extent of the appreciation of the currency,
but sull more by the artificial scarcity made
by the hOardcrS af god.n
Mr.. Sherman also says more, but il is use
less to repeat 1t. MIR. Baker can learn the
cause of the hard times of 1913 and down to
date if he will clrcfully study the two QuCs-
tions, then open his eyes and look about
Money is again being boarded until CONNER
Cial failures have reached 400 in single
week. All the distress that Mr.. Baker ad-
mits the people are in mas been brought
upon us by pretended specie system.
Mr.. Baker says, in effect. that people don't
want the grcCnback redeemed, because they
know the government can DO it. Would a
man be an ignoramus or Il wise man to ask
the government for seventy cents worth of
IL
made so by law and you must take it, if ten
dercd, in payment of debt. Or would he
wish it converted into a bond on which he
be compelled to pay interest, and the banker
allowed to issue currency not legal tender:
"A generation has grown upwhich actually
imagincs that finances have outCrown the re
dcmption of paper in COIN When that fact
is better understood there will be more fiat"
men and fewer "ignOramuses."
''lrredecmablc paper currency is delusion
N "A "a at " thA ,iint'
of the government TO make it money has al
ways been "a "deiuSlOn and snare and will
continue so to the end.
Paper currency must have metallic basis
either of coin or bullion Shall the United
States treasury become agrcat banking insti-
tuition ~
Mr. Baker says the whole matterhlnges on
that last question. 1t does not The germ is
in the statement that paper currency must
have metallic basis, either in coin or bull
Hon.n If that is true the government should
not Dcdome a banking institution. If it did
1t would surely become what MIR. Baker SAYS
IL now is, "a perpetual pauper." If it is not
true and it is the duty of the government TO
protect life and property and grant men
the right to seek for happiness. Yes, let the
government go into the banking business :;
let everybody be equal sharers in the busl-
ness.
Judge Tiffney said of money: "As me
dium of exchange, or a means to amend. it
has no value but the sovereign will recorded
upon its face. But this rests solely
in the decline of the sovereignty whether the
com shall be metal, leather, parchment, paper,