Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1892-10-14

1t was only for the purpose of OBJ
Waiting the system of barter that
money came tn be used as a circulating
medium and standard Of values. II
there is insufficient money in circula.
ton with which to carry on the trade
OF the country. then it naturally fol.
lows that resort must be had to that
primitive method Of exchange. barter.
But the fact that barter is rarely, il
ever employed in this country at the
present time shows conclusive!!y that
the money supply is amply sufficient
to meet all the requirements of trade.
Our independent brethren define
money as "a measure Of value"
Without pointing out the incomplete.
hess Of this definition and the obiec-
tons to which it is open, we desire to
call the attention Of all fair minded
men to the absurdity Of fiat money
men who accept this definition for
money, "a measure for value" Evi.
IDENTIFY then anything must have value
or it cannot be money, for how can it
measure a quality that 1t does not
possess? AS we'll measure the length
OF a brick wall by something possess
ing no length as to measure the value
of a carload OF grain by something
possessing no value. To be consistent,
fiat money men must invent a new de-
finition for money. The STAR will
take pleasure in publishing a limited
number of those definitions, if our in.
dependent friends will send them in.
The SrAR will also take pleasure in
publishing the views Of Independents
upon the money question, because it Is
convinced that the more those views
are presented to the people the greater
will be the chances for republican sue
cess in November.
Much has been said and written of
late about the great conspiracy against
silver on two continents. From the
general trend of these statements one
might be led to infer that silver is
completely obliteratsd as a factor in
the monetary supply Of the world.
Now, what are the facts? The tenn
ing millions of China and India, the
scattered republics of South America,
Central America and Mexico, in fact
four ifths Of the entire population of
the globe, Isl silver as the sole stan.
dard Of local exchange and value. In
the so.called gold countries silver en-
tiers largely into the composition of
the money supply. Here in the
United States silver is now being
coined in volumes far exceeding the
palmy days of bi.metalism. This con
spiracv against silver exists altogether
in the fertile imagination Of certain
large-hearted statesmen who show
great desires to serve the people. But
the people are alive to their own inter-
ests. and cannot he fooled by any such
mis-statements Of facts. The EN-.
bryo statesmen will soon be obliged to
resort to other methods for a living.
X
In order to show the difference be-
tween good money and bad money, the
difference between using for money
an article that possesses value in it,
self and an article that derives value
from the credit Of government, let
us suppose three men, each with a
hundred dollars. The first is a gold
money ma and has a hundred dollars
in gold. The second is a free silver
man and has a hundred dollars in sill
yer. The third is a fiat money man
and has a hundred dollars in paper.
Each of the three men locks up his
money in the house at night. During
the night a fire breaks out and burns
all three Of the houses to the ground.
How do the three men fare? Can gold
and silver be destroyed by fire? They
cannot be, but the stamp Of govern.
ment is entirely ohliterated. The man
with so much faith in the fiat money
finds himself a hundred dollars poorer.
The silver and gold can be collected
and sold as bullion. The free silver
man will get about seventy dollars for
his hundred, but the gold man will re.
ceive back one hundred dollars for his
gold. He alone does not loose because
he alone had money in a metal that is
worth the same no matter what its
form. What people need is a money