People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1892-11-18

gold coin. You deposit the money IN court or
In the bank TO his credit and the debt IS extin
guisned at the will Of the debtor without the
consent OF the creditor This is caused BY ths
nat Of the nation formulated in the words. this
shall be q legal tender in ratification Of all
de0ts, public and private, within the iurisdic-
uon OF the United States This fiat on the
gold, the silver or the paper makes the money
Nothing else does or can make the money.
some able men assert that the true test OF
money is the fire test That is, il you put it in
the crueible and reduce it, a dollar viii be left
suppose the next time YOU 90 to pay a debt
you put your one hundred gold dollars in a
crucible and fire up, and tender your cred.
itor the fused result Have you in the Dot
money or bullioni Can you force the
creditor TO receive it: No The money
element is consumed The fat OF the nation
has disappeared The fire test Of money is thu
same on gold money or paper money ii de.
stroys the money power Of the article Presi.
dent Diaz may step into your bank and deposi,
one thousand Mexican dollars, and ask for
certificate OF deposit for one thousand United
States dollars. You say no. Why not:n saws
President Diaz, that is one thousand dollar
legal tender where came from" Yes" YOU
reply, that may be good money in your coun.
try, but 1t is not good money in this country"
When nation becomes powerless to enforce
its fiat the element Of the article ceases and
there only remains an article Of more or less
commercial value. Money is an artificial prod
uct, and Is not a national product No mine
has ever been discovered out OF which money
was dug ready stamped with a national fiat
All nations in all ages have made different forms
OF money! Money has no intrinsic value, it only
represents labor In some form The gold in the
mountains has no intrinsic value Ii is claimed
that it takes dollars worth of labor TO pro
duce dollar (25.s) Of gold and therefore that
the gold dollar has an intrinsic value The fac1
Is that II only represents a dollars worth u
work How about a greenback, when printed
and deposited in the United States treasury il
represents no value. 1t is then the same as the
gold in the mountains. But when some one
gives the United States (the people, dollars
worth OF labor or material for a paper dollar
thereafter that paper dollar represents
a dollars worth Of work as much as
ever the gold dollar did or could. They both
have the same representative value And, so
long as the nation retains its integrity and
power they will each be good as declared by
the nat Gold has no purchasing power. Moth.
Ing can be purchased except By consent OF the
vendor He may consent to sell for payment
in iron, cotton land or ships II is his option
as a seller to sell for what he chooses II is
only when debt is created that the debtor can
extinguish it at his choice with legal tender
money.
There is a good deal of calamity in
the foregoing, but it seemed to meet
the approval of the American Bankers
association for all that. After treating
of the subject of delusive substitutes
for money, Mr.. Widney continues las
bankers we will prosper best in the
long run under that system that gives
the greatest prosperity to the Masses"
Speaking of the power to coin money,
he says:
respectfully suggest that all efforts TO have
congress delegate this financial power 10 any
combination of men or corporations is danger
Gus, and should meet the never ending opposi
ton Of all Americans. 1t should remain in the
hands of the nation for the common good We
may be bankers in our day and reap The profits
Of system partial 10 us, but our descendants
will probably not be bankers, and they will
suffer from an unjust system. As bankers lei
Us unfinchingly oppose everything but the best
money and the best system that the iuteln
gence Of the nine century can give.
Here is testimony of a character that
should command the respect of those
who base their opinions upon those OF
eminent financiers, and this testimony
Sustains the three fundamental prOpo
sitions of the peoples party upon the
question of finance.
l. That money has no intrinsic value
and is purely creation of law.
= That the volume of money in cir.
culation is totally inadequate for the
demands of our commerce.
s. That the delegation of the power
to coin money to individuals or corpora.
tons is dangerous, and should not be
tolerated by the American peoples-that
congress alone is authorized by the con.
stitution to exercise that authority.
When next our republican editors and
politicians cry ont against the financial
plank of the Omaha platform, let them
direct their anathemas at the American
Bankers association.-Topeka (l[an.)
Advocate.