The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-10-21
TRUE VALUE OF MONEY.
1t Can Never Have Commercial or Mar
ket Value.

AnOS VALUE Of NUN EYs
1t Can Never Have Commercial or Mar
ket Value.
Much confusion prevails in the
minds OF many by allowing the idea
of what money is to be obscured by
the thought of what money does or
enables its, possessor to do. from
which it derives all its value. But
such derived value can never be in
trinsic value.
Intrinsic value is natural power in
the thing itself to supply human want
or necessity. Air has the greatest
intrinsic value. Water has great
intrinsic value. So also have food,
clothing, medicines dwellings. light
heat music liberty-civil and relig.
ious, and whatever else adds in itself
a social or individual blessing. Money
in itself fills no such condition.
Commercial or market value can
never belong to money. says q writer
in the Advocate and Tribune It is
not commodity to be bought and
SODA thing for trade and barter.
The value of money consists wholly
in its use and is fixed by the stamp
placed upon it and is Interchangeable.
Hence the variable commercial or
marAet value Of the material of which
the money is made constitutes no part
of its value as money. While such
material is in use as money its MARI ct
value is wholly disregarded. More
than this. the cheaper the material
Of which money is made the better
it will circulate and the more of other
commodities a dollars worth of it
will buy. Note this fact: A dollar s
worth of bullion gold coined will buy
less than $1.2O worth of other COM
modities; dollars worth of bullion
silver coined will buy about $1.6O
worth; dollars worth of nickel
coined will buy over Sc worth of other
things; and a dollars worth of copper
coined will buy nearly $15 worth of
any Of the necessaries of life. More
than this. a greenback. which costs
but cent to make may pay for one.
five. ten or fifty. or (by it's stamp)
any number of dollars worth of valu-
able purchases while it has much
greater facility of carrying and
counting in circulation.
This entire neglect of all other
values makes the fact evident that
the true value of money is wholly
representative. This represented
value exists always and entirely in
the property for which the money is
received or paid. Let us illustrate:
John Stockman sells horse for a
green back 800. Now the greenback
represents value of 500. not in itself,
but in the horse for which it is re-
ceived. Mr.. Stockman needs a buggy.
At Peter Wheeler's repository he
selects one to his liking. for which he
pays the greenback. Now the green
back represents value in buggy
Mr.: Wheeler has payment to make
on his house and lot which he meets
with the same green back. Now the
greenback represents value in a
dwelling. So it passes on from hand
to hand. facilitating exchanges of
kinds, itself neither having nor need
ing any value save that which it
represents in the property for which
it is received or paid.
Nlnety-seven per cent of all com.
mercial transactions are now per-
formed with bills of credit on
individual security. And is it un-
reasonable to believe that the remain
ing per cent can be done with like
bills of credit issued from the nation.
al treasury with all the wealth of+b q
nation. individual and corporate, of
mine and farm and factory. for their
security and the authority of the
government for their legal tender
money power? Such money can
never fail while the government
stands secure. And all money. of
whatever material made. loses en-
tirely its money power when the
cover nment which created it is broken
up.
The concentration of wealth in the
hands OF the few. and the poverty of
many the strikes and the lock-outs
and the depression of all agricultural
and productive industry. is greatly
due to our false and oppressive gold
basis financial system.
The burden of costly money must
be removed. and system of money
for the benefit of the whole people.
at once cheap. convenient equitable
and abundant must be established.
And this will be done whenever a
ma GRITTY of the people in their politi-
cal action demand it.