The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1892-09-07
MONETARY CONFERENCE.
(COntinaied from page 81

conservatism which gl0rities everything,
even tyranny and stupidity, If hoary with
age, and always seeks to rivet the needs
Of the present to the deCaylng and I'M
perfect systems of the past, and TO deny
to the human race the hopes and posi-
bilitles of the future. That there have
been the same evolutions of progress In
money as in all other things. That In
the rude original Of society no kind of
money was possible. That the first trade
was by barter, after which, some one or
more commodities attalnable in the Vicin-
age, and in general use and demand, were
selected as the common medium through
which all exchanges were filtered. That
the use for that purpose Of various metals
by weight followed next, and, at sue
ceeding stage, gold, silver, and copper
by weight, and after this their use in the
form Of coins, the value of which CO.
incided with the bullion value. That in
most countries coined money has been
sometimes supplemented and sometimes
superseded by promises to pay coin,
which were always broken when coin
was demanded. That the next step In
many countries has been coinage main
tanned above it's bullion value through
limitations Of quantity and the stamp Of
authority as in subsidiary silver coinages,
and at the present time in the entire sill
yer coinage In the states of the Latin
Union. And that since the success of
this last step in preserving, through
limitation Of quantity, stsadlnsss of
money value above and wholly independ-
ent of intrinsic value has been assured,
1t would be presumptuous to affirm that
the same means may not furnish, with
out any intrinsic value whatever, better
and steadier money than the world has
ever seen, and that such money will not
become the money Of the future.
They admit that wherever society ls
divided into two distinct classes, the gov
erning and the producing class, q fat
money is open to serious If not fatal OBJ
iections, the chleftest Of which is the
danger of trusting itS issue to the good
faith of the rulers, whose proAgscy, am
bition, and extravaganza would be sure to
lmpel them to vitlate and ultimately de-
stroy it by excessive issues, and they have
from the same motives frequently de-
based metallic money, and that the scales
and cruclble afford some protection
against the debasement Of metallic money,
while an overiSSue of paper money, when
In the hands Of the governing few, can
neither be guarded against nor remedied.
But they claim that in the present en-
lightened age the true function Of money
Is better understood than at any former
period. That with all the experience OF
the past to warn and guide, false systems
may be avoided and true system estab-
lished. That such countries Rs have free,
stable, and constitutional governments
and advanced systems Of jurisprudence,
and which furnish universal opportuni-
ties for education and whose citizene are
by the practice of liberty accustomed TO
self-imposed burdens and restraints, can
be lntrusted with the regulation Of the
volume and value Of fiat money, with a
full assurance that It will be regulated
with wisdom and equity, and they main
tain that it is the only kind Of money
whose value can be scientifically regu-