The advocate., 1892-01-27

wealth, and ia, In the very nature Of
thing, untransierrable, and to which no
member of the commonwealth can, by
any means or service, obtain an lndlvid-
usl title to any part thereof, and in this
respect clothing the private citizen with
regal powers that belong only TO the
commonwealth. That these abuses exist
10 truth so patent that it needs no
proof-a truth that we all have expert
enced 10 our sorrow.
These abuses Of money would. how
ever, be In themselves comparatively
trifllng, were it not for those graver
abuses, the practice of which Is made
possible by the existence of those already
named. OF these abuses practiced upon
the people, and made possible by the
foregoing abuses upon money, will only
mention few of the gravest and most
destructive Of the best interest and high
est good OF the people (the government
ltself). It has most truly been said that
q nations money is the llfe-bloOd Of Its
commerce.
In view of this any course of proceed
ure that has for It's object, or tends to q
determination Of this life-blood, TO any
locality, tends to produce an unnatural
activity In that locality, and general
prostratlon elsewhere. This is self evil
dent. Now, whatever business methods
tend to produce this abnormal condition
In the commerce Of the nation Is grave
abuse peFpetrAted upon that nation. Let
US then notice existing methods having
such tendency, their existence being
made possible by the practice Of the
abuses upon money before enumerated.
First, then, the false ideas generally
entertained &s to IN what money consists
have led men to seek it where IL was
supposed to be found I'm the mlnes); In
dlvidual enterprise has upon this base
been pushed to the front, and the strong
est, as q rule, fobbed the most Of what
was recognized as money,and established
In the mind more firmly than ever the
belief In individual right In fee, to what
an individual could obtain of the life
blood Of commerce (of the money Of the
country. This, Of course, leads to the
idea that II one owns In fee portion OF
that money, he has an undoLbted right
To hoard it or use It as he sees fit, even to
the destruction Of part Of it, II he so
elect, or to the direction OF II into chan
nels that conduce exclusively to indlvld-
ual interest, and this without question as
10 the best interest Of those who may be
effected by It. This, Of course, tends to
bring about the state Of things before de-
scribed, VIZ, determination of money
to some locality called money center,
for instance, Wall street, New York, pro-
ducing undue excitement (business ac-
tlvity) In money circles there, and gen.
eral business proStratlon elsewhere, this
made possible by a general mlsapprehen-
sion Of what money consists, and the
adoption and use as money as that which
cannot Ia the nature Of things supply
the demand Of popular government like
ours for q money adequate to Its needs;
this inadequate money may be generally
described any commodity the ownership
In fee In which would be desirable, or OF
which value in itself can be predlcated;
such as gold and silver. and all notes
whose value Is derived from the value
supposed to exist in gold and silver, may
be classed with them as being inadeQuate