People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1893-06-02
Money and Sovereignty.

mOu0I anu OUE6I6IgUtJS
St. Louis Republic.
The chief attributes of sovereignty
are the power to issue money and
the power to levy taxes. Of these,
the one is the complement Of the
other, and whoever exercises them is
the sovereign, no matter whether so
called or not.
The reason is obvious. The tax
ing powei is the power to take away
the earnings of labor and to deter
mine how much or how little of what
he has earned shall be left to the
Garner for his own use.
The power to issue money is the
power to determine the conditions of
the exchange of the products of
labor, to increase the toll taken dur
ing the exchange, to decrease the
portion of its own product which
labor has as the reward of produc-
ton.
Exercised together, these compile
mentary powers involve as complete
a control over the earning of pro-
ducers as was exercised over the
earnings of slaves under the chattel
system.
1t follows, therefore, that any peo-
pie which desires to maintain free
dom and justice must never delegate
either of these powers to any private
person or corporation, or number of
private persons or corporations.
When such delegation has been made,
sovereignty has departed from the
people. They are subject. The
control of their earnings under the
taxing system and the control OF. the
medium of exchange by corporation
are conformity sufficient under mod
ern systems of acquiring property
without earning it to render it i'm
possible for the actual producers Of
the country to accumulate any sur
plus. On the contrary, they are
forced deeper and deeper into debt.
Under this system of direct and
indirect delegation of these sovereign
powers the producers of the Missis.
sippi valley have been forced into
debt to the almost inconcelvable
amount Of over two thousand million
dollars. This debt is largely held in
Boston and New York, and as a re-
suit the plutocrats of those two cities
are desperately determined to main
tain their control over the finance of
the Union.
Without a perpetuation of the
National debt (Which they are deter
mined to bring about, if possible),
the National bank note circulation
cannot be maintained, and the SOW
ereign power involved in the issue
of these notes for circulation as money
must be resumed by the people them
selves.
Anticipating the possibility of fail
ing to perpetuate the National debt,
the plutocracy is preparing to force
through Congress a law for the Ma
tional control of banks of issue char
tered by the State, to issue notes for
local circulation, based on State debt
and other evidences of lack of cash,
including railway stocks, farm mort
cages and other ''securities" more or
less capable of holding water.
The direct or indirect control of
State banks by National banking
act would be unconstitutional, but
we need not stop to argue now
against the Federalism and centrali-
zation involved in the step it is pro-
posed to take. 1t is better to stand
on the unassailable proposition that
the sovereign power of the people
ought not to be delegated to any cor.
poration whether chartered by the
States or the l nited States.
1t was barbaric custom to sublet
both the taxing power and the power
of issuing money. We have ceased
to farm out the taxes as was done
several thousand years ago; that is,
we have ceased to do it except by
the indirection of a protective tariff.
but we are still openly sublettlng TO
corporations the not less far-reaching
and not less sovereign power of is
suing notes with a view to CONTROL
ing and profting by the circulation
of money.
If we perpetuate this system we
perpetuate in few hands the power
of controlling the people, and we
make it certain that in the future, as
nosr, the wealth of the people will be
diverted from its natural channels to
increase the Importance of a small
plutocratic class which is without
doubt the element most menacing to
the peace and stability of our Gov
! eminent.
When it is remembered that the