People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-02-17
MONETARY SCIENCE
The Nature of Money and the Methods of
Issue-An Ideal system Proposed.

the United States are earnestly study
ing the money question, it WI be well
to formulate, in plain language, the
fundamental and automatic laws gov
erning money, its nature, functions,
uses and true method of issue.
Money, in its true sense, is not
wealth, and possesses no value as
money, even though it be stamped
upon material possessing value. Al
though the material upon which money
is stamped may possess, when un-
stamped, a commodity value, such
value, be it more or less than the money
denomination stamped upon it, becomes
merged into such money denomination
and will pass, as money, for such de-
nomination only. Such terms as I'm
trinsic," or inherent" value, Gods
money or natural money" are mean
ingless and void of sense
Money is the creature and creation of
law, and its essence inheres in its debt
paying or legal tender quality, which
may be stamped on any suitable mate
rial in obedience to the fat of law. Re-
duced to its last analysis, money is a
conventional compact or cooperative
agreement, entered into by the whole
people and given expression by the
sovereign will and power of the people,
or fat of national law. | use the term
national law" because | am treating of
national money, We're it not for the
existing constitutional prohibition, the
several states, or counties for that mat
ter, might each have its own exclusive
legal tender money, adopted by legal
compact or conventional agreement
A national currency, for interstate
use by the whole people, must bear
upon its face the legal tender fat, or
promise to receive, upon the part of the
whole people, in form of statutory en-
actment. If states, counties and cities
would pay one-half of all their obliga-
tions in scrip, not in form promises
to pay" but simply legal tender for
all taxes due their respective govern
ments, such scrip would form valu-
able supplemental adjunct to the vol
ume of money in circulation and serve
every purpose of other money.
Money is solely a medium of ex-
change of labor and commodities and a
tool for the liquidation of debts exist
ing between individuals and between
the individual and the organized com
munity Or government" Money is a
certificate that the holder thereof has
performed certain labor for, or parted
with certain commodities to. an indi-
vidual or the community and that the
people or the community Severally or
collectively, owe to him or her like
amount of labor or commodities. Such
certificate should be printed on the
least expensive material suitable for
the purpose. from the fact that all value
inhering in such material is dead and
useless while such material is used as
money.
Putting it in another form: Legal
tender, or money, is an agreement upon
the part of people, severally and col
lectively, to receive such money in pay
ment of all debts, public and private,
and in exchange for all labor and all of
labors product Hence, promises to pay
are self-contradictory upon their face.
The implied contract embodied in legal
tender money being, not promise to
pay" but a promise to receive. The
ideal inscription upon legal tender
money would be, not This note is a
legal tender at its face value for debts, -
etc, etc, which is arbitrary, but rath-
err, I'VE, the people of the United
States, severally and collectively prom
Use to receive this bill as
in payment OF all debts, public and
private, and in exchange for all labor
and all commodities" which is purely
voluntary and cooperative
The true money unit, or unit of ac-
count, is some certain quantity of labor,
as the whole intent and purpose OF
money is the exchange upon equitable
terms of one individuals labor for the
labor of another individual Broadly
speaking, one individuals time devoted
to labor is worth as much as any other
individuals time. Strictly speaking,
however, the true standards of value OF
labor are time and life-force expended,
either in the labor itself, or in prepare
ton for it, and the average duration OF
life in the various occupations, depend
ent upon dangerous risks and hygienic
conditions. This is the basis of compu.
tation accepted by life insurance com,
panies in afixing policy premiums As,
therefore, the value of labor differs to
some extent dependent upon the skill
required, risks encountered, relative
healthfulness, etc, the effort made in
the invention of money was to unite
upon common unit of account by
which the relative value of labor in all
occupations and channels of production
might be expressed. This unit, how.
ever, should not be real aud mate.
rial, as a certain quantity Of a given
commodity; but imaginary and imma.
terial as the supreme court has said,
AN ideal thing" the name by which il
is known being entirely irrelevent and
immaterial Taking as unit a certain
quantity of gold or silver or any other
commodity is robbery, pure and simple,
which, while it robs the masses aud en-.
riches the few, adds nothing whatever
to the efficacy or usefulness of the
money as comparative measure of la
boris product, or unit of account 1t is
not because gold is actually more val.
liable, that the unit of account we cal
! IL L