The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-09-07
TAUBENECk TALKS.
VIAL PRINCIPLE or The MONEY OUEs
TON OlSROggO
The PEoPE MUST DECIDE ALL MAT
IER> OF PRINCIPLE AND CONGRESS
ALL QUESTIONS OF DETAIL
COLONEL Polk AND OTHER AUTHOR
TILES QUOTED To SUPPORT HIS
VIEWS.
The People Must Own the Power of Mon
ey or the Money Power the People.

Monetary reform overshadows all
other questions, and until this is
properly solved all other industrial
reforms must become subordinate to
this one issue. Why Because "mon-
ey is the life blood of commerce
and trade" because our demand
for money is equal to the demand
for every other article" and because
every time We buy or sell something
there is also demand for sufficient
amount of money to pay for it.
Suppose you have a demand for
ten different articles and 60 to the
city to buy them. Don't you know
that your demand for money, on an
average, Will be ten times as great as
your demand for any single article,
or, in other words your demand for
that one article "money" will be as
great lis your demand for the other
ten combined?
Suppose you keep an accurate ac-
count of all the different articles
You buy and consume in one gear.
Again, suppose at the end of the year
after balancing your books you tiud
that you have bought and consumed
one hundred different al ticles. Then
your demand for money on an aver
age will be one hundred times as
great during the year as your de-
mand for any other article. In bus
iness transactions you will need
money one hundred times where
you will have "a demand tor any
otner article but once.
How do people get money to buy
the necessary articles they don't pro-
duce themselves: The farmer gets
his by selling the products of the
soil. The artisan by selling his la
Dor and skill. The lawyer and ply
sician by practicing their profession.
The manufactures by selling his
wares, and the merchant from his
profit he makes in buying and selling
goods. Thus in order to get money
everybody is compelled to sell his Ia
Dor or products of labor for money
and then use the money to procure
all other articles needed. Money is
the only article we have with which
we can procure all others 1t is a
check upon society which everybody
is willing to accept, andthe price of
all products and property depends
upon the number of dollars in circu-
lation.
Suppose the corn crop in the
United States this year should be
only half as large as it was last. In
the place of being thirty bushels per
capita it would only be fifteen. What
would be the RESULT Why, the price
of corn would go up, because the de-
mand for corn this year would be as
great as last, but the supply only
half. The same is true of wheat,
cotton, plows, shoes, or any other
article produced or manufactured,
Whenever the supply of an article
is restricted or cut off and the de-
mand remains as it was, then the
price of that article will go up; but
if the supply is increased beyond the
demand, then the price will go down.
This is the law of supply and de-
mand." Money, like everything else,
with only this. difference. That when
you restrict the supply of any one
article, say corn. it will effect the
price of corn only: but if you re-
strict or contract the money volume
it will effect the price of all products
and property alike. Just as an in
crease or decrease in the supply of
any article will produce an increase
or decrease in its price, so an In
crease or decrease in the volume OF
money will also produce an increase
or decrease in the price of all Other
articles; or, i'll other words, the sup.
ply and demand of money to determ
inc the price for which property shall
be sold is as great as the supply and
demand of all other articles combin-
ed. A corner on money has the
same effect on the price of all COM
modities as a corner on wheat has
on its price alone.
The great question is, what is the
power of money, where does it rests
and who owns it! The entire power
of money, great as it is, rests in the
hands and is owned by those who
have the right and authority to issue
| it. If We confer this prerogatlve
on one person he will own the power
of money and can use it to his ad
vantage: if delegated to class o.
bankers as we have in this country
they will own the precious metal:
they Will exercise it, and if lodged
in Congress-, then the people viii
own it. 1t Is self-evident fact tina
those who issue the money also owl
its power. The two are inseparabl,
the right to issue it also carries Will
it the power to control its volum,
and fix the price for which all prop
erty shall be sold.
James A. Garfield, speaking t.
this point, said: THE power tina
controls the issue and volume of eur
rency is absolute dictator of the bus
mess and finances of the country"
Just as the air We breathe is nee
essary to sustain life, so money /
the one essential thing needed t
support commerce and trade, an
that class or trust which has the au
thority to issue it exercises tn
greatest power for veal or woe whlcl
exists among civilized nations. Thl
power, which can impair the val
ue of all contracts and obligation
which can fix the price of ever,
bushel of wheat or pound of cotto
/ and dictate the terms for which la
Dor is compelled to toll. is too grea
} to be trusted in the hands of any on
class. 1t is high treason against th
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