People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1893-02-24

greatly increased, the volume of
money should increase likewise. The
reverse is also true.
All writer's agree that if the vol
ume of business is virtually at a
standstill, the prices of produce go
up or down in exact proportion to
the increase or diminution Of the
volume of currency.
The reason is clear. Produce
mast be exchanged for Money. Al
the produce bears price ia proportion
to all the money. Destroy one half
the money and let the bulk Of pro-
duce remain as before, and the con-
sequence will be that two. Bales of
Cotton must exchange about half the
price that one formerly brought.
Occasional spurts in the market, due
to speculation, or combination, or
shortage IN the supply of particular
commodity, may cause seeming ex-
ceptlons to this rule, but the excep-
lions are apparent, not real. Com
pare an Average in the price of com
modities and it will be seen that the
destruction Of half the money means
the lowering Of the price Of property
one-haf.
At the very time that the price of
cotton last fall seemed to violate this
rule the price of wheat in the West
showed that when an average was
struck the rule applied.
It is bound to. be SO, because the
getting Of money in exchange for
your goods is easy OR difficult in pro-
portion to the abundance or scarcity
Of the thing for which you must
swap.
Some reasoners contend that be-
cause ninety-odd per cent Of the bus
mess is done with drafts, cheques,
ETC., that the volume of money does
not control prices.
This. Is mere surface view.
Drafts and cheques are founded
upon money reserves. No draft or
checque is good unless the cash lies
back of it. Hence we stop just
where we started. 1t is the money,
after all, which forms the basis Of
trade.
Now suppose Nation have
Money consisting of Gold, Silver and
Paper-just as we had as the close
of the war. In such a case prices
adjust themselves to that condition.
Debts are made with reference
thereto.
A merchant starts a store and
borrows money to buy goods. He
does so upon the faith of the state Of
things thus existing. The farmer
buys land the same way. The land
lord prooures supplies on the same
idea.
Now. suppose YOU strike down that
Paper Currency till only remnant
is left. Suppose you burn up about
one-half of it-what is the result?
The merchant, the land buyer and
the farmer all find that the debt
they contracted is just twice as hard
to pay as it was before. It takes
| twice as much produce. Look at the
tremendous record of Bradstreet on
merchant failures, and then glance
over the Census Report on Farm
Mortgages and the fearful decline in
land ownership, the amazing increase
Of those who have to rent the fields
they once owned, and you cannot
doubt that the rule has worked with
horrible success.
Shrink the Currency and you
shrink the values Of produce and
lands. You increase the values Of
Notes, Mortgages, Bonds and Money.
When the Wall Streoters were
halted by an aroused people only
$346, 100000 of the Paper money
was left. They then, by indirection,
began the destroying policy on
another plan.
They laid aside $1OO,OOO,0Oo
Gold to redeem the the Greenbacks.
Thus they put an end to the useful
ness of that much gold. The Green
backs are as good as the Government
which signed them, and the gold was
never put aside to redeem them till
about twenty years after the Green
backs we're issued. It was merely a
dodge Of the Contractionists.
Then they secretly stopped the
Coinage of Silver. Partly checked