The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-09-20
JONAS HOWE.

JONAS HOWE.
He Squelches the Argument of an
Arena Contributor.
Mr.. EDITOR:
Has congress the pOoCe1 to regulate
the ualaH of money? 1t certainly has
the privilege, for the constitution,
Sec. VIII, 5, reads, "To coin money,
regulate the value thereof and of for
eign coin" l have lately noticed
doubts expressed by writer's about
the power of congress to regulate the
value of money, admitting the privi
lege granted but claiming the thing
was an impossibility. One writer in
the July Arena says:
"FiXing the sta rip is the only func-
tiOn government can justly exercise
as to the coined money of any people.
Its duty begins and ends in placing
it's stamp on the gold or silver
brought to the mints. In addition
to this, most governments assume to
regulate the value of coins. With
just as much reason they might at
tempt to regulate the path of the
earth around the sun, or pass an act
ordering the transit of Venus. The
truth is the natural value of gold or
silver is matter wholly independent
OF parliamentS or congresses"
In this the writer differs from DR..
Franklin, who said:
"GOld and silver are not intrinsic
ally of equal value with iron. Their
value rests chiefly on the estimation
they happen to be in among the gen.
erality of nations"
That is, if the generality of ma
tiOns did not use them as money,
their intrinsic value would sink to Is
per cent of their present coined val
ue; for instance, before the demone-
tization of silver in 1873, in the Unit
ed States silver was worth $1.32 per
o.; and after that it dropped to,8Oc.
per o.; and after it's characterization
by India it was quoted at SOC. per or.
Does not the stamp make the differ
ence between the one-dollar full legal
tender greenback and the $40 one?
The writer in one place says:
1.-THE late characterization of silver
by many nations, and the consequent
increase n, the demand for gold as a ba-
sis of currency has had much to do
with the recent rise in the value of
that metal"
Did not these many nations not
only ''dss,tnle" to but actually regulate
the Uatle of both metals when they de-
monetize one? Silver was regulated
down-gold up.
have never been able to see on
the limited number of gold dollars
in my possession the words, "This
piece of metal weighs twenty-five
and eight-tenths grains, nine-tenths
pure gold and one-tenth worthless
alloy."(?)
Did not congress regulate the val
lie of SO-cent silver when it's author
lied stamp made legal tender dollar
of it?
And did not that fiat dollar remain
a legal tender for it's face value when
silver dropped to SOC. per o.? Did
not congress regulate that value?
Or when congress demonetized the
trade dollar with it's 42O grains of sill
yer, did they remove the stamp, or
only pass law that reduced it's mon
ey value from ten to fifteen per cent,
thereby regulating it's value below it's
commodity value, until the bankers
had gathered them all in at IS or 9Oc.
each. Then did not congress kindly
regulate their value back again so as
to profit the bankers from ten to fif-
teen per cent on each and every dol
lar so regulated?
Did not the demonetizing of the
silver dollar in 1873 at the request of
European bankers through the agen-
cy OF Ernest Seyd with $500, 700 in
solid arguments, have the effect of
regulating all remaining money up,
and silver down?
Did not the destruction of over
$1,000, 100000 of our greenback money
in eleven years, from 1866 to 1877, reg
late the value of q. S. bonds 100 Der
cent upward, together with all the
paper money based on them or on
gold? Nor was this an accidental