The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-11-21

bank bills, take away the government
pledge, is solely based on property in
the form of bonds and the honor of man,
and would be at an alarming discount
if not redeemable by the governnaent
in the greenback, another paper dollar
with better security.
We have come to a strict logical con-
clusion, and void of all mistake, that
no perfect paper dollar can be issued
except by government, and it is the
conditional duty of government to see
that the people are provided with the
best of money, a plenty of money, and
to control that money. Any other
course is the encouragement of tyranny
and dishonesty.
d. The scientific dollar is something
spoken of by many as yet to come, but
no one has properly defined. This dol
lar, beyond the common greenback.
We have seen what is necessary to
make a perfect paper dollar; unit of
value determined by the value of an
other unit which has the value per Sc
government legal tender, &c. There
fore, the very first thing to do in evolv-
ing this dollar is to determine its unit
IF value with value in itself. Single
products of the farm, the forge of the
factory will not do, as they are too
fluctuating in supply and demand; nor
can a unit be evolved by taking any
number of staple articles and drawing
an average without government de
pOsItories when these articles may be
kept and it's bills redeemed on dem and
at the unit of value or price determined.
This would be a step towards national
ism farther than the nation is prepared
to go.
But at this time, with perfect ease,
the scientific paper dollar can be made
to refer to so much bullion of silver
and gold as it's unit and have a greater
stability as to permanent value than
it now has To make half of the buI
lion in our silver dollar and half of the
bullion in our gold dollar the unit and
for the government to keep this bullion
on deposit always in sufficient guam
titles half and half to determine it's
value would make safe, simple and
sci sn:ific paper dollar without going
into natlonalism. Gold and silver
would be only commodities on deposit
for final redemption. This privilege
might constitutionally be extended to
the States. Gold and silver might
fuctuate in value in relation to each
other with a perfect see-saw, still the
sum total of the two values in the bul
lion would re main the same, nearly.
Then give this dollar full legal sanction
in the payment of dues and taxes, and
it would be the most perfect paper dol
lar the world ever saw, and at the same
time save the abrasion and wear of the
precious metal.
The great effort of the money sharks
of the world has been originally to in
crease their own money often on mere
confidence, and when mankind could
not be duped, to call in the aid of the
government to prop up that confidence.
All money not founded by government
or of the States is base and defective
money, and should not be tolerated.
The government can base money on
bullion or property to any amount it
may need, and it will be good as long
as the government or the States are
good, but private money will always
create panics and distrust. 1t is
supremely false either in peace or
war to assume that the government
needs individual credit to prop its own
or stands in need of any individual
cooperation to make an equitable and
flexible monetary system. Every time
it doesn't and every time it has been
done, the VOL YES are licensed to devour
the sheep. This is the never failing
record of all history.
The intrinsic value of the dollar
should always remain as nearly as pos
sible the same. We repeat, by intrin
sic value we mean the price of the
products of skill and labor, as these
finally determine the value of all things.
Ii you increase the intrinsic value Of
the dollar in which debts and annUities
are paid, you rob those who have them
to pay. If you decrease the intrinsic
value of the dollar, you have robbed
those to whom debts and annuities are
coming. The quantity of money in
circulation free to move, determines its
intrinsic value not whether it be gold,
silver or paper, so it is sound and
honest. An honest dollar is the dollar
which remains of the same intrinsic