The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-06-18
FINANCE AND SENSE.
THE HONEY PLANK IN THE PLAT.
FORM DISC USED.
A Case of Craft or Ignorance-What ID the
Dollar Unit of Commissioning
Has Intrinsic Value.


tho following from ex-senator Norwood:
To the democrats of the south: Will
present some views free coinage or Sill
yer. under the head of The Common sense
of Finance
AS the use Of words is to express
thoughts it is necessary to understand
the terms employed in discussing Hnance.
A clear conception of them Will thro"
light on a subject which to many Is uaih
and incomplete. The darkness is not IN the
subject; it is purposely produced oy men
whose interest lies in the ignorance or the
people as the interest Of the priesthood TOT
sixteen centuries advanced by Keeping
the laity in ignorance of the Bible. w men the
laity, after the reformation got the Bible
in hand, the priests lost power anu
Cbristianitv advanced So will it be In
finance. AS the people explore It's tunctions
and fictitious mysteries and learn the truth,
its high priests in Lombard and Wall street
will lose their power and the Whole country
will partake of the wealth and prosperity
which they now almost monopollze
For centuries it was heresy and death
for the laity to read the Bible. 1t is now
presumption, impertnence and hagran'
trespass for a farmer, mechanic laborer,
doctor or lawyer to attempt to discuss or
to dare express an opinion on the aWIul
mysteries of finance. Finance is the sacred
ark to be approached only by the consecrat-
ed and anointed. The layman who even
humbly ventures to whisper the mysterious
word FINANCE" or "feenaunce," deserves
the fate of Uzzah for touching the ark Oh
the covenant He is at once overwhelmed
by an avalanche Of jargon like that with
which the lord Of the manor overwhelmed
little Nose the wears son. He opened the
argument by asserting that "the concatlna-
ton of sef-existences proceeding IN a re-
ciprocal, duplicate ratio, naturally produce
a problematical dalogism which IN some
measure proves that the essence OF spirit
to q
cable" And, the young lord was as
nlaving his wit to lure the Wears daughter
to her ruin, we may beware OIL lhe oe-
signs of eastern financial doctrharlahS
when they launch upon us the studled anu
involuted nonsense that marks the financial
plank in the Chicago platform as mohu-
mental deceit 1t was seduction in Doth
cases the only difference being the plat
form was intended to deceive mllllons III
stead of one. I wish 1t borne IN NINA tnat
do not hold the southern democrats reSpon-
.ible for that Delphic oracle on silver They
were threatened with the force bill and had
to accept the best they could get. IL was
then believed to be wise to submit, but such
policy in the future would be suicidal.
The Nomenclature of Finance.
The money unit is the 1nteg@r eStap-
lished by any government FOR measuring
values and solving debts; as the doliar
with lis the franc in France, the pound in
for all commodities what the yard STICK is
for cloth, the pound for weighing, the BUSH
Il for measuring.
Money STANDARD" is the number of grains
of pure metal with the alloy added that
constitutes the unit" Ape grains make
our standard silver dollar and 2o'S make our
standard gold dollar.
parity means equality, or at par. That
word as used in the Chicago platform,
parity of the two metals, means equanty
in value between gold and silver, not as com
or dollars, but as bullion. This construction
is made clear by the next words, to-Wlt:
And the equal power of every dollar at
all times and in payment of all debts. 1t
the words 1.-TWO metals do not mean gold
and silver or bullion, then the words the
parity of the two metals are worse then
.edundant-they are a snare and a cheat
the words Intrinsic vaue'' applied to gold,
or silver, or any metal or thing are de-
usion Intrinsic value is a myth An m
trinsc value would be Interchangeable. Value
depends on desire or demand for an OBJ
ject and on the quantity to supply the de-
mand. Values of gold and silver are con-
stantly changing. When gold is in excess
of silver it is less desired; therefore, less
valuable But this could never be if gold
possessed intrinsic value. Every writer on
finance of acknowledged authority has
given up the BOBBY superstitons Of I'm
trinsic value"
With the foregoing definitions Of financial
words and terms before us let us turn the
light that marvellous achievement in
verbal jugglery that ineXcusable 'gno-
rance of eastern financiers-the silver plank
of the Chicago platform 1t reads:
1--WE hold to the use of both gold and sill
as the standard of money of the country
and to the coinage of botf- gold and silver
without discriminating against either metal
or charge for mintage; but the dollar unit
of coinage of both metals must be of equal
intrinsic and eXchangeable value, or to be
adjusted through international agreement
or by such safeguards of legislation as shall
insure the maintenance of the parity Of
the two metals and the equal power of every
dollar at all times in the markets and in
payment of debts; and we demand that all
paper currency shall be kept at par with
and redeemed in such COIN
L will now analyze that language to see
how much craft or ignorance it exhibits
Bear in mind that it settled before the
convention met that either Mr. Cleveland
or Mr.. Hill would be the nominee for pres
ident. Both were eastern men-of New
York. To carry the eleven eastern states it
was necessary Ito talk gold" To carry
the south and few western states it was
necessary "to talk silver" Therefore it was
decided by the gold men to juggle with
words, and hence we have the above con
catination of Self-eXistenceS proceeding in
reciprocal duplicate ratio" etc.
What sense is there in the words, "the
use of gold and silver as the standard of
money!" There is but one standard of
money, and that is the quantity of metal
in it. For instance, standard silver dol
lar contains 412R grains, including p!Oy
and our standard gold dollar contains 20.8
grains, including alloy. If they knew what
they insolently claim to know all about and
what they say the south knows nothing
about, and had been honest, they would
have said unit of money and not the
standard of money" The unit would not
have committed the east to advocacy of
any specific Standard that is any given
number of grains in our silver dollar, where
DIS the work standard used by them implies
commlttal to our present standard dollar.
was 1t ignorance craft?
Did those eastern men mean that they
hold to the use of both gold and silver
one at the standard of 253 grains and the
other at the standard of 4121a grains as
the money of the country" when they
are hourly proclaiming to Europe the
dishonesty of their own government in
coming and retiring Ape grains, or a dol
lar which they say is not worth 20 cents?
If they did not SO mean were they juggling
or We're they ignorant in speaking of the
standard of money.