The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-02-23

manning would be appreciated just two
thirds l have never read any work
upon finance that did not recognize this
principle. Now, gentlemen, say it
would be dishonest to issue fifty-flve
millions more of these silver dollars.
How? Will it cheat anybody? VIII it
operate as an injustice to the govern
ment, TO any corporation, or to any
private individual2 If So how?
The moment these dollars are issued
they pass into the hands of the people,
they are a legal tender for the pay
ment of debts If they are utilized for
the payment of debts, in the hands OF
the creditor whose debt is thus salts
fed they would have a greater control
over all the products of human labor,
over every effort and struggle for hui
man existence, over every species of
property than was ever possessed by a
silver dollar in all the history of the
use Of that metal as money. They
would bring to the creditor today more
of the conveniences, more of the lux
uries of life than ever before in the
history Of the use of silver as money,
even when it was at a premium above
gold. How is the creditor wronged
then? And this is true not only in the
United States, but in other nations.
Not only is this true of silver as a
national money, but it is equally true
of it as an international money.
The silver dollar which the gentle
man from Pennsylvania held up and
branded as dishonest, as being worth
only 40 cents, is worth a dollar in
France or in any other portion of the
wide world today. because the owner
Of that dollar anywhere viii make no
deduction from its face value in eX-
cess of the cost of transporting it to
the United States. No one would ask
him to make any deduction beyond
that Would any citizen of France
possessing two millions of these silver
dollars today exchange them for one
million of gold dollars in France? He
certainly would not be guilty of any
such sacrifice. The discount would be
the cost of shipment to America. But
it is said the silver dollar possesses
this purchasing power here and else
where because it is known that here
it may be converted into gold. That
is not true. The exchange of gold for
silver in this country is not legally en-
forceable. No man holding a gold dol
lar is under any obligations, and
neither is the government, by any OF
the laws enacted by Congress, under
any legal obligation to exchange The
gold for the silver.
Why is the silver dollar thus valued
II is because in this country, whose
gentleman from Mamie (Mr. Reed in
his speech on the tariff question, is
equal TO one-third of the commerce OF
all the world besides; in this the great
est commercial and producing nation
! of all the earth, that dollar can bt
| transformed into anything which vii
minister to the comfort of mankind
| II is because in this country, where
we have billions of Indebtedness TO bt
civ ic for
tender for the payment of debts. 1t il
because here people are struggling
with all their energy and with all thei
power, and with all the hope will
4 which a man seeks to save the hom
which shelters his family-strugglin
| to obtain these dollars with which Il
remove the mortgage which cucumber
his homestead 1t is because this dol
lar is available for all these purpose
| that it is thus valuable.
What folly it is for gentlemen wh'
pretend to be distinguished financier
| to rise here and say that this dolla
so in demand in this country for nj
these purposes, that this silver dolla
is dependent for its value upon tn
credit of the nation or upon the linn
tied supply of gold which we possess
There are two systems of money
| One is usually known as the fiat sys
| tenn, and gentlemen here often speal
about the fat dollar. The other i
generally known in finance as the au
| tomato system. There is but one dis
tinction between these two systems
In the fat system of money there ar
| three elements, each the creature o
| LEGISLATION or the law. Legislation 1es
ignates the material in which the uni
shall besymbolized and the device b.
(which it may be identified; Legislation
gives to it its legal tender quality
legislation fixes the number of tn
units which may be issued. Every e1e
ment of this money, as will be seer
lis dependent upon the behest of tn
] government. In this country that be
hest comes from an act OF Congress.
In the automatic system. the unit o
material out of which the money
composed, and the device by which
may be identified are the creatures G
legislation; the legal tender quality
bestowed by law: but the number c
units, tae volume of money, is left
depend upon the amount of materie
which may be discovered and pro
duced. Under such a system, {
course, it is necessary that the ma
terial selected must be of limited pro
duction. because, if like the sands upo
the sea shore, it could be readily pro
duced to an unlimited extent, I'll
value of the units, being so numerou
would be nothing.
Hence gold and silver have Away
met most fifty the requirements OF ii
automatic system. They were not 81
lected because the particular metal
silver. we will say-was worth for us
in the industrial arts for commerce;
purposes what it would be worth
: issued as money Silver was not s.
/ lected because Ape grains of silvt
l were in as great demand in the indu
! trial arts or for ornamentation as f
monetary purposes. These metals WEI
: selected because their supply was lin
: lifted; it was known there would no
could not be so great a quantity di
: ! covered and produced as would lea
= to an undue and unjust initiation
the currency.
) Gentlemen who think that the vail
of every dollars depends upon the vail
of the material which composes
, ought to consider some facts in the e
: ipefience of mankind. For instance,
Sparta gold and silver were by law i
! hibited as money under severe pena
: ties. A disk of iron weighing less ths
an ounce, impressed with the stamp
. money, the number of such disks beiI
= limited by the law, by the fiat of legi
: lation, would exchange for more than
!, / ton of the same metal not so Impress
I as mere commodity.
The Phoenicians adopted glass
money, and an insignificant quantity
! this commodity when stamped accor
ling to law and limited by law as
: the number of units might control
: Its purchasing power all the glass
2 the world The paper money of Russi
: Issued to a very great extent SO far
the volume of it is concerned, under t
: Ioperation of law under their fiat sy
Item, is not redeemable; but il is ma
5 money. The material of which it
e composed, paper, is comparatively V;
). iueless. Yet will any one say that tn
d is not money and is not valuable /
s l.A.a IL 70 l,,a of the m q tat.ial in uhi