The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-03-27
THE pELusroxs or CHEAP MONEY


which the people Of the Southland none
more tenaciously than the people OF VIZ
| einla-cllng TO false financial theo'ie9'
We point out. and point out the iaiiacy
OF the abundant and cheap money iuea'
yet we seem 10 produce no impression
at all. a great body OF our people hoiu
on 10 It and pertlnaclously press TOT
| legislation that will cover the country
with Sc; although every man VINO ca"
reason sufficiently 10 know that TWO
! and two make four. ought TO know that
any sort of interference with the hNed-
ness and stability Of the measure OF
value and instrument for exchanging
commodities, diminishes confidence in that
instrument. and excites unwillingness TO
accent il. and thereby diminishes eX-
changes Of commodities. which is an
abridgement of business and therefore
a cessation of the production OF wealth.
Every man, woman. and child in society
is interested to have the volume Of bust
ness as large as it can posi-
bly, be. For, as business Increases
employments increase. and opportunities
are offered in larger and larger measure
TO each person to acquire an improvement
Of fortune Stagnaticn Of business means
loss Of opportunities TO make money to
every person Active business means in
crease Of opportunities to make money to
every man. But. II the volume Of the
medium through which exchanges Of COM
modities are effected is threatened, men
at once become chary of exchanging their
commodities for that medium, business
languishes, the laborer is unable to get
work. books are no longer kept, and book
keepers are without employment. property
diminishes in value, and general stagna-
ton and dry rot set in
If such men could once be made to UNI
derstand that where there is enough
Of money and its substitutes to merely
effect exchanges Of commodities the
value Of their crops is in no way Deepen
dent upon the quantity Of money in
existence, the demand for cheap money
would cease. This is true, but it seems
that it is true. The value of his wheat
depends, not upon the creation of more
money than now exists, but upon the
quantity Of wheat that is raised and
the need the world has for his wheat.
There is now the very greatest abundance
Of money, and the proof Of il that
amounts TO demonstration is the fact,
patent and open 10 every man, that the
National banks Of New York city have
now lying idle in their vaults more than
$4,000 900 over and above their reserve
and that all the other financial institu-
tions in the land are in comparatively
similar state. Why is this so? 1t is be-
cause the threatened conversion Of one
medium Of exchange into a thing worth
only half what it purported to be worth
made men unwilling to swap their COM
modites for it at its face value, and con-
fdence in it being impaired. swaps Of
commodities fell off and business came
10 something not far distant from a stand
still.
But these bursting bank vaults prove
to a demonstration that wheat is not low
because there is a scarcity Of money
There is an abundance Of money, as those
vaults absolutely prove. The market
price Of wheat does not depend upon the
quantity Of money. The use of money
in connection with wheat is to enable
the farmer who raises it to swap his
wheat Off for the other things that he
needs He needs clothes with which
to clothe his family. But the merchant
who has cloth has no need for wheat
The farmer then swaps his wheat for
money. and then swaps the money for
cloth. But does the farmer not see that
in order TO effect this operation the money
must not be liable to any sort of suspi-
cion? Does he not see that if it is. he
it. and the cloth merchant will be unwil-
ling 10 swap his cloth for it? The absO-
Lutte, essential. sine qua non condition of
money is that it shall not be liable to
any possible suspicion of any kind what
ever The moment II becomes so, il be-
gins to fail in its power to be an agency
TO effect the exchange Of commodities.
The farmer must see then that a silver
dollar that is really worth only forty-fve
cents must be a suspected coin, and that
it cannot possibly perform the functions
of a dollar as it would do If it were worth
all Of dollar.
The standard argument of the free-sil-
yer advocates is that gold is too scarce
to be the only medium of exchange. But
England has used nothing but gold for
one hundred years. and this country
substantially used nothing but gold or
silver at It's sold value until a few
years back, and all the commercial ma
tions of the world are using nothing but
the gold standard now.
The following table shows how the
world is progressing in increasing its
stock Of gold. 1t shows the annual pro-
duction Of gold in tie world for the past
twenty years
18.s ....... $50 $4,000 1854 .....Sl0l. 700 900
1915 ....... 97.5OO,CO0 1889 ....... l0S, 400 900
1876 ....... .1O3. 10000 1856 ..... 10000. 900
1871 ........ll4, o0O,OOO 1857 ..... JOS. 775. 900
1878 ....... 100000 1855 ........ liOl91 900
1879 ........109. 100000 1889 ....... l23 4s9 o11
1850 ...... l05, 10000 1880 ....... llS.SiS 100
1881 ........l 0j ,Oc00D 1891 ....... 6.lS3. 500
lAS2 ....... lol e0o.00o 1892 ..... lSS. Sel 900
1888 ....... 95.i00,Oo0 1898 ........ 10000 900
1t is to be remembered that we DO not
use up years crop OF gold as we use
years crop OF wheat. A crop OF gold