The herald., 1895-06-23


the STANDARD of value The silver dollar
is not the standard of value.
The dollar worth 100 cents, so loudly de-
claimed for, is myth and humbug. 1t
does not exist, and never did exist, and
never will exist.
The dollar standard Of value is an alb.
stract, ideal dolla., composed of 100 ideal
or abstract cents, each Of which is COM
posed of 10 abstract or ideal mills, and
the mills never existed de forto.
The intrinsic value of 100 cents, supposed
to make an honest dollar. is only 5 ideal
cents. That is. if. as claimed by goldites,
the true test of money is to melt it down.
ard the bullion value will equal its
minted value, then 100 cents melted down
give copper bullion value of ideal
cents.
Therefore, the honest dollar so-called,
that is worth 100 cents, which is in cop
per bullion worth really only 5 ideal
cents, is myth and humbug, used to
mislead and delude the people.
The honest silver dollar is likewise a
humbug and myth for the above reason.
1t is not intrinsically of the same value
as the gold :dollar, OF the 100 copper
cents
The gold dollar, the silver dollar and
the 100 cents are always lntrinsically
worth Just what the commercial or mar
ket value OF the bullion may be.
This always has been their intrinsic
value and always will be. Neither one
equals in bullion value the ideal 100 cents,
or ideal dollar.
The same natural laws regulate their
bullion value that regulate the value of
wheat. cotton, iron. corn, bones. cattle,
lum Der or any other article used by hu-
man beings. They are the laws ofisupply
and demand and corners or pools.
Abundant crops and fixed demand
lower prices. Small crops and a fixed
mand advance prices. Fixed crops and
increased demand advance prices. Fixed
crops and decreased demand lower prices.
Pool corners do the same.
Likewise. abundant supplies OF silver
or G nd decrease the commercial value of
the metals. The output OF California and
Australian gold deprecated the CONNER
cial value of gold, and the recent limited
output and cornering of gold advanced
its value. So the recent increased output
of silver lowered its commercial value.
1t is an impossiblity under the laws OF
nature to maintain fixed commercial or
intrinsic value for a metal that varies in
its supply or In the use made of it, or
that is affected by corners or pools.
The reader will bear in mind that the
use or demand for money varies as popu-
lation and business vary. and as the facil-
tiles for handling money vary, or as it
may be cornered.
Therefore it is unanswerably apparent
that the commercial value OF fixed
quantity of metal minted as dollar must
constantly vary, and therefore cannot be-
come fixed measure of other values for
purposes OF exchange.
The true meaning of commercial values
in business is an abstract, ideal dollar.
To illustrate its abstract and ideal ex
istence as a standard OF value, we cite
common instances. You say to an ignor-
ant day laborer. who can neither read nor
write, "How much will You charge to dig
me cellar six feet deep and zen feet
square?" After a few moments re1ec-
tion he replies, 81 will dig it for four do
lars" You ask him. do you mean four
| dollars OF the gold standard or of the sill
yer standard?" He replies. 81 don't
know anything about your gold standard
or your silver standard. When l get the
job done just pay me my money"
How did that man, knowing nothing OF
| the GOLD or silver standard. fix the value
of his labor at four dollars. and what
did he mean va dollar" What meas
ure did it represnet? How did he acquire
q knowledge of a@dollar as a standard
value for the purpose Of exchange?
1t was done as follows: From the time
| of his first working. down TO the present
he had learned that the word dollar rep
resented certain portion of his labor as
compared with the labor OF others, as
represented in articles for sale.
His experience in past years had en-.
abled him, and all others, to unconsci-
ously reach the knowledge or conclusion
that there was a relationship between the
results OF all labor that could be used as
a unit OF com parson OF the value OF those
results.
Therefore the dollar that measures val.
ues in commercial transactions is an alb
stract, ideal dollar, the result OF com
plex and composite practical experience
in the results of labor. Each person il
conscious of the above facts in his own
ex perience.
about children and spendthrifts, such as
They do not know the value OF a dol
lar" or mo QUE knows what dollar j.
worth until he earns it by hard work.
The original value of gold dollar was
based on the time and labor spent ir
mining it. just as the laborer above re-
ferred to tixen tue value of the dollar a.
the time and labor spent in digging it.
;. So was fixed the value of the silver dol
lar originally. The commercial value
of any article is fixed in the markets o.
the world in this same way.
OF course, supply, sdemand and corner.
make a variable element, for without aly
| value.
Now what represents his abstract, idea
dollar? We reply. anything chat those
concerned agree to adopt. IL may
be a metal or a piece of paper called Q
green back or check.
When the people in a nation mutually
agree, in the form of legislative enact
ment. that any given quantity OF sub
stance shall be received by each mem bel
of the nation as representing fxed ex
change value called a dollar. then thai
quantity uf that substance, whether golC
or silver or paper, becomes dollar. anC
every citizen knows that by force OF the
law each other citizen will receive it from
him at the same value as that at which
| he received it.
This Is legal tender, and it is demon
strated every day in the legal tender gold
silver or paper dollar, no two of whict
have the same commercial or intrinsic
| value.
The abstract, ideal dollar as a standard
of value exists as a fixed factor notwith-
standing the tiuctuatng value of the ma
terial used to represent the dollar.
The reader will carefully note that tn e
isting Independent of legislatures. Blu
the substance and quantity and form
thereof, representing this abstract OF
ideal dollar, is purely matter OF legisla-
tive enactment. THIS is the only fla
| port of money.
The intrinsic or commercial value of
the quality of the substance used a.
money is fact existing independent o
legislation. Herein is expressed thu
entire fallacy of all attempts by law tt
change the value of the ideal or astrac
dollar to fit the intrinsic or commercia
| value OF the substance used to represrn