Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-07-24
SENATOR JONES' "QUANTIIY" THE
DRY OF THE VALUE OF MONEY.

The silve1ite and Populist papers
are republishing as q campaign docu-
ment a speech by Senator John Z.
Jones, of Nevada, in which that emil
nent Populist expounds the we'll
known theory that the value Of all
money depends on the quantity OF
money in any country. Senator
Jones claims that the key which opens
the door of the financial situation is
the principle that "the value of every
dollar depends on the number OF dol
lars out" and insists that the value of
none "does not in any case depend
on the value of the material of which
it is composed.
On their face these statements are
so positively untrue and absurd that
the proper way to treat them is with
ridicule. But coming as they do from
a United States Senator who is believed
by many people to be an authority on
the money question, it is necessary
that their fallacies should be exposed,
especially as they serve as a basis for
the various cheap money schemes now
being agitated.
The delusion that it is the quantity
of money, no matter OF what kind,
that fixes values, is an old one, but
one entirely without foundation. The
value of money depends on the cost of
producing the metals of which it is
made, real money being nothing else
than a fixed quantity of certain metals
stamped by Government with a certif-
icate of its weight and %fineness. Paper
currency, which is a promise to pay
so much OF these metals, may serve as
money IN business transactions, but
its value in all cases depends upon the
metal in which it can be redee med at
the will of the holder. Now it is evil
dent that the value of gold and silver,
in relation to other commodities, does
not depend on the amount OF money
which may happen to be coined from
those metals, but on their cost of pro-
duction. That this isso can be seen by
the commercial value of gold bullion,
which is practically the same in all
parts of the world as the same weight
of gold in coins. The Governments
stamp adds nothing to its real value.
The same proof is furnished by the
bullion value of silver in Mexico,
where in spite of the Government OF
that country stamping Zone dollar"
on all silver taken to its minis the real
value Of the silver remains at fifty-two
cents. With these facts before him it
is only possible to admire the Popu-
list Senator's impudence in claiming
that it is the number OF dollars in cir
culation which fixes the value of the
metals of which they are made.
If there were any basis for Senator
Jones's statement that ''the value of
the money unit does not depend on
the material OF which the money is
composed" it would follow that if the
money unit were copper, lead, iron, or
even paper, its value would remain
the same as long as the number of
units was the same. In fact, Senator
Jones asserts that this is the case, say
ing: "The rule applies wen to I'M
covered paper money" Against such
stupidity it is impossible to argue.
This is the browning folly of fiatism
in which free silver logic naturally
ends. But it at least furnishes a con-
vincing argument against free silver,
since it would be far easier for the
Government to make all our currency
uncovered paper money, thus doing
away with the necessity of even fifty
cents worth of metal In the dollar.
Senator Jones adds himselfto the list
of Populists who are working for fiat
money in the guise of the free silver
lite. Even ability to make eight-day
speeches in Congress will not in the
future convince anyone that he is real
ly in favor of sound money and an
honest dollar.