The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-01-05

PUBLIC PU "A TIDNs
mo eommuni cat ion will be- accepted tor
publication IN this column unless accom-
panied by the name of the writer It should
isbes Understood, in this connection, that the
editor does not necessarily endorse Opln-4
| ions Of correspondence S sS3
# The Passing Of the Greenback.
ia an editorial in recent issue under
the caption, 'sThe greenback must 60"
You seem to have fallen into the common
but erroneous belief that the establish.
ment of the gold standard is essential tt
the maintenance OF sound currency.
With your permission desire to com
ment briefly on the arguments you have
adduced in support OF your position. ana
if possible to dispel any fears which syou
may entertain by the displacement Of
gold for some other material out OF which
to coin money. In order to obtain i.
comprehensive idea of the money ques
ton we must first consider the motive
for it's establishment. Money is simply
q medium Of exchange. It's use consists.
in facilitating trade. It is what some
political economists term common de-
nominator, measure OF value which ex-
lists in the commodity to be purchased
| In primitive ages trade consisted in
exchanging commodities, but as trade
expanded, and population increased, the
necessity for measure of value became
apparent. and we find the various nations
denominating some article or another to
answer the purpose of money. La an
Gent Greece oxen were selected, in other
countries of Europe the products of the
soil as wheat oats etc. In India rice, in
China tea, and so on. It is noticeable,
too, whether it was prompted by higher
intelligence or not (single standard advo.
Gates will deny lt) that those people in
selecting material for money use, always
selected something that could be found
in abundance;they also betrayed higher
regard for economy for the labor ex-
pended on the material out OF which
they made their money produced some.
thing useful; while the labor expended
in mining the precious metals is Labor
lost.
The disposition to accumulate wealth,
however, made it necessary to have som E
kind of money which could not be de-.
stroyed, and the extension of trade made
it necessary to have something portable,
the art Of mining having been developed,
the metals were selected instead of the
crude devices heretofore extant. It
must be borne in mind that it was not
because of value that attached to them
but because of their ready adaptibility
to the use for which they were intended
that they were selected.
In the discussion of the money gu es~
tlon the greatest misconceptions arise
from the application Of the word value.
There is no word in the vocabulary Of
political economy that is so little under
stood. We speak of it as an attribute
inherent in and indigenous to the object
under consideration. This however is g.
grave mistake. The value of anything is
determined by the relation it bears to
seem then that the value of money does
not consist in the material out of which
it is made, but rather in the amount of
commodities which we can obtain for it.
The value which attaches to money ia
conferred upon it by law, and this power
which confers this value upon gold could
give the same privileges to any other
substances. But it is when we speak Of
"intrinsic" value that we reach the eli
max of absurdity. There is no such
thing as ''intrinsic" value, even the most
rabid gold standard advocates admit
this. The value of gold like any other
commodity fuctuates; we know that
gold is more valuable now than it was
previous to the repeal of the purchasing
clause of the Sherman act. Let US for
instance suppose gold TO be demonit1zed.
It is estimated that the amount Of gold
now in coin in the world is So, 500, 100000,
the amount annually used in the arts ia
estimated at 100000, 900, here then would
be 60 years supply thrown into the
market. Gan any one consistently deny
that the value of gold would not decrease?
But the amount of gold now mined in
the world is not sufficient to supply the
demands Of an ever increasing popula-
ton. The truth of this is forcibly illus
trated in this country at the present time.
In the year 1865, with population of 81
millions the amount of money in circule
ton was little over two billion dollars,
while in 1893, with population of over
$4,000 O0o, We have only one and half
billions. This and not the tariff is re-
sponsible for the prevailing distress, and
it will continue until the volume. of