The Louisiana populist. [volume] (Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish, La.) 1894-1898, 1895-08-16
GOLD is NOT MONEY.
RIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT
TO CREATE MONEY.
Questions the Right of Govern ment to
Create Money OF Any Kind. Form,
Shape, Substance or Material"

|
create money OF any kind, form,
shape, substance or material. This
is one of the things governments are
for. In creating money for the pay
ment debts, money is brought forth
and paid into circulation and thus
started on it's mission of usefulness,
as goes man on farm as he makes
his rounds.
None but the government OF coun-
try has the right to create money,
which right for thousands OF years
has been conceded to be inherent in
the breast OF the sovereign. Where
the people are sovereigns, as in our
North American Republic, this right
rest with the government which is
created by the people, with the right
to create money and laws that will
help to protect and advance the in
! terests Of all the people, or they are
not good laws.
All over the country are men who
count on having to fee from this land
at some time in the future, to escape
punishment or the voice OF reproach
here at home. These persons ask:
What will we do when we go into
another country and there want
money!"
To this we reply: "Do as do the
people of other countries. There OBJ
tain the creation of that country's
law, there known and used as current
money, and there as legal tender as
best you can, just as the people of
his country do, but do not in your GO
ing take with you the money of this
country. Take gold, silver, corn,
cotton, fruit, labor or other things
for which you can find a market
there, but leave the legal tender
money. the greatest of all tools of
trace, here at home, as when you
leave a farm, mine, mill, or other
place where you work you
leave the tools behind YOU"
The other night we heard banker
say to his friends that as a banker he
issued hundreds of thousands of dol
lars of money.
In this he was mistaken.
He had created and disposed of
hundreds OF thousands of dollars OF
notes promising money in payment at
some time in the future, but he never
created dollar of legal tender for
debt and therefore he never created
or issued dollar Of money. He con-
coded as much when gently pushed
into corner.
Then he said that the government
had no right to create money Of any
kind. That all money should be Gre
ated by banks. When he was told
that this would make the banks to be
greater than the government and able
to control the government, as they
tried to do when the great war was
young, he switched off and said that
the constitution OF the United States
did not permit the government to
create money, but to coin money;
that all its money must be gold or
silver, and could not possibly be of
paper, as paper could not be coined.
Then we asked him why the gov
eminent created coin money, copper
and money of nickel, giving to each
coin designated position and power as
legal tender. He said that this kind
of money was created merely as a
and that in reality the
had no right to create
such money that had no value except
rs money.
We then asked him why the neces-
sity for designating coins for GER
tain work If they could not or would
not be made to do 1t without the gov
eminent stamp thereon. He said it
was because of the necessity to have
certain coins with which to pay small |
debts.
We asked him II the principle was
not the same and as necessarily ap-
plicable in cases of larger debts as
small ones. He said the principal |
was the same, but the principal
should be departed from in order to
encourage men to go into the bank
ing business and to furnish q circu-
lating medium, which, he said, should
not be legal tender when the people
could get along without it, II they
would only have confidence in the
notes issued by bankers.
We then asked him why the people
should not have rs much confidence
10 notes issued by men who are not
bankers?
He said they were not bankers, and
hat all issue of money should be left
20 the bankers.
He said the government had no
light to issue paper money, except,
perhaps, in time OF war. In a case OF
life and death.
We told him that a government
had no more power in time of war
han in time OF peace; that it could
,ot do anything one day which it
could not do the next day, and cited
him to the decision of the supreme
court of the United States IS decided
n 1888. For full decision of the
highest tribunal in the land. next to
he ballot, see volumne Xxx. ITO, u.
}. Reports. page 42l, and there read
Ia followe.