Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-05-22
"Coin's" Doctrine of Money.


The author of the Chicago free-silver
extravaganza, entitled Coins Finan-
cial School, is evidently disciple OF
the Barnum philosophy, that the world
loves to be humbugged. That curious
hodge podge of facts that are not SO,
and theories that could not be sustain
ed even if they were SO, appeals to just
about that level of intelligence to
which the salve peddler of Barnum's
story appealed with such profitable re-
suits. IF dogs tail is cut off, said
the peddler." and little of this salve
is applied to the stump a new tail will
quickly grow in place of the old one,
and, by applying enough of it to the
severed tail, new dog will grow out of
that also" The peddler retired from
business in short time with fortune.
"Coin" deals with currency instead
of dogs, and his miraculous salve is the
free, independent and unlimited coin
age of silver by the United States
against the world in general and what
he is pleased to call "the English
octopus" in particular. The virtues
of this salve, if we will only apply it
with full faith and courage, are set
forth with wonderful assurance and
fluency. 1t will make the payment of
all our debts twice as easy. AT the
same time it will double the price of
all that we have to sell to England,
France and the rest Of the gold using
nations 1t will make the United
States ''the most prosperous nation on
the globe,n and, as for England, we
are assured that it will IDIOT her name
out from the nations of the earth" if
she makes any fuss over it. Consider
ing that England is by far the largest
and best customer for the bulk of our
exports, it is not quite clear how we
are to become 1.-The most prosperous
nation on the globe" by sponging Eng
land off the map. Nevertheless, ''Coin"
is quite positive that his free silver
salve will easily accomplish both
things and, somehow or other, bring
wealth to the pockets of American
producers by destroying their mar
| kets and running their customers.
The light and airy assumption that
underlies this whole superstructure of
Stiffness is that if the United States
minis would only coin all the silver
| that can be brought to them at ratio
of 16 to /, an unlimited demand" will
have been created for the white metal
by which so cents worth of it will be
made as good as 81 in gold all around
the world. AS if our government, or
any other government. or all govern
ments acting in concert, could create
an unlimited demand" for anything
at an arbitrary, fixed valuation, by the
short and simple method of stamping
it as worth so much
There is infinite humor in this idea
that the government can call real
value into existence by the magic of it's
mere mandate. The joke is not new,
however. Nations have had fun with
1t on many historic occasions. Jack
Cade anticipated "Coin" on Black.
heath Common oyer five centuries
ago, when he addressed his motley
following and said, Your captain is
brave and vows reformation. There
shall be in England seven half-penny
loaves sold for a penny; the three
hoped pot shall have ten hoops, and
1 will make it felony to drink small
beer" God save your Majesty ~
cried his hearers. 81 thank you, good
people," said Cade; there shall be no
money; all shall eat and drink on my
score" Coin" is simply Jack Cade
revised up to date. He will make 16
American minis, and all the world
shall accept it at his valuation or
there shall be no money!" and then
We shall all ''eat and drink on his
score" Two pecks of wheat shall be
| one bushel in Liverpool, or we will
keep and eat our wheat ourselves and
let England howl with hunger. The
people who have loaned us money,
whether foreigners or natives, shall
accept silver at our valuation or get
nothing.
There is no difference between such
incoherent idiocy as this and the
famous financial lunacy of John Law,
the crazy experiment of revolutionary
France with her assignats, or the wild
delirium of England in the South Sea
Bubble episode. The same delusion
that is dancing in the brains of "Coin"
and his financial school for the feeble
minded danced in the brains of the
, men who gave the world those aston
ishing exhibitions of flat-money mad
ness. They all believed, as "Coin" as
sures his dupes, that the government
had only to stamp something as money
and, presto, it was good as gold"
Behind the assignats was the fiat of
France, backed by the death penalty
for refusing to honor them as real
money, and yet, as Carlyle tells US,
they sunk so low that the hackney
coachman in Paris came at last to call
for six thousand livres in assignats
about 81 5000 for a fare. The fiat of
the English government was behind
the South Sea speculations, and, as
result, there was time when, in the
words of Macauley, the South Sea
Company were voting dividends of
fifty per cent. when hundred pounds
of their stock were selling for eleven
hundred pounds, when Threadneedle
street was daily crowded with the
coaches of dukes and prelates, when
divines and philosophers turned gam
blers, when a thousand kindred bub
bles were daily blown into existence,
the periwig company and the Spanish
jackass- company and the quick silver
fixation company" And then came
the crash. Ten thousand families
were reduced to beggary in a day, and
the duped people demanded that the
promoters of all those frauds, based on
Coins" doctrine that government flat
can create something out of nothing,
should be tiled up in sacks and thrown
into the Thames"
The people of the United States are
not to be victimized by any such hal
lucination as the pretended power of