The state herald., 1895-06-07
THE HONEST DOLLAR.
II CONTAINS 4,2 la GRAINS
OF STANDARD SILVER.

The Gold Dollar Il tho Dishoness Dol
lar Because It's Purchasing Powss IL
Increased BY tho Manipui.tions Of
Bsnksrs and Their Allies,
In the Chicago Daily Record of May
10 Edward Atkinson repeats the defini-
tion Of honest money given In his ar
ticle of April 20: "Coins which, being
melted down, retain the entire value
for which they were legal tender be-
fore they were melted" With this def
milton as foundation he builds up an
argument against the free coinage Of
silver. calling 1t dishonest money"
and as such to be rejected as a coin
metal.
another paragraph of the same ar
he admits or states q fact which
upsets his own conclusions by verifying
principle which he ignores In his ar
gument.
He states that the silver coinage Of
India possessed a bullion value equiva-
lent to the value Of the coins them
selves until the closing Of the mints
After the closing of the minis the rupee
while not redeemable In gold as is our
silver money. yet as bearing the stamp
OF government and made legal tender
Tor the payment Of debts had greater
value than the equivalent weight Of un-
coined silver. On the same principle
Closing tho mints Of the world to gold
would cause the coined gold made legal
TENDER for the payment Of obligations
to have greater value than an eQulva-
lent weight Of gold bullion. His deflnl-
tion OF unsoundness applies to all coin
money. for all money metals depend
Tor part of their value on their use
for coinage purposes, and while Of in
trinsic value for use In the arts lose
part Of their value rs compared with
other products when made the object
OF unfavorable legislation which limits
or stops their coinage.
A sound dollar should represent a
certain amount Of labor and be capable
OF ready Transformation into any prod
uct Of labor. The rule is the world over
that what costs little labor to get is
worth little. Blue sky may be quite
desirable. but as a product entirely OF
natural. conditions and not of labor 1t
IL not counted as having material value.
When promoter by artful persuasion
succeeds In getting money for some
thing which has no value except In the
mind OF the credulous purchaser he is
said to have been selling "blue sky"
The value Of any commodity when car
ried to Its final analysis is the value
OF the labor expended to secure the por-
tion Of the required supply which is
produced under the least favorable con-
ditions,
Disregarding the speculative elemen,
In mining, which justities greater ex-
penditures in prospecting and develop
ment than are sure to be realized In
profits. the average value OF silver or
gold Is measured by the labor expended
In working tho least productive deposits
and reducing the poorest grade of ores
necessary to supply the worlds de-
mand.
Coined money has an intrinslc value
which makes 1t universally acceptable,
because when melted up and used in
tho arts II releases to other occupa-
lions labor which must otherwise be
expended In mining an equivalent
amount OF metal for such use.
II the labor cost OF producing the
mafQla n n lno h.
the demand for thom. II, In other words.
the precious metals were merely prod
uct OF labor. and not natural product.
occurring In small and isolated guam
titles. IN increased demand for any one
metal would bring about such an in
creased production rs would In short
time restore the equilibrium OF values.
"A corner In money would be like a cor
ner In wheat--only maintaInab BILE for n
short time. An Increased demand for
any precious metal causes the deposits
of that metal to be worked more closely
ana greater amount OF labor expended
In proportion to the product. SO that the
labor cost Of the most expensive por-
ton Is greater and the value OF the en-
tire product correspondingiy Increased.
When the amount OF actual or re.
demption money In the channels OF
trade fails to increase MS rapidly MS the
commodities to be exchanged the result
must DO fall In prices unless the short
age In actual money Is made good by
an extension OF credit. i. is not sur
fcient that the amount per capita be
maintained, for the tendency In an In
dususai nation where property rights
are secure Is toward n per capita In
crease In all FORMS Of wealth. What is
called general overproduction Of goods
is more properly undcrproductIon of
money. We can never have too much
Of everything. the consuming classes
being In n position to buy. but 30 long
as our financial system ia based on the
use OF gold and silver only MS the money
Of nnal redemption every period OF In
dustrlnl activity such MS we call good
fimes will be accompanied by an cx-
tension OF credit and Is likely to DO fol-
lowed by n period during which credit
Ia curtailod and n general fall takes
place. FIRST In the money value OF COM
modities and second, I'm the priec NJ