The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-01-04

dividual members. The second is to
inherit, or receive it as a gift. and the
third and fourth is to counterft or steal
it. The latter two are felonies punishable
by law. We have traced merchandise
from its origin and shown the law by
which its value is measured. After society
had outgrown trading or barter as
medium of exchange, a more expeditions
method became necessary, and the law
was called in to establish a medium or
tool of exchange, and legal tender money
was created. Legal tender money is
simply a certificate that the holder has
added something to the general stock OF
merchandise or devoted a certain portion
of labor to the public use that he has
received no personal benefit for, and this
certificate money entities him to go into
the general market, and when he finds
what he desires for his personal use, and
the party III whose possession it is, has
more of it than he can use the nerchant)
the exchange is made The numbers on the
AAOhSJ NPA %SSht llilS On pCLlNiSN III ldDOlI
the corresponding numbers on the goods
or merchandise represent the same. The
package of goods is handed over to the
buyer by the seller. The purchaser has
become a debtor and the seller a cred
itor by the act. Suppose there is a
difficulty arises between the two about
the settlement, and the purchaser offers
a bar of gold or bar of silver of COM
nercial value equal to that of the goods
The seller refuses to take the metal. It is
barter and he can't use it, and the buyer
cannot compel him to take the gold in
exchange for the goods or debt. Instead
he offers legal tender note or legal ten
der coin. He must accept because the law
DEGREES it. The legal tender is the fiat of
congress This fiat has more power than
gold or silver. 1t is the will of society
expressed by congress. BY that emblem
of sovereign power the debt is Cancelled,
the purchaser has received back from the
general market all the value he placed
into it. He and society are square, and
the individual is ready to go to work and
produce something else society or the
community wants, put it into the general
market, and receive another certificate
testifying that the community is indebted
to him for certain amount of productive
labor.
When our friend, the People, gets the
cooperative commonwealth established,
money will not be needed The banks
of the commonwealth will open time
books where every person will have a
credit of hours of labor and the goods i'll
the market will be numbered according
to the time their manufacture represents.
There will be no bank defalcations or
money thieves then. Our friends of the
People may see that they have been
abusing the Peoples party financial sys-
tenn Of legal tender, when it is exactly
the system the cooperative common
wealth-they at present dream of-must
adopt when their dream develops into
tangibility. The history of the world
proves it is the only financial system that
has ever succeeded without jar, and
only failed when departed from, while the
gold system, the intrinsic-value. money
measuring system has been the curse of
all the ages as it is to-day, and has ever
been the capitalistic system which our
apostle of Socialism is now upholding
"Politics makes strange bed fellows" sure,
when we find Socialist and gold bug cap.
italist i'll the same bed. Get up and go to
the Pool of Sloan and wash your eyes,
friend