The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1896-10-01

vi thW
t met \ 90
and al waterviile, MILL Sp pure sr,nmantation
twd fmn, the st iniut debate avaiIs very little.
"a tbe contest between Congressman j. L.
Troubles ~.yasry and Hon. John Lind at Tetonka
lerchan Park this afternoon was no exception to the
G ar E snpral rule. Congressman McCleary made
No hOpl Mr. Lind was recen'e ear WIN, ,ha appaduj ~
~, ~ voice and health, plunged with little
apitalI ~ sr ,i n into his argument. He said in
nat aa4 e. 'sH'"'' INV
This question is one of the greatest i'm
h q .tance to the American people. 1t Is
r le,a. rhether the United States Is capable OF
IN n ~xtablishlng and maintaining a bimetallic
y idn] Uyem by independent action or whether
,'oh tG |. is to continue on the gold standard UNI
her pas I'll European nations consent to bimetal-
ecIptar1 liam, Money has two. indeed, three
nd NJ Leading Functions.
The first Is its function as a measure OF
-, raue and a medium of exchange; the sec
"hG q ond is its function of a standard Of de-
Bfi trred payments on time contracts. Both
quartJ these functions are of the greatest i'm
portance. Our opponents the gold mono
yer rial metalists, including my opponent to-day,
rarely discuss the second function of money
as | have stated ii, combining their argu-
iI' re ments to money as "A measure OF value.
d read from a speech made by Congressman
ty ks McCleary in congress. He says that he
e Br] has often heard mCa speak as II there
mnbo, must be as many dollars in existence as
~ there are dollars worth of business 10 be
:, transacted. He says that this Is as absurd
lor lI as If a farmer were told that there must
n gold be as many bushel baskets to meas
cora ue his crop as he has bushels OF
Boml grain or as Y 1t were claimed
q, nn that here must be as many yard sticks
as there were yards Of cloth. He here talks
"es't OF money as q measure of value rs the yard
stick Is a measure of length or a pound is
an ID a measure of weight. This sort OF argl-
to 81 ment is fallacious. The yard stick always
{ en- measures t~hirty-six inches. The hushcl al
! omy ways II easures the same quantity Of grain.
-, The mound weight is ALWAYS the same
c'G Here Mr.. Lind produced n quantity OF
; ana small pasteboard boxes and piled them up
e te In four piles, for purposes of illustration, as
he cortinued: II remembe when n boy
p M on the farm, wheat was hauled from Cannon
Falls to Hastings, and 1t then took a half
bushel and a peck to buy a dollar
dsel Then Ii took two half-bushels: then three,
er2 and now four half-bushels 10 buy a dollar.
tp How is 1t with the yard stick? Has 1t meas
lne ured more and more cloth? Has the bushel
telescoped with age? Is there any sense
am in saying that the dollar Is the measure
' Of value, as the yard stick is Of length?
Such an argument leads TO confusion.
Money measures by comparison only, IL
the number Of dollars and the credit that
can safely be based on the dollars Is large,
md It takes less property to secure the dollars.
Y the dollars and the credit Is smaller In
en- rantity, Ii takes more property to secure
ben he dollars. taking into consideration the
facility with which the money can be ham
hr died. My opponent would argue that money
' measures value as the yard measures length:
''| Does he, then, take a pocket full OF yard
sticks when he goes to a store to buy cloth.
BEL, or Of pound weights when he goes to buy
X groceries?
a. Money Is a commodity as all other forms
ne OF property are commodities, and a bargain
nv and sale Is an exchange of a dollar for prop
o. erty. The dollar Is a piece or property In
ir the form of a coin or Its equivalent IN
credit. The man who buys a dollar sells
" property; the man who buys property sells
u. the dollar.
~. In trade the law Of supply and demand
On. always governs. II the supply Is small the
price is dear; If the supply Is large, the
price Is cheap. If money Is scarce, 1t takes
more Of products to get 1t. This Is true OF
the United States. 1t is true Of the whole
y world. 1t takes more Of wheat, more corn.
more beef to buy the dollar. Property Is
becoming cheaper and cheaper, and the dol
o.: lar dearer and dearer. Is that conducive
4; to the interests Of the producers? There
Is no such thing as absolute value In a dol
lar OF anything else. Its value Is relative,
depending upon the time, place and con-
. ditions. The value Of a dollar in trade does
= not depend upon the number OF grains put
i into Ii, but upon its command over prop
; erty. In this respect Ii has been an unjust
standard for twenty years. The yard stick
has remained the same, but the dollar has
grown and Is still growing. The number OF
dollars and credit has not kept pace with
te Increase In population, business ana
production.
My friend. when in congress, never re-
TERED to money as q standard OF deferred
payments. When you borrow dollars you
agree to return dollars and pay for the use
OF them. What Is fair between man and
man! What is justice, humanity and moral
ny In this transaction? II is that the dol
lar returned should have the
Same Purchasing Power
as the dollar borrowed. If 1t Is of less
value, you do an injustice to the creditor.
Al IL Is Of greater value, commanding more
Oh labor, II Is an injustice to the debtor,
Tor he Is returning more than he received
ana has paid for the use in the meantime.
LII lSIt tho ppVnrnnppf nwn1 I'm rnnnI
numbers 81, 80, 00O. 1000 In bonds. On Sept.
@ ls96, we owed SS50,OO0,00O Those
Sl,'oo,OUO,OO in bonds commanded a GER
aaln quantity OF property. IL their value
was increased by legislation then an In
}usuce was done the nation. / assert, and
submit 1t to Prof. McCleary that 1t would
nave required n smaller quantity Of prop
elty' less wheat and corn and pork, to have
Isncelled those 81, $50, OOO, 600 of bonds In
80" than 1t would take now TO cancel the
to"V.ooo,oWo now outstanding. Is that JUS
~. IS 1t any wonder that there Is un-
~! Inc same state Of facts Is true of the
nu''ldnal debtor. except that fortunately
%r MN his debts run for a shorter period
- years. IL Is true OF the bonds that rep
IIseht the Indebtedness of your municipali-
we ana school districts. 1t constantly
10, an more and more Of products to over
the dollar always growing I'm greed.
NV what Is the other side Of the argu-
men.! My friend will say that low prices
uue TO overproduction, perchance. There
wheat per capita produced In the
,"ooon!u Today than there was In 1885 and