The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1896-05-27
ALEXANDRIA La, WEDNESDAY, MAY 81. 1896.
SOUND MONEY DEFINED.
1ts Faee Value Afust De the Same ~ II
Mercantile Vaiuo - Bullion.

1ts Fsee Value Must De the Same ~ Ito
Mercantile Value ~ Bullion.
The Iron Age Is the leading trade
journal Ut the iron. steel and hardware
industries. It defines, In ito issue Of
April 18, sound and unsound money as
follows:
Some resentment is shown on the
part Of believers In silver dollars and
other forms CT cheap money at the up
pl;cation Ct the term Sound money"
to money based upon the gold standard
But this use CT tho term is not mere
Begging Of the question. There is .
reason for it which oven an opponent
can understand.
Money whose value is the mercantile
value Of the metal it is made Of, whose
value is not impaired by the deface-
ment Of its inscription, or even by melt
ing, 50 long as Its quantity and purity
remain unchanged, Is certainly much
sounder than money whose value de-
ponds upon the ability and tho intention
Of it's issucr. This makes specie Sound"
money In distinction from paper. But
the economy and convenience Ct using
paper have been thoroughly established
by long and wide experience, and It has
been found practicable to make tho pa
per. through the process Of redemption.
Us safe and sure as anything human, 40
that paper redeemable in specie is not
ouly much sounder than paper not rc-
deemable, whose volume and whose
purchasing power are liable to be affect
cd by accident and whim. but 1t Is alb
solutely sound IN tho sense in which tho
metal that redeems it is sound
But this does not explain why tho
silver dollar should be unsound money.
This coin is unsound because it circu-
lates at it's nominal value of gold duo
to the limitation in the supply aud the
declared policy Of the government So
long rs the public does net have to take
silver dollars ard the Sherman" notes
are redeemed in gold, and the silver
certificates are in strictly limited sup.
ply, tho silver dollar and Its paper rep
resentative can be kept at par in gold,
but the coin Is On instance Ct unsound
money because half it's value depends
Oh the acts Of tho government, whose
ability has been more than once brought
In question, and whose disposition would
be changed If the silver men could get
control
Werc coinage Of silver made free
that is, were tho restriction on tho mon
ufacture Of silver dollars removcd-thc
silver dollar would drop from the value
Of the gold dollar to tho valuc q the
metal in the silver dollar. That coin
would then be IN instance OF sound
money, Int it would become such only
by tho shrinkagc Of nearly one-half in
tho money unit, tho measure Of all
valuca As the tendency Of this would
be to initiate prices and to impair iy
one-half the obligations Of contracts Of
financial character, to create the Ut
most uncertainty regarding tho future
and to dry up tho fertilizing streams Of
credit, it would throw the business
world into such chaos Of which only q
slight threat was felt by the country in
1898, the effects Of which have not
fully passed away:
| While the silver dollar, as In Mexico,
which circulatcs at It's bullion value
comes within the definition Of sound
money, the proposal o-Mexicani1o on,
currency is the most unsound proposi'
ton imaginable. because the end IL
worthless, and tho means most destruc'
tive. irrespective Of the fact that with
the silver dollar circulating at Its bull
lion value gold would disappear from
monetary use and the result would b
tremendous contraction. Tho dollnl
which IL wholly or In part Fat" Il
unsound. but the cheap" dollar ii
even worse, for radical reduction II
the value cf the measure CT value would
make every man afraid TO buy OK sci
CT lend.
It is tho deepening and widening
realization Of these facts which is bring
Ing business men Of all parts Of tn
country together In opposition to un
sound money, whose value depends up
on an cphemeral majority In congress.