Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1896-01-30
MONEY. NOT WEALTH.
THE INTRINSIC VALUE THEORY
= "A DELUSION.
Frank t. Reid Discussed tho Money
Question and Shows that the Present
spstOm Is Scheme of the DevH to
Rob the Poor.

mentary expression Of a title, tC
wealth." just as title deed to reaI
estate is documentary expression Of
legal claim to land. No fiat of the
legislature can create wealth. Only la
Dor can create wealth. If the legisla-
ture could create wealth by manufac-
turing paper dollars all of us could live
in palaces and outYie Solomon in the
splendor of our appointments. There
would be no need for labor to create
wealth, and Gods command to that ef-
feet would be abrogated; and as the
consequence mankind in a short while,
would be emasculated of all Yirility, of
all character.
But money, the documentary express
sion Of legal claim to wealth, whether
printed on paper or on coin, the certifi-
cate of the power issuing it that the
holder of 1t is entitled to an amount Of
wealth Of the value named on its face,
by reason of his having parted with
the possession of wealth Of an equal
value; money, the representative Of
wealth in all its forms, should not be
manufactured Of any substance pos
sessing an intrinsic value" such as
gold or silver. To do that Is to COM
municate to that particular substance
q fictitious value independent Of it's in
trinsic value, and to put it into the
power Of gamblers to speculate in it.,
to cause it at one time to appreciate
and at another. time to depreciate lin
value, thereby disapranging the values
attached to,other forms Of wealth, eatls-
ing widespread ruin, and consequent
heaTtbreak and increase of crime. The
brain Of the Father of Lies never CON
cocted a subtler Or. more successful
scheme to murder the bodies and souls
of men, by slow torture, than when he
caused the insane delusiOn to take pos
session of them that money itself
should possess an intrinsic value. 1t
should no more possess an intrinsic
value than should title deed to an
estate. The whole object and purpose
In the device Of money was to substl-
tute in the place Of the clumsy system
of barter Just scheme whereby man
who had in his possession wealth for
which he had no immediate use might
transfer it to those who did have use
for it, and at the same time preserve
an evidence Of that fact, which would
eDtitle him, whenever he chose to de-
nsand it, to secure the return Of the
equivalent in value of the wealth he
had parted WITH in any form he might
desire, and wherever he mightibe. That
is the true and full statement Of the
purpose sought to be effected by the acl
ton of the government, the agent OF
all the, people. Money u.s., the promis-
sorry note of the government, that is of
all the, people; issued for value received,
and payable, to- bearer on demand in
wealth, and receivable in discharge OF
any debt due the government or due
any Of its people. Why should the note
be written on material possessing an
intrinsic value? Or why should its
payment be restricted to one or two
forms of wealth, such as gold or silver?
That is but modified form Of barter;
amounting to this; you are compelled
to exchange the wealth you have no use
for for other wealth for which you have
no use, in, order that with this you may
procure the particular kind of wealth
you do want. That arrangement puts
a premium on that form Of wealth Sc
lected to effect exchanges, commune
Gates value to it other than its in
trinsic value, makes it a subject of
speculation, and causes its value, or
purchasing and debt paying power, to
fluctuate according to the demand for
it, and its supply, under the manipula-
tions Of the thieves of the stock ex-
change and money market. All these
are vices destructive of a sound, stable
currency. An unstable, fluctuating cur
rency is the strongest weapon in the
hands of capitalists, money-bag
aristocrats, with which to seize the
wealth produced by labor, and transfer
it from the hands Of Toll to the bank
accounts of the buccaneers and free
booters Of this age of Anti-Christ.
I, for one, utterly deny the power of
the government to create wealth by its
fiat, or to confer any right to wealth
by its fiat, That can only be done by
the fiat OF the Almighty, or by the
sweat Of those Of His children. who
obey His command and by their labor
convert the raw material Of Nature
into the finished products Of usefulness
or beauty. But what I do assert is, that
the government, as the agent and rep
resentative of. all the people, can fur
nish them an instrument whereby to
effectuate exchanges of their respective
products without having resort to the
clumsy system of barter
How to get these government certii
ficates into circulation2 Pay every
fGnctionary and employee with them,
from President down. Employ at once
every unemployed man in the United
States in the construction of great pub
lie works, and in place of that curse a
National Debt transmit to our children
that blessing a National Store, or Fund
of Wealth, such as the world has never
heretofore seen, by the side of which
the public works Of ancient civiliza-
r