The herald., 1896-08-09

If there. were no other potatoes than
Irish potatoes. and an organization
styling itself the California Potato AS
sociation controlled the market, does
ANYBODY suppose the association would
not contemplate with disfavor the in
troouction of sweet potatoes as an agri-
cultural product? To control an out
put or the two kinds of tubers would be
twice as difficult as to control the output
or but one of them.
| There are seven national banks rep
| resented in the directorate of the asso-
clation under notice. AS they have a
pretty good thing of 1t as matters stand
IL is not surprising that they are con-
tent That matters should remain lust
as they are. They buy bonds and de-
posit them in Washington, drawing full
interest On these deposits notes are
issued to them which they loan out to
farmers and others, deriving another In
terest. With free xbinage of silver there
would be no necessity for these notes in
our circulation, and the national bank
as such would go out of existence. -
IL Is therefore no wonder that the ma
tional banks are opposed to Bryan and
the Chicago platform, for the new De
mocracy is not only committed to the
1ree coinage of silver. but it believes
that the government has no moral right
TO farm out to certain of it's wealthy
and favored citizens the privilege of is
suing money, holding that this is a
function belonging exclusively to the
sovereignty, which the sovereignty
should not ALLEVIATE.
CURRENCY AND MONEY.
1t may be well to point out III passing,
the difference between the notes, of ma
tional banks and other forms. OF paper
currency and metallic money of full
0eDt-naVinQ Tho 10 f,~; ;s,-., 1Ja.y
primary money. or basic money, or the
money Of redemption, as distinguished
from the forms of paper which rest upon
II. NO paper is final money, or the
money contemplated in contracts or
business affairs. 1t is money at all only
In proportion as it is surely exchanged
BILE as finality for gold or silver, in this
country now gold alone being the money
reckoned in the last analysis Formerly
1t was silver and gold. A ten dollar
greenback is not ten dollars any more
than an order for ten sacks of wheat is
real wheat. If the government should
fail in business and not be able to de-
liver the ten dollars in gold contemplat-
ed by the face of the bill and the pres
ent monetary policy. the ten dollar
greenback would not be worth ten cents.
The same is true of all the other forms
Of paper money. They possess value
only in proportion to their redeemabil-
ity in primary or basic money, which is
gold under the single standard and gold
and silver under the double standard.
Under the system prevailing in the
United States today, silver outside of it's
us as subsidiary coin, for small change,
is secondary money. held by the treas
ury department to be eXchangeable for
gold on demand, the same as green
backs or silver notes. Hence those who
say we have already a very large vol
ume of silver circulating side by side
with gold (meaning that to that extent
we already have practical bimetallism)
utter the thing which is not.
In considering the problem Of the
standards the only money to be taken
into account is the money of final pay
ment That is the money that fixes
prices. All values in the United States
today are estimated in gold, and it mat
ters not how much paper money may be
afioat nor how much silver may be
coined and held subject to redemption
in the other metal, the total volume of |
gold as related to the sum of commodi- |
ties is what dVtermines general prices. !
These prices can never rise until the /
money of final payment, the money in !
which all values are estimated, is in !
creased in volume, and the only way to |
increase it is to coin silver as gold is
coined, without limit and without !
change, and when it issues from the |
mint let it take its course in the current
of trade, unprotected by the treasury,