The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1896-06-12
Sound Money Definition.

I'VE understand SOUND money 10
mean money based on gold as the STAN
dard measure of value and convertible
into gold OIL demand"
The above is given as the meaning OF
the political clap trap, "sound money, "
by the Cecil Democrat, and is in brief the
bankers and goldbug explanation. 1t is
very fair definition of the term. A
minutes reflection will reveal the fraud
it is. 1st. Gold, it will be seen, is not
money, but a costly metal OH which to
chase" money. and. Gold is a "stan-
dard measure of value" That assump-
ton is clearly untennable. Gold cannot
be a STANDARD" because it huctuates
constantly. The same weight of the
metal will buy twice as much land or any
staple article of merchandise as it would
some twenty years ago. Its value, there
fore is constantly shifting with the in
creasing demand for it, caused by specu-
lators in the metal being able to corner it.
The Jew gold bankers of England drew
$500, 900, 900 monthly from the United
States Treasury, directly and indirectly at
par with greenbacks and sold it to Aus
tria, at per cent to Finance" her silver
bonds into gold bonds, and more debt
and taxes for her people.
Grover Cleveland has bought $262 900,
900 of gold from the gold traders by
issuing them bonds from about IL to &c
per cent below the price the same class OF
bonds were selling on the market for
greenbacks and other money, which was
the same thing as paying that much pre-
MUM for the gold in order to sell it
again at par for the greenbacks to the
same parties. This is the kind of "meas-
IRE" and standard" gold is 1t meas
ures nothing and stands for nothing more
than Jim Keen's corner on wheat in the
bear pit in Chicago, stood for standard
of value. The wheat was cornered for
the purpose of squeezing premium or
profit from those who had obligated
themselves to deliver him wheat which
they could not get except from Keen at
his own price. That is the way gold is
used to measure value"
Gold has in fact ceased to be a money,
and has been taken out of the legitimate
business as money and held as a costly
merchandise for speculation. A thousand
million dollars worth of it is held i'll the
war chests of the monarchies of Europe
and entirely out of use as money.
Everybody knows that money is not
convertible into gold on demand" be-
cause it is all utter impossibility. There
is not one dollars worth of gold to be
had for twenty dollars of money in cir
culation, and convertible into gold on
demand" is myth and fiction.
The ''financiers, I" however, never make
the bull the Democrat commits. They
always say gold or its 'equivalent'' when
they speak of ''redeeming' money The
equivalent" means the largest amount
of property which can be squeezed out of
a debtor by his creditor when payment is
demanded. The gold sharps don't want
gold. They want interest on the obliga-
tons they hold over the wealth producers,
by extorting property to buy cornered
gold.
''Sound money" is the money created
by the nation, by authority of Congress,
receivable for taxes and all obligations,
public or private, the tool created by law
for the purpose of transacting business by
the people of that nation. Money that
calls for redemption or rather authorizes
its holder to demand other kinds of
money in exchange for it, is fraud and
a legal device of the money exploiter to
cheat the public. The so-called redemp-
ton is only swapping dollars. Two per-
sons may make an exchange or swap of a
IS greenback for IS gold piece, and the
merchant will receive both and give for
each in exchange the same quantity of
goods. And this has been going on for
the third of century. There never was
a greater fraud and juggle than the
sound money" swindle.