Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1896-05-07
SOUND MONEY DEFINED.
Its Face Value Must BE the Same rs It's
Mercantile Value ms Bullion.

Mercantile Value as Bullion.
The Iron Age is the leading trade
journal Of the lron steel and hardware
industries. 1t defines, i'll its issue Of
April lG, sound and unsound money as
follows:
Some resentment il shown on the
bart Of believers in silver dollars and
other forms OF cheap money at the ap-
plication Of the term "sound money"
to money based upon the gold standard.
But this use Of the term is not II mere
begging Of the question. There is Il
reason for 1t which even an opponent
can understand
Money whose valuo is tho mercantile
value Of the metal it is made Of, whose
value is not impaired by the dcfacc-
mcnt Of its inscription, or even by melt
ing, so long as it's quantity and purity
remain unchanged is certainly much
soundcr than money whose value de-
ponds upon the ability and the intention
Of its issucr This makes specie "sound"
money in distinction from paper But
the economy and convenience Of using
paper have been thoroughly established
by long and wide experience, and it has
been found practicable to make the pa
per, through the process Of redemption,
as safe and sure as anything human, so
that paper rcdccmable in specie is not
only much soundcr than paper not re-
dccmablc, whose volume aud whose
purchasing power are liable To b" affect
cd by accident and whim, but it is alb
Golutcly sound in the sense in which the
metal that rcdccma il is sound.
But this does not explain why the
silver dollar should DO unSuund money.
This coin is lIusOund because it cirCu-
latcs ut itg nominal value Of gold due
to the limitation in the supply and the
declared policy Of the government. So
long M the public docs not have to take
silver dollars and the "Shcrman notes
arc redeemed i'll gold, and the silver
certificates are in strictly limited sup
ply, the silver dollar and its paper rep
rcsontativo can be kept ut par in gold,
but the coin iA an instance Of unSOund
money because half its value depends
on the acts Of the government, whose
ability has been moro than once brought
in question, and whCs" disposition would
be changed if the silver men could get
control.
Were coinage Of silver made free
that il, were the restriction on the man
ufaCturc Of silver dollars rcmuvcd-thc
silver dollar would drop from tho value
Of the gold dollar to the valuo of the
metal in the silver dollar That coin
would then he IN instance Of sound
money, but it would become such only
by the shrinklg" Of nearly ono-half in
the money unit, the measure OF all
values. AS the tendency Of this would
BE- to initiate prices and To- impair by
one half the obligations Of contracts Of
u financial character, To create tho ut
most uncertainty regarding the future
and to dry up the fcrtiliHing streams Of
credit, it would throw the business
world into such chaos of which only II
slight threat was tclt by tho country in
1898, the effects Of which have not
fully passed away
While the silver dollar, i,s in McXiCu
which circulatcs ut lis bullion value
comes within the definition of sound
money, the proposal to McNicani2c our
currency is the most unsound PROPOSE
tion imuEiuublc, because the end is
worthless, and tho means most dcStruc-
tive, Irrespective of the fact that with