The Indianapolis journal., 1896-10-12

For he, receiving no more pounds sterling
for his land or commodities in this new
lighter coin than he should have done of
your old and weightier money, gets moth
ing by it. If you say, yes, he will receive
more crowns. half crowns and shilling
pieces for what he sells for
money than he should have done if the
money of the old standard had continued
you confess your money is not raised in
value, but in denominations; since what
your new pieces want in weight must now
be made up in number. This is at
first sight visible, that in all payments to
be received upon precedent contracts if
your money be in effect raised, the receiver
will lose 5 per cent" Elsewhere he OBJ
serves: Mr.. Lowndes.' who was the Eng
lish Bryan of two hundred years ago. and
who made the same complaint Of the rs-
ing silver shilling that Mr. Bryan now
makes of the rising gold dollar, says that
silver in England is grown scarce, and
consequently dearer, and so is of higher
price. This, if it were so, ought not to
annul any mans bargain, nor make him
receive less in quantity than he lent. He
was to receive again the same sum, and
the public authority guaranteed that
the same sum should have the same guam
tity of silver, under the same denomina-
ton. And the reason is plain why in JUS
! tice he ought to have the same quantity
of silver again, notwithstanding any pre-
| tended rise of its value For if silver had
grown more plentiful. and by consequence
| (by authors rule) cheaper, his debtor
would not have been compelled by the pub
| lie authority, to have paio him, in
sideration of it's cheapness, a greater guam
| tity of silver than they contracted for.
| Cocoanuts were the money of part of
America when we first came here. Sun
| pose, then, you had lent me last year 300,
or fifteen score cocoanuts, to be repaid this
| year, would you be satisfied, and think
| yourself paid your due if / should tell you
| cocoanuts were scarce this year and that
| four score We're of much value this year
| as hundred last: and that therefore you
were well and fully paid, if l restored to
| you only 240 for the 300 / borrowed? Would
| you not think yourself defrauded of two
| thirds (one-fifth) of your right by such
payment? Nor would it make any amends
| for this to justice, or reDaration to you,
| that the public had latter your contract,
which was made for fifteen score) altered
| the denomination of a score, and declared
it to be sixteen instead of twenty.
Locke's reputation as philosopher is
too great and has been too enduring to be
| questioned. He lived and wrote two CEN
turies ago. At that time corporal tions, syn
dicates and trusts were unknown. There
is reference in his writings to paper
| money. Silver was the standard of valua-
| ton. He cannot, therefore, be accused of
| being in the pay of corporations, upon
| the side of monopoly III opposition to the
people, of being actuated by prejudice
| for against bank notes treasury notes.
| of being blind worshiper of the yellow
metal. AT that time the modern system
| Of machinery as a substitute for hand la
| Dor had not begun to develop. so that the
| labor question of to-day did not affect his
| views. Neither was there then the great
expansion of commercial credits which the
| inventive talent of the nineteenth century
| and the demands of business under the al
tered conditions of life have created. 1t
| must, therefore, appear to every unpreju-
| diced reader of his works tnat a man to-
| day, in the United States, may hold the
| philosophic and economic opinions which
| were maintained and defended with such
/ perspicuity and force by this apostle of
| sound currency without being justly open
to the charge of prejudice of any sort, po-
| litical or economical. Locke said of him
/ self: Il shall never knowingly be on any
| but truths and my country's side; the
1 former l shall always gladly embrace and
| honor whoever shows It me; and in these
| papers i am sure | have no other aim bur
| to do what little 1 for the service of
| my country" 1t is in the same spirit of
| loyalty to truth and devotion to the honor
| of the American name, well TO the pres
| perity of the American nation, including all
| it's members, whether employers en-
| ployed. rich poor debtors creditors,
/ purchasers or consumers, buyers sellers,
| Republicans Democrats, Populists, Prohi-
| bitionsts, that this brief abstract of his
| views and the arguments by which they
| are supported is given to the public.
| FREDERICK HOWARD WINES.
L n n n "