The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-06-16
GOOD AND BAD MONEY.

law @SSO@AN@
the same time. The bad money which
is a full legal tender, drives the good
money out of circulation by the force
of law."-E1ward Atkinson.
Mr.. Atkinson defines good money as
gold and and all currency redeemable
in gold. Full legal tender money never
drove gold out of circulation.
The history of economies does not
furnish a single instance to confirm
this assertion. Gold is inert and has
no power within itself. 1t cannot go
out Of circulation unless its holders
take it out, and it is retired fer selfish
and speculative purposes.
During the twenty-three years Of
war England had with France and
Spain, the creditor class retired gold
and silver, made a commodity Of them
and placed a premium on them, which
they were able to do because Of the
corner they had on these metals. They
deprecated the full legal tender money
! until at the close Of the war it was
| worth % cents in the dollar. They got
| control of this deprecated paper
money, refunded it into gold bearing
| bonds and made sixty two cents on
every dollar. In doing this they robbed
| five out of SIX of their lands and ruined
every industry.
During the civil war they locked up
| gold and silver, made a commodity Of
them, forced a premium on them,
which they were able to do by the in
sertion of the clause making the inter
| est payable in coin, creating a demand
| for their coin, and at the close of the
war on paper money was worth 38
cents in the dollar. This issue was re-
funded into coin bonds and the holders
Of coin doubled their value.
Mr.. Atkinson says: There must be a
final ultimate standard of, or with coin
by which all other forms of money
must be rated. Money is created to
exchange values and it has no other
function.
There are three factors entering into
production: Price, the raw material,
labor and money. Labor converts the
raw material into finished products to
supply the wants of man, and money
exchanges this.
Under the present economical system
everything produced must be ex
changed with money.
We cannot exchange all we produce
unless each class can command sUfi
Gle Mt dollars to command their share
of the output of wealth according to
merit. If each class cannot command
suffi cient dollars to exchange all we
produce, there is a surplus left on hand
to depreciate prices. II is competition
on the free trade market of the world
ton money that d~epreciate prices.
The corner the creditors have On gold
enables them to force a ruinous com
petition for this m; tai. ALI exchanges
must be made in equity by giving a
dollars worth for a dollar.
The standard by which all wages
and prices would be adjusted must be
that of fixed incomes. The same taken
in private pursuit must receive the
same remuneration az in public pur
suit. We can never accomplish this
and compete on the free trade market
of the world with capital unemploying
and with labor.saving machinery,
which works at the same calling fol
one fourth to one-twelfth the price
paid the same class in this country.
This increased competition is forcing
prices down with a rapidity that il
appalling. This increased competition
is forcing more and more of the pro
ducts of labor into fixed incomes, com
polling US to give more of our stable
farm produce to get the dollars to pay
interest on our foreign debts. This
leaves less to be applied for manufac
| tured products and the net proceeds o
invested capital and labor declines
We can see the effects of this SHARP
competition on every hand in closeC
mills, idle hands, broken merchant
and railroads going into the hands o
b receivers.
Mr.. Atkinson says workmen viii
/ be robbed by being forced to take bac
money. When we had full legal tende.
money in 1866, prices of stable farn
| produce wes good and the factories rul
on full time and mercantile failure
: was the smallest in the history of Oh
: country. Competition with capita
. employing cheaper for gold in twent,
wears shrunk values y halt In 1890