The broad ax., 1896-07-18
"DEGRADED' MONEY.
THE MOCKING CRY OF THE
sENEDIcr ARNoLOs.
Aftss DesPoiIing the American Dollar
of It's Honor They Call q = Dis
reputable and . Dishonest Piece Of
Monsy-freason-

advocates OF the gold standard sug
Matte the movement for the restora'
ton Of silver to the place it occupied
In our currency prior to 1873 when the
coinage Of that metal was stealthily
suspended as an attempt Ito degrade
the peoples medium Of exchange.
They mean by ii that the value or pur-
chasing power of money will thereby
be lowered, or. as they say. "degrad-
ed"
The value or purchasing power OF
money IL the quantity OF commodity
or other form OF property a given sum
Of 1t will exchange for. For instance,
IL one dollar will exchange for two
bushels Of wheat, II has a high value
or purchasing power; II it will ex-
change for only one bushel Of wheat,
the dollar is degraded" by having its
purchasing power lowered. In the first
instance one-half of the labor expend-
ed in producing the wheat is sacrificed
for the benefit of the owners OF money;
in the second instance. the producer
Of the wheat reaps the benefit and the
owners of the money, who live In idle
ness, are deprived Of its gain There
can be no fall in the value Of money
without corresponding rise in the
value or prices Of other forms Of prop
erty, including wages paid for labor,
and no rise in the value Of money
which is not accompanied, or rather,
manifested, by a fall in the prices of
other forms Of property. Money and
other forms Of property, as Locke said
many years ago, exactly oounterbalance
each other; and if the word degrade"
is used, this term will apply as well
to other forms Of property as to money,
and the question is whether money or
other forms of property, including
wages paid for labor, shall be degrad-
ed; for this effect cannot be visited
upon both at the same time, for the
two scales Of the balance never rise
and fall together. but always alter
nately.
Tho relation between one quantity
II money, in which values are ex-
pressed, and other forms of property
s about as / to 40; that is, for every
lollar in money there are forty dollars
n other forms Of property. Conse-
Iuently for every dollar given to the
'wners Of money by increasing its
power, forty dollars in fall
ng prices are taken from the owners
( other forms of property. Is this a
rise and just policy for a young and
igorous country, which is already
under an increasing weight
Indebtedness, and whose wealth is
OF In its accumulated riches, but in
s productive energies-a policy that
J enriching the drones at the expense
the working bees Of society? What
auses the huctuation in the relation
money to other forms Of property, I
/ other words, in the value of money?
ntil this is understood we can make [
o progress in our knowledge Of this e
lbject. {
1t b not in the character of the sub :,
.ance or material of which money is :
Iade that its purchasing power resides,
ut In the quantity of it in circulation.
q this quantity is increased, other =
lings remaining the same, its pur- =,
1asing power falls; as this quantity =
minishes its purchasing power rises. :,
A whole page Of daily newspaper =,
'uld be filled with extracts from the :
1ungs OF eminent economists affirm =
q the truth Of this proposition. and =
rthermore, IT is attested by the ex- :.
T1ence OF all the ages. Julius Paulus :.
I'D IN the third century Of our era:
me power Of money resides not 80
UGH in the substance as in the GUAM
y, and three centuries later this
ying was repeated in the Pandects of U
'sdnian- Ricardo land no higher au- 81
GRITTY can be quoted said that COM an
odities would rise or fall in price in pc
oDorton to the increase or diminu- az
N OF money, assume as a fact that an
tncontrovertible." If this is true II TO
alters not whether our money is
ade from gold or silver. Stability in
value, in other words, a stable cur "a
ncy can only be secured by adjusting no
quantity and keeping it adjusted to VIC
wants Of trade. Human wisdom tn
'ne cannot accomplish this object. de
'perienee tells US that to do this we jar
lst resort to natures treasury" and no
Ike our gold and silver mines our sa,
INKS OF issue. II we use gold and ella
yer as our primary money upon sill
ich al credit rests its quantity win wi
increased and the value of the unit pa
dollar viii fall and prices will rise. the
We use gold alone as primary money ha.
volume OF 1t will be diminished, ant
purchasing power of the unit or ]
lar win be increased and the prices
other forms Of property, including the
ges paid for labor, viii fall. car
OH HENRY @. MILLER. SIN
lay, 1896. GU. "a,