Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-13

4. On all matters that come up for leg
| islatiVe action l shall endeavor to act in
| accordance with the principles of democ-
| racy, to-wit: The greatest good to the
| greatest number and special privileges
| to none-bearing in mind that the office
| of senator Is a representative one and
! the peoples will when known, should
determine the action of the senator.
| He said that while he is a democrat,
| that he is running with a determined
| purpose, to so act in his official capacity
! as to represent the best interest of the
| entire people,
| On the money question he first defined
money and quoted Aristotle, Paulis, Pro-
| fesscr Laveleye. Professor Walker and
| the constitution of the United States to
| show that money was the fiat of law
! Standard Money.
Standard is fixed measurement
| Thirty-siX inches is yard This is fixed
| by law, and not out of the material of the
! yard stick A bushel is a measure of
'cubical content" The bushel measure
! may be made of wood, iron, brass, gold
or silver, or any other commodity having
| the necessary physical qualities Its di-
mensions, that is to say, the
cubical units it contains, is fix
| ed by law and the law may
! also fix the material out of which the
| yard stick or bushel measure is to be
| made.
Standard money, then, is a measure
| ment made of certain material having
| certain definite amount, estimated by
| weight, which is the unit of the stand
ard. Both the selection of the material
| and the amount are the fiat of law. I'm
| der our present system, for example,
gold is the material, and twenty-five and
| eight-tenths grains the amount which
] makes the unit Formerly the material
was silver and the amount was 371 and
| four-sixteenth grains of pure silver.
| (Act of April II, '92, sec. 81 A piece of
standard money, then, is certain
| amount of the legally selected money
| guaranteed by the government to contain
| so many units gold, 25 $40 grains; silver,
| 371 4-16 grains) as fixed by law
We call this unit dollar. and for COM
| merce we have these in various de-
! nominations, as 81, $3.50, $5, $40 and $40
yer. With free mintage, that Is to say
| free and unlimited coinage, a piece of
| money metal called bullion is worth in
! standard money just exactly the number
| of units, that is, dollars 1t contains. IL
| cannot be worth more because there is
| nothing to measure it by, 1t being the
| standard; it cannot be worth less because
1t only likes coinage to become
money Therefore, the price of
! the material of which money
is made is fixed by law and not
| by intrinsic value, supply nor demand
I This of course implies unlimited COIN
age, otherwise that which was not coin
ed would cease to be standard money
| metal and would become COMMONLY,
| whose value would be measured by that
| which was coined into money, and sub
1 iect to all the fluctuations incident to
| trade. Now this standard money Is the
| money of final payment. All other
| money is token or credit money. The
| difference between the amount OF the
| standard money in the treasury of the
| government and the amount of token
money, which 1t guarantees to pay on de-
| mand in its standard money, is the diff
| ference between what the government
| has and what 1t owes. All paper money
| or coin money, then, that Is not money
| of final payment are simply notes of in
| debtedness, which circulate as money.
/ Now money being measure or val
| ue," and as only money of final payment
| is real money, it therefore follows that
| standard money, or money of final pay
| ment, is the measure of all values. To IL
| lustrate: If all the wealth of the whole
| world, embracing all commodities, real
/ estate, bonds, securities, etc, were put
| up and sold it could only bring the
| amount of standard money in existence
| that is to say, all the gold there Is in tbs
| world.
Functions of Money.
| Money has two functions--hrst, as
| medium of exchange that is simply a con-
| yenience; second, its purchasing and debt
| paying function. The purchasing power
| of money is the measure of values; the
| Eebt paying power of money Is the dis
charge of a debt estimated in the denomi-
| nations of the money in dollars
| amount of money in dollars and
| cents, and which is legal ten
der in the payment Of the debts at hand.
! Some moneys gold, standard silver dol
| lars. greenb cks and treasury notes) are
| legal tenders for all debts. The fund3-
mental principle in paying debts Is that
| the debtor, and not the creditor, should
| have the option in the special legal ten
| der offered in payment of the debt. A
note or bond does not diminish, but in
| creases in accordance with the rate of
| interest 1t calls for so much money In
! dollars and cents But money as the
! measure of value may change from time
! to time. With given amount of money
| In circulation in the channels OF trade
| and business and a given supply of COM
| modites that buy money and given
| population to create a. demand for the
| commodities, prices would remain about
| the same. To change these by an Increase
or diminutiOn CT any one OF them,
| prices would rise or fall. Or If the money
was taken out of circulation and boarded,
J or If the population or a considerable por-
\ ton of it ceased to want one or more of
the commodities, or If these were cor
| nered or boarded, then prices would rise
| or fall So that when debt Is paid 1t
| NAV take more or less of commodities to
buy the money to pay the debt. If it
| takes more, then the purchasing power
! of money has appreciated; IL 1t takes less.
| it has deprecated. In the first instance
the creditor is benefited, in the latter the
| debtor Now 1t Is the consensus of opin-
| ion, and certainly 1t is right in this. thrt
! If there be any change in the purchasing
| power of money it should diminish rath-
| er than appreciate, thus benehting the
! debtor rather than the creditor class. II
| the purchasing power of money appreci-
! ates then commodities and everything
| concerned in their production dndustriaD.
handling commercially and final sale tcon-
| sumption) depreciate or fall In value.
| This means decline in real estate, of
! stocks In industrial and commercial and
| transportation corporations. ETC., dimin-
| ished profits all along the line. etc, and
/ Of course of the price paid for labor in
| the production, handling, etc. of the COM
! modites On the contrary, cash in hand
| and securities of all kinds calling for cash
[, in definite amounts appreciate or en-
hance in value. This means a declining
market, therefore greater burden of
debts 1t means no investment in COM
modify or commodity producing indus