Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-09-16

aI[er IL was pfepGCSU II Was LullOOuCcu
in the Senate by John Sherman. In
1868 he introduced a bill providing for
the decentralization of silver, but E. d,
Morgan. of New York, discovered the
game and brought it to the attention
of the House. and the bill was sent
back to the committee and remained
there. In 1870 ne introduced anotaer
bill, c0difying the mint laws, That
bill consisted OF siXty-fiye or seventy
sections. How did it get through the
Senate without being discovered?
will tell you. In section Is there was
a provision for charge for coming
silver. I. was discussed for several
days. and was lost, and the bill was
passed. Now, this section Is, which
had little to do with the money ques
ton. and was dropped out, while in sec
ton Is the mischief had besu done, and
this section Is was showed back, making
IL section Is. and the clerk of the Senate
made the change, and the record shows
that section 10 was never read on the
floor of The Senate. John Sherman said
he would have it read, but after sec.icn
Is had been dropped and section 10 put
in its place. the clerk called section II,
and no one except John Sherman knew
what had been done, or knew that IN
section Il John Sherman was talking
about the coinage of the silver dollar.
and that section 16 had destroyed the Sill
YER dollar In the House they had 10
PASS the bill. and Poder, of New York,
discovered the trick. There was hot
debate, and the bin was sent back to
the Committee of the Senate, as it had
been before. But John Sherman waited
until he had a chance, and then he
brought in his silver bill and had it
passed. and then Kelley and Eoman
asked if it had in.erfered with the silver
dollar. Hooper said It had restored Sill
Yer to its rightiul place. have read
the records. and Hooper had made copy
Of The original bill. and yet he answered
that the bill did not touch the silver
dollar when he knew he had destroyed
il.
what is money? II IS simply me-
dunn for the exchange OF property. II
is n medium to save labor. II you ask
what a car. is. l answer that it Is the
,msans of transportation-a thlng 10
move dirt with, or anything else. III
YOU ask what spade is, | answer that II
is a tool TO dig dirt with Money Is d
Medium for the exchange OF properly
and 10 save labor. Suppose you had
here in Wheeling two thousand CARTS
end thew were all employed at the rate
of two dollars per day each. suppose
tonight five hundred Of those carts were
6es-roved bv fire. Don't you know tnat
-o-morrow those other carts would De
worth more wages per day, and that
they would have 10 work extra hours Ut
business would stagnate Now, for IN
stance le- me Illustrate what none!
does for the people. There was Tune
when there was no money. ano the p o.
no exchanged by means OF barter
Sunpose there was no money
and a man had clo9hlhg
r-ore want a suit of clothes. / nave
M money. but | have COW. go 10 MN
and gay I want a suit Of clothing, ana
b9va . COW TO trade for clothes. He
savs. y don't want a COW; l want a
c,orse 7 have no horse, but | have a
COW. Then have TO find some man who
wants 10 trade clothes for a COW. II
nigh. take a month. and 1t would prop
ably take more time and labor tnan II !
would 90 to work and earn suit OF
clothes in the first place. Money IS
efmplv 2 lab0r-Saving instrument. Ii
is not only a medium Of exchange, but
also a medium Of future values.
For instance. I promise 10 pay you
s. COO five years from date and in 1873
placed a mortgage for $1,000 on farm
worth s2.CCO. Al the end Of twenty-five
years you have paid your interest and
YOUR debt in labor. or in the product OF
labor. That is right Now there are
one or two things YOU want TO under
sand. and when that is done, you VIII
have no trouble with this money ques-
ton. Money Is a tool. and i is a prin-
ci1ls of political economy that every
gold man subscribes tO-that the more
dollars there sre in circulation the less
labor. or the products OF labor. It takes
10 ge. a dollar. and that the fewer dol
lars there ar in circulation the more
labor and products of labor you will
need to get a dollar. In other words,
he value Of money is governed by the
sunply and demand. like anything else.
# III demand is good, you pay more for
f. II il is poor, you pay less for It,.
This shows that money is governed by
Che laws Of supply and demand Now
YOU understand why the gold men of
England, Eohn Sherman and others
wanted TO make money high and prop
ertv low. At that time there was but
IS 900 GOO OGO of gold and silver in the
world. and they struck down one half
Of il. In Other words. they struck down
1000 900 600. and the moment they
did that il had the same effect as the
destruction of the five hundred carts |
was talking about moment ago. Then
there was a premium on gold. and the
consequence is that II takes twice as
mUch work to get dollar as Il did IN
1873. New. then England owns the
money. and il is very clear why the
men who own most of it want gold.
1t IS because money has appreciated
and property has Deprecated and the
higher money IS, the lower will he
labor and the products of labor. and
ii IS harder to get a dollar. Suppose,
in 1873. YOU had sold a man a farm for
s.. 600. If he had put that money in a
safe deposit vault and let II lie there
idle. he could to-day buy two such
farms. because farms have gone down
and money has gone up, and that is
true Of wheat. and Of corn, and of all
the other products OF labor At the
close o. the war we owed S2000.O0O,000
o. debt. We have since paid s5OO000-
600 CT interest and OF the principal
s1.1O0. 000. 900 remains, and yet 1t win
take more wheat, and land and toll
TO pay the remainder than it took 10
nav the whole Of the debt at the close