The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-31
SENATOR TURPIE'S FINANCIAL
VAGARIES.

Senator Turpie sternly refused to give
down" to a Journal interviewer, but he
could not resist the temptation to air his
supposed financial wisdom. When asked if
the Senate would probably act on a cur
rency measure at the next session, he an
swered, What do you mean by currency?
There is a wide distinction between coin
and currency. Coin is the money of uti-
mate redemption, gold and silver" Hav-
ing knocked the reporter down with this
chunk of financial information the senator
the action of the Senate No doubt that is
true. Neither can anybody else especially
it's action on any phase of the financial
question. He would be a wild prophet who
would undertake to predict the action of
that body as now constituted in the interest
of fiat money.
Tie senator's attempted definition of cur
rency shows that little learning is a dam
gerous thing 1t is true, as he says, that
coin is the money of ultimate redemption
into which all paper money must be con-
vertible to be good. but coin is none the less
currency. Whatever circulates or is cur
rent as money is currency. Webster de-
fines the word: THAT which is in circula-
ton, or is given and taken as representing
value; the currency of a country; a spe-
Gle currency The Century Dictionary
gives it, THAT which is current me-
dunn of exchange; as, the currency of a
country" Under the subheads it says
Metallic currency, the gold, silver and
copper in circulation as money. Paper
currency, the notes issued by a government
or by banks as representative of money"
1t ought not to be necessary to quote the
dictionaries to prove that coin is currency
All writers on the money question recog-
nize it as a rudmentary fact. The use
Of the word currency" as applied to paper
money exclusively, is loose and inexact. 1t
is common among bankers and is sane
toned by business usage, but not by any
authority nor by good usage. There is a
wide distinction between coin and curren-
cy" said Senator Turpie. There is no dis
tinction between coin and paper money
except in the material of which they are
composed, and none whatever in their cur
rency attributes.
After laundering in his definition of cur
rency, the senator tried to get in a little
work for free silver by saying, Coin is
the ultimate money of redemption, gold
and silver" That depends. 1t may be gold
alone and is in some countries. The I'LL
innate money of redemption, that is, the
standard money of a country, is just what
governments choose to make it, and in this
matter every government is guided by the
laws of finance, the teachings of experience
and it's own interests at home and abroad.
Congress has the power under the Consti-
tuition to say that gold shall be the only
ultimate money of redemption in the United
States, but it never has done SO. Senator
Turpie and other free silveriteS assert that
silver was demonetized in 1873 This is not
true Not dollar of silver issued before
or since 1873 has been deprived of it's full
legal-tender quality, and there have been
more than fifty times as many silver dol
lars coined since 1873 as in all the period be-
fore. In his definition of currency Senator
Turpie showed his ignorance, and in his
of it's legal-tender quality or of its status
as money of redemption he was disingen-
nous. A man may be able to read Iunius
in the original and even be a member of
the Senate finance committee without
knowing much about finance.