The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1897-04-14

afterwards OF having to borrow,
which, by the terms OF the bill, tho
Government is expressly 10 hidden
to do, VII, ther in time OF peace
or war.
1t is remarkable that the collec-
ton Of taxes was not Is , forbid.
den, since, if a government have
the power TO create i nllmite | mo
ney, there can be no netd Of taxa.
ton. That burden is only lacetl
on the people by those inferior
governments which have not the
power to create money by fiat, and
have no other means Of securing
it, save hy taxes or borrowing. If
the new fiat money were required
to be redeemed in gold or silver,
then there would be a necessity
for some taxation; but the new
notes are not to be redeemed.
They are net to be promises to
ay, b II are 10 he absolute money,
just as absolute as gold or silver,
and while the paper mills and the
printing presses bold out there can
be no lack Of m, ne in the land.
This scheme is 10 improvement
over the old greenback subtreasu.
~ plan, which proposed an uhlim
tied issue of greenbacks to be foam
ed ont to farmers on their crops.
Both have tha fiat money feature,
and both proposed to lead the
public money out to certain class.
es OF the people, one plan taking
the crops as security and the other
taking lands. But the one sided.
of such schemes is seen 10 the
fact that in one case money can be
borrowed only by those who have
and iii the other only parties
who grow or own agricultural pro.
Gin be accommodated. Tn
order to have an impartial system
Of distributing the contents Of the
National Treasury, it is necessary
that money should be loaned to ev-
erybody. If Que class is to have
the run OF the treasury, and other
classes are to be shut out, how is
such favoritism to he excused or
p~alliated? IT one man or one class
can draw on the treasury at will
and without stint as a matter Of
public bounty, then every man and
every class ought, as a matter of
Justice, to be let in. There is u .
solution to such a problem but alb
and indiscriminate social
ism. OF course, the people who
are proposing to establish class fa-
vors and class advantages know
perfectly well that any division of
wealth among the masses will leave
too little for each person. Suppo.
sing that the total money in the
United States is about 1876 to each
head OF population, it will be seen
that, in an equal division of it,
ach PERSONS j orion is scarcely
having, and certainly not
the cost of a revolution.
Therefore the projectors Of such
schemes never contemplate any
plan of universal distribution of
wealth, but they always try to set
mp favored classes. There is al
ways enough to enrich q class at
expense Of the whole people.
Que OF the most amazing circum-
stances in connection with all
propositions to issue unlimited pa
per money not redeemable, and to
declare it to be a legal tender for
Ill debts, public and private, is
that it is assumed that ia govern.
ment can by a mere act or decla-
lion OF Congress, give value to
something which has no value.
On every greeuback issued by the
United States Government, and
On every treasury note put forth
every Government in the world,
there is inscribed a promise to pay
I given sum of money. 1t is not
,ontended that such note is actu-
ally so much money, but that it
'alls for so much, and is redeema-
Ole in gold and silver.
But when it is proposed to issue
paper money, it is an attempt to
create something out of nothing;
20 make valuable something which
has novalue; and that is beyond all
earthly power. A paper promise