The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-01-18

people enouIQ c0nGrol o. coinage or
making Of the money and regulate it
for their special usefulness; yet that is
possibly what has been going ON for the
last many years.
@ bid and silver money has two values.
First, a metal or bullion value, which
these metals will command in the open
market for any purpose.
This is its commercial value. Second,
the value impaired to them by being
stamped as money by Congress.
This is its monetary value.
Some have said that gold and silver
have intrinsic value, but that idea ia
exploded because, intrinsic means in
herent, self existant and Interchangeable,
whereas value is always relative and
changeable; for instance, wheat may be
be 80 Genes yesterday, Pcsnts o-dey
ano 80 cents to morrow. It is simply
commercial value and the natural low
OF supply and demand makes this
value. Il shall refer back to this and
have more to say on these two values
OF money in q future chapter.)
This commercial value Of gold and
silver does not control the value of
other things nor interfere with mans
''lite, hbsrty or pursuit Of happiness"
Thei1 commercial value is entirely in
nocent OF making hard times, as much
as much so as the same amount of
value has In coal, iron or lead. But
when stamped as money, thus impRrt
ing to them power over other metals
and substances, the influence they ex-
ert is very great for good or evil. The
highest scientific authorities now ap
prove these propositions.
II, then, the power for good or evil
exists in the law which places the
money print on the metal and not on
the metal itself, we may know in reason
it is not necessary to discard either or
both metals from use as money, so as
to rid ourselves Of the evils they exert,
but we should apply genius to the
law which exerts the evil and readjust
it so that only good shall result from
the use of gold and silver as money.
Weshould retain them both as money
mainly because they are used by ell
other commercial nations and have
been for years; and because their guam
tity and intrinsic properties render
thema convenient commercial medium
of commercial exchange between the
products of countries.
The Ancients at first used gold and
silver as a commodity medium Of ex
change between other products, but
then they had no fixed value among
the tribes of people.
By tribal consent, as trade increased,
and afterward by imperial decree and
natural Law a fixed value by weight
was given the two metals. As com
MERGE further increased the demand
for use and the limited quantity Of
them, made it necessary that a small
quantity of them should represent con-
siderable value in other commodities.
That is, other things grew cheaper in
value as these metals became dearer
and scarcer as compared with other
things. Cine same condition exists to
day, but fnanciers(D and usurers do
not want other people to say it, The
fneness or purity of the metals received
increased attention.
The English undertook to establish
fneness and quantity more completely,
90 A1I ~oaOrrmG0. Dr. &[n VVg1 - Tho a.
metals of Eastern E 1rope, known there
as "E asterling's Money" In this move
ment the value Sterling Measure"
was established or 'E lglish Money" of
that nation, the pound sterling of gold
being the unit of measure. During
this period the erroneous idea of intrin.
sic value was originated and now finds
expression as real, s" honest or true
money"
As soon as the amount and fineness
was established by the law of any ma
tion it became necessary to stamp the
unit of value measure-and it's frac
tional parts-on such pieces, go their
measure value would be recognized by
all the people This was making it
Legal Tender" then as it does now,
and it constitutes its money value. The
purpose was then, as it is yet, to keep
the commercial (Ehey called it intrinsic)
value of the metals on a ''par"-(aIlelD
with the money value.
It will be observed by all who will
think for a moment that up to about
this period in the history of money, it
had been used more as a commodity
medium of exchange on the old bar
terri DrinciDle and that idea ia still