The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1898-01-07
NIckELs VERsus COZ.
A Few Primary Facts Regarding Re-
demptiO2 and Other Money.

a Few Primary Facts HeElEdfRE Re-
demptIo1 and Other Eoney.
A correspondent of ne Evening Ex-
press, signing himself st. s. D." seems
to be somewhat perturbed over an edi-
toriaI article that appeared IN the Her
aid the other day under the caption
What Makes Money! This CORE
sDoudent frankly admits that he does
not attempt to answer our article, ''fOr
surely no man can do thai" he SAYS;
but he wants to know what manner Of
belief they have around at the Herald
Office He thinks it must be mixture
Of Chicago democracy and greenback-
ism. Then he takes up the case Of the
humble nickel and shows that it passes
current only because il is redeemable
in sums Of p cents and ultimately con-
vertible into gold
We need trace his argument no fur
ther. It is the argument Of all the sin
gle standard people, that gold is the
ultima thule Of worth-the sole refuge
Of all the nations when they want to
trace a thing to its real intrinsic value
People who argue In this way get the
horse, Cause, hitched behind the cart,
Effect, and they drive in so small a cir
Gle that they never can tell which goes
first.
Why are nickels and all forms OF sub
sidiary and representative money re-
deemabIe ultimately in gOld2 Simply
because by law gold is given a fixed
standard of value and an unlimited
coinage at that value. Gold enjoys this
prestige as the result Of fiat-the fat of
practically all the commercial nations
of the earth
1t is within the memory of the pres
Cnt generation that silver enjoyed the
same prestige as gold, the only differ
ence being in ratio. During that epoch
ct. S. D." nicIels and all other forms Of
representative money were finally re-
deemable in either silver or gold coin.
But silver has been thrown down
from its commanding position as a re-
demptiOn metal And what does this
prove? Simply that its coinage value
was not intrinsic but arbitrary. It was
the result of a general fat. The ma
tions gave and the nations could and
did take away
Suppose the same thing should hap
pen to gold No man can fOreses the de-
velopment Of the future. Children now
living my see diamonds going at four
bits the peck Many Of our artificial
values sanctified by the customs of ages
are liable to be swept away once they
get started. And the downfall Of silver
has started them.
IntrinsicaIly-for its use in the arts
for actual service in the domestic life
of man-gold probably has no higher
value than silver; certainly not so high
as iron.
Thus, If this matter of a redemption
coin is to be reduced to real intrinsic
value gold may have to go by the board,
and take its place alongside of silver,
nickel and iron. The one thing that
would hasten this result more than any
thing else would be the discovery Of
gold in vast quantities. vast as to
make gold cheap and plentiful. No man
can say with absolute certainty that we
are not now. on the verge Of such discov-
cries.
Then, if the whirlfgig Of time should
bring about the characterization of gold,
what would the world do for a redemp-
ton medium? Why, it would simply
be forced back upon the primary idea Of
money. If we go to the political econ
omists they tell us that money is a
representative Of value; a medium Of
exchange" Money is not defined as a
value in itself or an exchange in itself,
but the medium of one, the representa-
tive of the other.
Now, after ct. S. d. shall have jim
gled 25 cents worth of redeemable
nicIlels in his pocket long enough TO
study the foregoing principles until he
masters them, perhaps he will discover
that it is the credit of the nation and
the power Of the nation to declare them
legal tender that has more to do with
their redeemability than the real in
trinsic value Of gold, in which they may
ultimately be redeemed Let the
nickels jingIei-Los Angeles Herald.