Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1898-11-01
The Financial Wisdom Of Gov.
Shaw Punctured

by hx-Consressman III. r.. Bartine, Editor
of the National Bimetallist.
Gov. Shaw in his speech in Cresco
repeated substantially what he had
said upon another occasion and
which was SO badly punctured that it
Is surprising that he should have re-
peated it. Gov. Shaw said:
Suppose the whole nation to be
great wheat farm. * How many
half-bushel measures will be needed
to handle the crop? Will it require
enough to hold the entire yield? Not
at all. There will be demand for
enough only to accommodate every ma
chine, every seller, every buyer,
every shipper. every warehouseman.
Must they all be of Government
standard test? Certainly not. They
must be of the same size, of the same
dimensions as the Government stand
ard, but they may be of temporary
make, and vet serve the purpose, as
well as if they were made of cast
When we read this bit of profundi-
ty (D one of two conclusions comes
upon us with irresistible force. First,
Governor Shaw has not the faintest
comprehension OF the real principle
involved; or second, he is deliberate
~ endeavoring to deceive those who
he thinks are fit subjects for decep-
ton.
The number of half bushel measures
required to handle the wheat has not
the remotest connection with the
amount of money required, nor is the
same principle involved.
A half bushel is simply tool or
instrument intended to aid the eye in
determining the exact quantity Of
the grain. A farmer may handle his
entire crop with single half bushel
by simply filling and reflling it. But
how about the money? Can that be
used in the same way? A child knows
better than that, but we will Illus
trate it for Governor Shaw's benefit.
We will suppose that a farmer has
wheat to sell, and he also has half
bushel with which to measure it.
We will further suppose that
Governor Shaw wants some of that
wheat and goes to the farmer to buy
it. The price we will say, is 81 a
bushel. The Governor purchases a
half bushel, gives the farmer half a
dollar, and the latter measures out
the grain with his half bushel.
The Governor looks at it, and con-
cludes that he needs as much more.
So he orders another half bushel.
The farmer measures it out as before
using the same half bushel. Can the
Governor use the same half dollar?
Scarcely. The farmer has that and
is going to keep it. If the Governor
wants the second half bushel of
wheat he must hand over another
half dollar. If he wants 100 bushels
of wheat he must pass over to the
farmer 800, and SO on indefinitely.
Thus it will be seen that instead of
proving his contention the illustra-
ton used by Governor Shaw does
not even touch the point at issue.
The money handles the wheat only
exchanging for it.
+ The farmers half bushel is not ex-
changed for wheat, but is merely used
as tool in handling it.
The illustration, as given by Gov.
Shaw, is not original with him. 1t
has been employed thousands of
times, the dollar being likened to the
bushel measure, the yardstick, etc.
1t is assumed that the dollar ''meas
ures" things in the same way that a
bushel or ysrdstick does, when, in
fact, the dollar does not measure"
at all. 1t is simply exchanged for
what is bought, and when mans
dollars are all gone, of course, the ex-
changes are at an end SO far as he is
concerned, unless he can get credit,
and the amount of credit he can Sc
cure depends upon his supposed abil-
tty to ultimately get money with
which to pay.
Never in the discussion of any sub
ject has there been more senseless
twaddle than gold-standard talk
about enough money to effect the
exchanges" The amount of money