The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1898-07-29
tBy Eugene l.. Brown.)

1t was created to represent value,
not to create additional value. ltl'
money should possess intrinsic :
value, that is value within Itself, be
worth as much as the object for
which it is exchanged, its character
would be changed nom the original
purpose of it, creation, and all
transactions with it would become
batter, that IS givingvalue for value,
like a coon skin for mink skin, or
two bushels of corn for bushel OF
wheat. Money is creation OF man
through law. 1t was made by man
to facilitate exchange, to aid com
merce. 1t does not possess value
like wheat, corn, meat and other
like food products, bec5use IT can
not be used as food. Ntither has
it value as clothing because it can
not be worn or used "a clothing.
Trace it in comparison with any OF
the essentials of mans life and
comfort, and it can not supply any
of his needs, except in representa-
tive capacity. A laborer may agree
to work a day for bushel OF wheat
with which he wishes to furnish his
family with bread. He may accept
in lieu thereof 81 in goid, not be-
cause it is wheat or of the use OF
wheat to him, but because it Isl
the representative OF the valre Of
the wheat. The dollar he can
neither eat, drink, nor wear as cloth
ing, but being the representative OF
the value of his days labor, viz:
One bushel of wheat, he can ex-
change it for the sama. To empha-
size the fact, if money possesses the
same value within itself as the arti-
Gle for which it is exchanged, then
l the object for which it was created
9 is failure, and we have returned
10 the system of barter as practlced
9 by the ancients before man created
!! money.
To say that either gold or silver,
| because they are used as money,
I. possess intrinsic value-that Is,
e value within themselves, without
: relation to other things, like hard
e ness in stone, gravitation in lead,
OIL the properties of flour in wheat
is to assume position that no
thinking man will accept as either
logical or truthful. Both gold and
r silver possess value only by the
/ will of man, in relation to his de-
: sires for them, either for use in the
: arts, or for use as money. They
e possess two divisions of value, viz,
{ one for use in the arts and he
a other for coinage or money pur.
poses. If either Of these demands
!, is destroyed or diminished, either by
!. legislation or otherwise, the value
n of the metal will be diminished,
l. to the extent of the destruction OF
r its use. Law can create demand,
l. and demand creates value. Law
h has created a money demand FOL
a all the gold that the world annually
Ir produces, hence its market value
!. excet DIS that of silver, whose de
n mand is now limited to its use IL
IF the arts.
!, The value Of dollar depends
.e upon the number of dollars. i
,e people would FIX this fact firmly IL
D. their minds the relation of money
,e to values would soon be understood
l. and many misleading side issues
would be eliminated from the dis
l. cussion Of the subject; the yard
. stick fallacy would be less effective
Df and people would realize tina. there
( can be no relation between meas
,e ure of distance and a measure 0
value. The government OF th'
re United States has by law decreec
of that thirty-six inches shall consti
y trte a yard. The distribution o
n- millions Of yard sticks does not, an'
, /, can not, change this measurement
s. or change its stability as measur
10 of distance. The number OF inche
ut in the yard stick hxes tne stapillt.
of the measure. The measure o
m distance has no relation to the mum
j. Der of sticks, but it IS controlled b
ed the number Of inches in the stick
4 Not so with the measure OF value
,ct The value Of the dollar or unit dc
es pends upon the number OF dollar
xt in circulation, and not upon the
constituent element. When dollar
Of are scarce dollars are high, and a
te- things measured in dollars are low
all When dollars are plentiful none
nd is cheap and things measured
or money are high, all things bein
IN. equal. If the four billions OF gol
I'm now i'm use as money is to continu
NE to measure the value of the world
,as property, then money will aontin'