The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1898-10-28
PHANTOM MONEY.
and Holders OF Bonds Are Work
Ing Toward.

i Work IS chiefly performed BY checks
drafts, bills Of exchange, and other
credit instruments furnished by the
i banks These credit instruments are
/ all Of them mere orders for the pay
ment Of money given BY q debtor to a
/ creditor and presupPOses the existence
Of money to be delivered in exchange
1 for them. But under the modern sys-
TEN Of banking these credits are null
1 tiplied TO a point that exceeds many
/ fold the money in existence with which
/ they can be paid. The use Of these
/ credits is factor in unfolding prices,
and under favorable conditions a large
amount Of business can be transacted
through their use.
Enormous profits accrue to the banks
/ through the multiplication Of these
credit devices, and when such are used
to perform money work they may prop
erly be denominated as phantom
money"
The multiplication Of bank credits
and their use as money substitutes a
peril to business and invest the most
conservative and legitimate undertake
| ings with the elements Of speculation,
practically reaching a point where all
business operations are subjected to
the vicissitudes Of chance akin to
gambling The desire among men TO
get something for nothing is so general
that IL can almost be said to be uni
versal. Modern bankers, through the
multiplication of bank credits, have not
only devised a plan to SOW shadows and
gather substance, but they have per
fected a system Of financial legerde-
main so cUnningly constructed that the
evils and dangers involved in il have
in degree eIuded the attention Of the
business world.
The movement to outlaw silver as a
money metal was inaugurated by the
bOndhOIders for the purpose Of making
money scarce and dear. Their purpose
things to exchange for money and en-
large the power Of money to exchange
for other things. Through the fall of
prices that has accompanied every ad-
vance toward a gold standard, the
wealth Of the world has been steadily
passing from the producing classes
into the hands of owners Of bonds,
mortgages and other obligations call
ing for payment in money. The bust
ness men Of the country that suffer
through the fall of prices, in their ef-
forts to resist the inevitable effects Of
Outlawing silver. encountered their pos
sessions with debt in a futile attempt
to uphold prices through the use Of
their credit. The business and finan-
cial wrecks strewn along the path of the
gold standard during the past 30. years
demonstrate the folly Of their course
and is a warning TO all business men
that the expansion Of private credit can
only multiply the evil consequences Of
a contracting volume of money which
no temporizing is powerful enough to
overcome.
The fall IN the general level of prices
since 1873 has been continuous, and as
a result every ounce Of gold in ex-
istence viii to-day purchase double The
amount Of property and commodities
in general that il would IN 1873. Yet
our progress towards such a low level
Of prices as must exist when gold alone
becomes the money of ultimate pay
ment has been but slight. The effort to
resist the inevitable consequences Of
,
piled up an Indebtedness against our
people estimated to exceed $50, 900, OOO,-
600 dollars. Of this amount the most
competent authorities estimate that
upward Of $4,000, OOO. 900 is owed to for
eigners. On the journey towards a
gold standard we find two classes are
becoming inOrdinately rich and CORE
spOndingly powerful and all other
classes are sinking deeper and deeper
into debt and becoming dependent
upon these two classes.
One Of the favored classes is com
posed of those whose investments are
in bonds and mortgages alone. Their
wealth, aside from the accretiOns
through interest, IS being constantly
added TO through falling prices, which
gives 10 their dollars increased power
TO purchase other things. The other
favored class is the bankers who loan
credit and draw enormous profits from
the business community.
a bank formerly was an agency
through which the borrowers and lend
ers OF money were brought together.
s man having money in excess of his
needs loaned IT to the bank. Another
needing money IN his business became
a borrower at the bank; the difference
between the rate of interest paid by the
bank and the rate II received from the
borrower constituting the profit Of the
bank. Later the bankers discovered
that enormous profit could be made by
substituting the notes Of the banks for
money and lOaning them TO the people
to be used in lieu Of money
The history Of bank notes IS familiar
to many. Through the introduction Of
bank notes as money substitutes the
bankers were enabled to draw inter
est on their own debts. The community
that used these notes in lieu Of money
became the victims Of the greed Of the
bankers.
The failure Of the banks TO induce
Secretary Chase in 1861 to recommend
TO President Lincoln that the govern
ment borrow bank notes to conduct the
civil war and use the force Of the gov
eminent 10 give them circulation marks
an epoch Of the warfare OF the banks
against the people IN this country. Gov
/ eminent legal tender money proved
good in time Of war. It upheld the in
dustries Of our country in its most try