The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1898-10-28
PHANTOM MONEY.
That IL the Real bnsts the 1oi"isea
aud Holders of bonds Are Work.
ing Toward.

actual money is needed 10 transact the
business of the country, as the money
work is chiefly performed by checks,
drafts, bills of exchange, and other
credit instruments furnished by the
banks These credit instruments are
all of them mere orders for the pay
ment of money given by debtor toa
creditor and presupposes the existence
of money 10 be delivered in exchange
for them. But under the modern sys- |
TEN Of banking these credits are null
tiplied 10 a point that exceeds many |
fold the money in existence with winch |
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, ard 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
peril TO business and invest the most
conservative and legitimate undertake
inps with the elements of speculation,
practically reaching a point where all
business operations are subjected 10
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
yersal. Modern bankers, through the
MULTIPLICATION Of bank credits, have not
only devised plan TO sow shadows and
gather substance. but they have per-
fected system of financial legerde-
main so cunningly constructed that the
evils and dangers involved in it have
in a degree eluded the attention of the
business world.
The movement 10 outlaw silver as a
money metal was inaugurated by the
i bondholders for the purpose of making
money scarce and dear. Their purpose
was to curtail the power OF other
! things to exchange for money and en-
large the power Of money TO exchange
l for other things. Through the fall OF
] prices that has accompanied every ad-
y vance toward a gold standard, the
l. passing from the producing classes
i into the hands of owners OF bonds
l. mortgages and other obligations call
5 ing for payment in money. The bust
r ness men OF the country that suffel
a through the fall of prices, in their ef
Is forts 10 resist the inevita bile effects o
= outlawing silver. encountered their pos
s. sessions with debt in futile attemp
y to uphold prices through the use O
II their credit The business and finan
c. cial wrecks strewn along the path of thu
II gold standard during the past 30 years
70 demon strate the folly of their course
10 and is a warning to all business mel
that the expansion of private credit car
only multiply the evil consequences o
a contracting volume of money whici
10 no temporizing is powerful enough u
q overcome.
g. The fall in the general level OF price
as since 1879 has been continuous, and
ut result every ounce Of gold In ex
t. istence will to-day purchase double tn
n amount Of property and commoditie
t. in general that il would in 1873. Ye
O. our progress towards such low leve
n of prices as must exist when gold alon
n. becomes the money OF ultimate pay
n ment has been but slight. The effort I
SO resist the inevitable consequences
no our own legislation has In 30 year
he piled up an indebtedness against on
d. people estimated to exceed S30,0OO,Ooo
b. 600 dollars. OF this amount the mos
d, competent authorities estimate thc
he inward of SC. 900 ,OOo, 900 is owed to FOL
al eigners. On the journey towards
n gold standard we find two classes al
is becoming Unfortunately rich and corr
on spondingly powerful and all otht
lis classes are sinking deeper and deep'
re into debt and becoming depender
u- upon these two classes.
ar One OF the favored classes is con
he posed OF those whose investments al
= in bonds and mortgages alone. The
wealth, aside from the accretloi
through interest. is being constant
ell added to through falling prices, whi'
ie- gives to their dollars increased pow
ag 10 purchase other things. The oth'
on favored class is the bankers who loa
re. credit and draw enormous profits fro
lar the business community.
OK A bank formerly was an agen'
no through which the borrowers and len
an ers Of money were brought togethe
en- A man having money in excess OF b
ma needs loaned IL to the bank Anoth
zen needing money in his business becar
'of borrower at the bank; the dineren
We between the rate of interest paid by Y
OF bank and the rate 1t received from
ms borrower constituting the profit OF
We bank. Later the bankers discover
so that enormous prof; could be made
I'M substituting the notes of the banks !
money and loaning them TO the ."oI
10 be used in lieu of money.
% The history of bank notes is famili
80. 20 man.. Through the introduction
bank notes as money substitutes
' bankers were enabled 10 draw int
- est on their own debts. The commun
that used these notes in lieu OF mon
o.. became the victims Of the greed OF
o,,,. bankers.