The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-04-26
THR PoLirIcAL SITUATIONS.

show the vital defects I'm the financial
principles of both types of metalists-
those who believe in the single gold
standard and the bimetalists who be-.
lieve in the double standard of gold
and silver. l wish now to make a
brief statement and defence of the
financial principles Of the Peoples
Party. The confusion in the minds OF
many professed Populists seems to call
for this. Many seem to have EN-
confused and led astray by the great
dlsregarding the free coinage of silver.
IL is true the free coinage of silver is
demanded by the Peoples Party, but a
careful consideration Of the funda'
mental principles Of the party will
clearly show that it is only a minor
matter, whereas some who claim to be
PopuIists seem to think it not simply
of first Importance, but the OILY fnan'
cial reform that is needed. Such per
SONS, whether sincere or not, are not
Populists and do not belong in the
Peoples Party.
The Peoples Party demands the con.
troll of the medium of exchange by the
general government in the interest of
the whole people. To accomplish this
it demands that all money be made by
the general government, endowed with
full legal tender power, no matter Of
what material made, and issued direct
to the people at q low rate of interest
without the Intervention Of banks.
The real question is: can the govern
ment make money Of any material it
may selectH IT it can, then the mate
rial of which it shall be made is imma.
terial. The Supreme Court has decided
that it can do so legally. Let ms con-
slider whether such q course ia prudent
and practicable.
Many seem to think the idea of fiat
money q new thing under the sun and
wild and visionary, but careful inves.
tigation shows that many Of the Wisest
men of their time have advocated this
principle and that it has at times been
put into successful practice.
Aristotle, whose great intellect has
had more influence on thought, per.
haps, than any other uninspired man
in all time, said money is not q
product of nature, il is q creature of
law" This sentence contains more
wisdom than many whole books writ
ten by d~cctrinaires.
Ricardo, the well known writer on
political economy and at one time
manager Of the Bsnkof England, said:
Just az it WIS q great advance when
paper was added to coin for use as
money, 30 will be a still greater inn.
provement when coin is discarded and
paper alone used"
Jefferson claimed that Treasury notes
bottomed on taxes would be the best
money and would prove equal to any
emergency.
Clay: Whatever tho government
agrees to receive in pay ment of the
public dues is money, no matter what
its form may be-"
Calhoun: There is mortal wal be.
tween coin and paper money, and In
the end paper will win"
American Encyclopedia: IAN arti
Gle is determined to be money by rea
son of the performance of certain func
tions without regard to it's substance"
Money is not q substance; it is an
impression Of authority-a printed
legal decree"
Now let US test this theory by some
facts from experience, the surest guide.
There have been many crude and I'M
wise experiments made with an ire.
deemable currency that have resulted
IN failure and disappointment, but the
question is, has such been success
fully and advantageously used9 II so,
it it can be used again.
During the latter part of the twelfth
century Venice, being sorely pressed,
opened the Bank of Venice. It opened
books of subscription and asked its
Cit z9ns to make subscriptions which
should be paid in coin. It was fully
understood that the money would not
be returned, but used by the govern
ment in carrying on it's foreign wars.
Certificates Of subscription were issued
which were transferable and receivable
for all debts, public and private. At
first they bore interest at 4 per cent,
but they went to such a high premium
AS much as 100 to 13O-that early in
the fifteenth century all interest Yves
abolished. The bank continued 627
years and during all this time they
never went below par, although the
interest bearing bonds of the state fire..
quently did, sometimes as much as 40