The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-02-22
MONEY IN USE,

grocer, Mr.. D., twenty dollars for the
same quantity and quality OF sugar, the
purchase having been made by both OF
the Lat of May, 1895. On the 1st day
Of June each calls on D and pays him
according to agreement, A giving him
a twenty dollar gold piece and B Civ
ing him a twenty dollar greenback.
THE SOVEREIGN CALCULATES HIS WEALTH
FOR lone
Let us further suppose that A and B
each received his money from their
sovereign in payment for twenty bush
els Of wheat. What did D receive from
each of his customers3 From A he re
ceived a gold piece bearing a communi.
cation directly from and signed by his
sovereign, informing him that unless
he accepted that piece of gold az fash.
Toned he would be forever barred from
getting his pay. The individual in.
debtedness from A to D ceased at the
moment Of the transferral of the TWEEN
ty-dollar piece, and A has nc further
interest or concern in the debt what.
ever, while D holds in his possession a
substance the commodity value of
which has been declared by law to be
exactly twenty dollars, forced on him
by his sovereign. While the twenty
dollar piece has paid the debt of A in
full, has D received his pays In other
words, does the twenty dollar piece be-
long to D, or is it still the the property
Of the sovereign9 While it is in the
power Of D to dispose Of it in any way
or for any purpose, the right, title and
ownership of it still undoubtedly vests
in the sovereign. In the possession of
D it is in q sense a surety for the in
debtedness Of A, but when D disposes
Of it, which say he does for -four, the,
-four purchased and paid for with the
twenty dollar piece is unquestionably
his property, and now, and not till
now, has D value or worth in -four
equ to the value or worth of the sugar.
THE SOVEREIGN CIRCULATEs HIS DEBTS
FOR MONEY.
From B he receives a piece of paper
bearing a communication from the
sovereign addressed personally to D,
informing him that by decree he had
empowered B to offer this piece of
paper in full payment of his indebted
ness of twenty dollars, and that, unless
accepted, payment would be forever
barred. The individual indebtedness
of b to d ceased at the moment of the
transferral of the twenty dollar green
back, and B has no further interest or
concern in the debt. Up to this point
the DEGREES on the substances and
transactions have been the same, but
now comes q change. A gave d asub
stance the commodity value of which
was twenty dollars; B gave him a sub
stance the commodity value of which
is not one cent.
VALUE DID NOT A THE DEBT OF B
Now, If it was value that paid the
debt of A, it certainly was not value
that paid the debt of B, for a debt can
never be a value, though it may or may
not be a worth, and when the sovereign
put out that identical greenback he
made q debt against himself of twenty
dollars, and in making up the account
Of his possessions this greenback is a
minus quantity.
THE SOVEREIGN FORCES D TO TRANSFER
b INDEBTEDNESS TO HIMsELF.
What the sovereign really did in this
last transaction was to force D to trans
fer the Indebtedness of B to himself.
and D now virtually holds the note of
hand of his sovereign for twenty dol
lars, payable on demand against either
himself or any of his subjects. Except
the fiat Of the sovereign on the green
back forcing D to take it, the transac
ton differs in no sense from those of
daily occurrence in every hamlet in
the United States where the note of
hand, due bill or other evidence of in
debtedness against some individual
known to be solvent circulates in the
community in full payment of indebt,
edness by mutual agreement between
neighbors. In the one cas- the SOW
ereign put forward his wealth for
money; in the other he put forward bis
debt for the same purpose.
D REMOVES THE STAMP FROM THE GOLD
PIECE N G~REENBACK.
To show more fully the difference be
tween the two substances used, SUP,
pose that while in the possession of D
he remove the stamps or edicts, from
both pieces. When he removed the
decree from the gold piece he robbed
Browns BRONCHIAL TRoCHEs" are
unrivRlled for relieving Coughs. Hoaree-
ness and all Throat Troubles, Sold