Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-03-22
Debtor and Creditor Nations

Debtor and Creditor Nations.
Rimetalllsts have again and again
pointed out the difference between the
conditions existing here and
those which obtain In England. This
being the greatest producing and debtor
nation, the great creditor of the world,
1t necessarily follows that system
highly favorable to the latter might be
almost ruinous to us. 1t Is to Englands
as creditor to make money
dear. because 1t increases the value OF
her outstanding claims. The interests
of the United States require cheaper
money. because it enhances the money
value of our products. and thus eases
up the burden of our ever increasing
debt. Perfect equity requires neither
dear" money nor Cheap" money, but
money that is simply "honest." That 10
to say, money that can be acquired by
the expenditure of just and reason
able amount of labor. That the gold
standard does not supply such money IS
conclusively proved by the almost uni
versal distress prevailing among our
producing classes. Talk Of cheapened
production by mechanical Improve
ments and the like Is utterly fallacious
and misleading. No matter what I'm
provements may have been made In
productive methods, 1t does not follow
that the average purchasing power Of
money should increase. The gold
standard idea upon this point Is that
whatever mechanical or other improve
ments may be made whereby produc-
ton becomes easier, the men who con.
troll the money supply should have all
the benefits. For example, some indi-
vidual invents new fertilizer. The
owners of farms, the soil of which has
become somewhat impoverished. pur-
chase the fertilizer in great quantities.
Thus they enrich the soil, and produce
larger crops. 1t would seem as SIM
pie matter of justice that these farm
ers should have, at least, n portion OF
the benefits of their own enterprise and
thrift, but the gold champion says NO"
The farmer has produced a larger crop.
and therefore he must sell more cheap
~. AS matter of fact, the larger crops
of recent years have actually brought
less money than the smaller crops of
former times. So the producers have
actually been impoverished by increas-
ing their production. The miser and
the money lender has not only raked
in all the benefits, but he has accom-
plished a great deal more.
Our Foreign Debt.
The gold standard means absolute
ruin to all but the moneyed classes in
the United States. To maintain 1t we
must sell our produce SO much more
cheaply than other countries will sell 1t,
as to enable us to pay for everything We
buy abroad, besides the interest upon
our foreign debt, amounting to perhaps
$4OOOOO,OOO year, and still have q
balance In our favor. But 1t must be
remembered that the cheaper our prod
ucts become the more 1t will take Of
them to settle this vast foreign demand
for gold. II prices should fall one-half
from their present figures, we would
have to sell twice as many products to
realize the same amount of money; and
IL we could spare such quantity. it
would probably glut the market. In
fine, the more we sold the worse we
would be Off. There is nothing in eco
nomic history to compare with the alb
surdities and contradictions of the ar
guments made on behalf of the gold
standard. In one breath we are told
that the cause Of low prices is over
production" in the next we are in
formed that we must produce still more
and sell at still lower prices in order to
undersell all other nations in the Euro
pean market. There is but one remedy
| for the unnatural cond oIs which now
exist. That Is the complete remonetlza-
| ton of silver. Such measure will not
only increase the money volume of the
Western world, thus giving a healthy
stimulus to prices, but 1t will deprive
silver-using nations of the tremendous
advantage which they now have by rea-
son of the difference in exchange. 1t
will give the producer some Of the bene-
fits accruing from his own labor. and
start the republic upon new and
brighter career of prosperity in which
all classes may share.