The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1899-10-06
UNNECESSARY WASTE.
The Use Of Metallic Substances
For Money.
IT DERIVES ITS VALUE.

Not From the Material Of Which 1t IL
Made, but From the Need Which
Exists For Its Use Governments
Have No Right to Authorize h Use
of Bank Bills.
Money is merely evidence of debt.
How, then, should 1t become legal
tender in payment Of oil debts. public
or privateT' That's easy. Govern
ments do not as yet produce many ma,
terial things. They produce protection
for each citizen as he produces mate
rial things. This protection requires
the services of a vast number of men.
especially when citizens of the govern
ment are scattered to the ends Of the
earth and must be protected wherever
they may be. The men engaged in the
service of the government require ma
tcrial things with which to sustain lite.
Each citizen protected must contribute
his share Of the protection extended.
In primitive times he contributed by
proxy. What then? When a man rem,
dered service to the government. he re-
ceived Il certificate that the govern
ment owed him for services performed.
Other citizens are notified that they
must contribute their share of services
that Is, they must pay taxes. SO he
who has rendered service has the op-
p%ortunity to sell his certificates Of
service performed to those taxpayers
who cannot or do not wish to render
direct service. In exchange for his
certificate he receives food. clothing
and shelter in due proportion to his
labor. The taxpayer having received
the certificates Of service performed.
they thus become money.
From its foregoing history we con-
clude that the primary function of
money is to enable governments to be
carried on without calling on each citi-
zen for his proper share Of service to
be rendered In person.: that the three
fundamental movements of money are.
first. from the government to its tscrv-
Az w - ~ w h>NNAN
ton for services rendered. not in pay
ment for those services; second. from
the servants OF the government to the
necessary supporters of government in
payment for satisfaction received-in
payment because each party has now
received equivalent values. the citizen
his protection. the government service
fhn p,ofnrio1 fhjnrS hn nnnIal AVID no
has now been paid; third. from the
citizen to the government to show that
he has indirectly rendered his share Of
service to the cOmmunity-that Is, he
pays his taxes. When money has made
this round, it has been issued and re-
deemed. When it goes out again, 1t
starts on an entirely new but exactly
similar mission.
If paper money, so called, were made
the only legal tender In payment Of
public debts, cancelled and destroyed
whenever received by the government
and new bills constantly issued in pay
ment Of government debts. this propo-
sition would be most easily understood.
but we think with this illustration it
Is Slllple cllouSl. " lldl lOllO"S! SeN-
eral most important cOnclusiOns-tirst,
the universal existence and need Of
government, more universal the need
for money; second. the more govern
mental functions are increased the
more will the need for money increase;
third. that value Of money does not de-
pend upon its material substance. but
upon the universal need which exists
for it's use; fourth, that it does not and
cannot measure values las a matter Of
fact, value cannot be measured: fifth,
that the use of metallic substances for
money Is an absolute and unnecessary
waste of all the human energy needed
to produce those substances; sixth,
that governments have NJ right to
make any certificate Of private debt
legal tender. rs they do when they au-
thorize the use of bank bills.-Noncon-
formist,