The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-07-05
The Money Question.

The thing Of fundamental Importance
in money is stability of exchange value
or purchasing power. Any system of
finance that fails to give US unit of
value, which, during long periods Of
time, measures off approximately the
same quantity Of staple commodities as
it's equivalent, is essentiallya dishonest
and unsound system. We hear much
about money that is sound, safe, hon
cst. the best, at parity with gold, that
Ai.l stand the fire and hammer test,
worth 100 cents on the dollar" etc.,
and also much about deprecated, de-
based dishonest ffty-cent dollars" )" but
those who prate loud and long on this
matter utterly fail to grasp the true and
complete conception of money, viz,
that it is not merely medium of ex-
change, but also it is a standard of
value for deferred payments. In the
words Of England's great statesman,
Mr.. Balfour, money has to serve not
merely as medium Of exchange, bu
also as fair and permanent record Of
obligations extending over long periods
of time. This is the great and funda
metal requirement. And he further
says here the gold standard totally and
lamentably fails" If money was sim
ply a medium by which products were
exchanged, and there was no such thing
as credit in the business world, it
might fuctuate in purchasing power
without working any great havoc, but
it so happens that the great bulk of
business is done on credit, that pro-
gress, industrial development and civil
ization are impossible without it. BY
means of it the seas have been covered
with commerce, the continent cob
webbed with transportation lines, and
the wilderness turned into mighty cities,
fruitful farms and happy homes.
They who have built up the world,
been the pioneers of civilization, clear
ed Up the prairies and founded our
workshops, churches and schools haye
done it with borrowed funds. They are
the ones who, above all others, should
be appreciated, upheld and encouraged.
1t ought to be evident to the dullest
mind that any system of money that
compels these borrowers to return bet
ter dollar, one that requires more Ia
Dor to get, than the one borrowed, if an
unjust and dishonest one, and strikes
fatal blow at the very foundation Of
the social and business world. Judged
by the supreme, rational and righteous
tests Of stability Of purchasing power,
the gold dollar has grown to be 200
cent dollar measured by the honest 100
cent dollar Of tVenty-six years ago. 1t
was such dollar then because it had
kept comparatively stable for many
years in exchange value over commodl.
ties, owing to the fact that silver had
equal rights at the worlds mints, aud
shared with it equally the worlds de-
mand for redemption money. Every
man who has entered into any time
contract to pay dollars since the
worlds mints we're shut to the unlim-
tied coinage Of silver has been forced
to pay dollars worth from to 100 per
cent more, according to the age Of the
debt, than the ones he borrowed, and
chat he ought to pay. This is a fact,
because the dollar has grown 100 per-
cent. since in command over stable
commodities. To the extent that dol
lars have thus grown, the unfortunate
debtors aud al others subject to fixed
charges have been robbed. Since 1873
the governments Of the world have
been in league with bond and mortgage
holders and the receivers OF fixed in
comes to~plunder the worlds toilers
without redress. Through the efforts
of the schcmini villains, who have
tried to coil the contracting folds of
the gold standard around the necks of
labor, the output Of the>nlnts has been
lessened till it requires double the la
Dor and products of labor TO earn the
dollars due on the mortgaged homes OF
millions of poor men that it would
have required had the worlds output
of dollars been allowed to keep apace
with it soutput of products.