The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1900-03-09
nONEY

Of society, of trade, of civilization. De-
prive man of money and he sinks back
into barbarism. Anything of such vital
importance should be understood by
everybody, while it is understood by
hardly anybody. comparative few have
made money study, i'll order to make an
evil use of it. The masses have not
studied it.
Let us look at this thing, money. Here
is piece of gold. 1t is called Standard
gold, because it has been mixed with one
tenth of alloy TO give it the proper con-
sistency 10 be converted into money.
Nine ounces Of pure gold have been mixed
with one ounce Of alloy, half of which is
pure silver and half of pure copper Gold
is very pliable or soft u its pure state,
silver i'll its pure form is very hard or at
least much harder than gold. Copper is
noted for it's toughness. These three
metals being blended i'll the above pro-
portions, have been found to make the
best consistency for use as money. The
government puts z58 grains in coin and
it is called an eagle. Any person could
have dies and stamping machinery made
and coin gold of the above fneness but il
would not be money. If the coiner placed
the government stamp, or imitation of it,
OIL the coin he would be condemned and
punished as counterfeiter. Government
alone has the sovereign power to make
money. The Constitution of the United
States delegates that prerogative to the
government and there is no power exists
to transfer it to another.
The Constitution invests the same
power with the government to coin silver
that it has to coin gold, and there are
those, and not few, who believe that
Congress has no constitutional right tc
close the minis to the coinage of silver
But the right TO regulate" the valne car
be construed by willing minds TO defea,
the intent of the law. But we will pas.
this point for discussion, and pursue the
object determining what money actually
is and its primary object.
The Supreme Court has decided thai
the constitutional power lodged in the
government to coin or make money ou
of silver and gold also extends to any
other material, and paper has been exten
sively used for that purpose, and full
legal tender money has been made O
paper as potent for every purpose fol
which money is used as either gold or sill
yer, is by virtue of its own minis, money
The government alone having the power
to constitute them money, aud the same
power converts paper or other nateria
into money at will
In order to have clear conception O.
this thing money, it must be borne III
mind that all governments make theil
own money, and the money Of one country
will not pass as money in any Other
country unless the parties concerned
mutually agree, and but few agree. The
gold and silver coins ofthe United States
are only money within the borders of the
United States AS soon as they cross the
border they sink to the level of commod.
tiles. They pass into other countries as
merchandise, where they are melted and
recoined into the money Of the country
into which they are sent.
The reason gold in bars or uncoineJ
bullion is worth almost as much as its
weight in coin is because the minis of all
the nations of Europe are open to its free
coinage, which keeps the demand for the
metal greater than the supply The rea-
son silver bullion or bars are not worth
as much as the silver coins of this or any
of the European nations is that the minis
are closed TO its free coinage and its price
is regulated principally by the demand for
it in the arts. Thesilver money of every
nation in Europe and the United States is
of the same power for all money purposes
as gold, which goes to prove that money
is wholly creation of law, and that law
makes money exactly of the same value
whether of paper, gold or silver.
The assumption of the bankers, their
newspapers and their silly dupes, thai the
government is compelled to redeem It's
silver and greenbacks in gold to keep
them at par with gold is an entire fahri-
cation without grain of truth. The
greenback and silver dollar are a legal
tender for all debts and taxes in the
United States. The law has made enc
money of three materials, all with equal
power within its jurisdiction. Beyond its
own borders the law ofno nation extends.
The true function of money is to facil-
itate the exchange and division of COM
modities-their distribution. Auy other
use of money is an abuse OF it. 1t would
be impossible to divide the products of
industry into in6nitesitnal parts required
by the necessities of the people without
the medium of money. To illustrate: A
farmer has thousand bushels of wheat.
He wants multitude of things other than
wheat. These things are all at the mer-
chants, but he cannot exchange wheat
Tor spool of cotton, paper of pins, q
,ard of buttons, and on TO the end of the
catalogue of wants The farmer hauls his
wheat to the miller who exchanges money
or 1t. The farmer then can go to the
merchant and purchase every article he
wants. He is paying for them with his
Uheat through the medium Of money.