The representative., 1901-03-21

chattels have been delivered. If q bill
lion dollars of Indebtedness was due
from one citizen of the United States to
another citizen Of the United States, and
the debtor should, or did: tander the
creditor gold coins, indicating on their
face the number of dollars due, tell " Of
single instance where the debtor was
compelled to weigh his coins.
There IL not one instance where such
nonsense was ever resorted to. l say
no payments are made in the United
States in pounds, or by the weight of
coins, but all debts, or commercial trans
actions are made in dollars and cents,
by counting the coins as the stamps on
their face indicate.
But what does happen in large money
ed institutions is that coins are put up
in sacks, the money is counted, as 1t is
put into the sacks, and the amount in
dollars is marked on the sacks; then it
is weighed, and the weight is also mark
ed on the sacks. So that at any time
later if these moneyed institutions
should want any of'those sacks of money
for any purpose, they find the sack
whose mark indicates the number of
dollars wanted, then it is weighed, and
If the weight agrees with the mark on.
the sack, then it is known the sack con-
tains the number of dollars originally
marked on it.
In those institutions, the mint and the
treasury department they weigh coins
as above described, this saves the time
that would be wasted in recounting the
coins.
You are mistaken, Mr. Maben, when
you say "One point on which we are
all vitally interested is the stable value
of the medium of exchange"
Money legally represents measures.
carries and exchanges all valuable COM
mOdities, and names them in dollars and
cents, the same as the yard stick meas
ures, the scale weighs, the bushel and
gallon containing the required square
inches, measure all valuable commOdi-
ties in the line for which they were in
tended. And all these measures of valu-
able commodities their status has been
fixed by law.
Now Mr.. Maben, if the yard gives the
exact amount of cloth, the scales hon.
est weight, the gallon gives you all the
whisky or mOlasses you pay for, your
bushel measures your grain satisfact-
orily, what sense would there be in your
demand that all these measures should
be made of gold for fear that the gov
ernment which made the laws regulat-
ing these weights and measures would
go broker" One of these propositions
is just as sensible as the other; neither
should hold any place among civilized
people. They are relics of barbarism
that have been handed down from one
generation to another and have preju-
diced and enfeebled the human mind
very much-as was impressed at their
infancy relative to ghosts and witches
by stories told by old people to children
growing up, till their intelligence and
good sense teaches them that there
are no ghosts; but when they pass a
graveyard at night, their early training
prompts them to look over the fence to
see if there is not a stray ghost prowl-
ing around over there, and are much re-
lieved when none appears. So it is with
Maben. He thinks he sees ghosts in
or after the death of this nation.
Well, Mr.. Maben, that is a long pay
day, one in which the people can afford
to take some chances.
Now, Mr.. Maben, for the sake of CIV
ing you show in the argument, l will,
for the present admit that all money is
sued by the government should have a
stable value.
Let us see how the theory will work?
The government must coin all the
money on this proposition, all agree.
How is the government going to get
the bullion to make the coin, either issue
interest-bearing bonds or tax the people
and take from the wealth producers the
products of their labor and exchange
it for the bullion to coin it into money?
In either case, if strictly adhered to,
the nation would be ruined. The at
tempt to do that has resulted in the
trusts and combinations we now have
No government, no matter what it's
pretenses are, ever compelled it's SUBJ
jects to use exclusively stable cur
rency, but all resort to all manner of
devices in the transactions of CONNER
cial enterprises.
This is done for the simple reason that