The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1903-09-17
Vol VOLTS iH6 DOOiiiR5


III. Reeves Believes Value can be II
pressed OAly in Concrete Units ofs
valuable Thisg
Editor Independent: A friend has
handed me copy Of your August
9th issue and find in it many COM
MT ndable features | appreciate what
you say editOrially on page 16 about
agreeing with Del Mar that mo metal
can measure value with equity" and
also that you boldly firmly to the
pc pulist theory of money" and insist
that money only can measure value.
have not Del Mars Monetary
Crimes but have several populist
authorities on money. They all agree
that the dollar is an idea, first formed
by association with tangible thing.
from which it is afterwards disso-
Grated, and TAX, pride In declaring
money creation of law Their
plan Is for the government to issue
(.n exchange for labor ard supplies)
money which it will redeem by ac-
cepting lin lieu Of commodities) for
taxes.
Now, if we assume that government
pays 81 for certain article Tor the
labor sufficient to produce that article)
and that dollar is the first creation
CT money by law, it's value is in the
article. We say value Of the dollar"
tut we mean the valuable thing it pro-
cured, and we expect all subsequent
dollars thus issued, or paid out, to
procure as nearly as human equity
can decide the same amount of COM
modify value. We also expect the
government to appraise cur varied
products by the same unit of value,
and to pay our taxes by selling COM
lnoditieS at the appraised valuation.
| am glad you do not ignore his
tory, law and practical politics." but
propose to reform 'it'' (?) in the in
terest of the people. Very we'll There
is room for reform, but it must be
done without ignoring facts. Value
can only be expressed with precision
ard equity" in concrete units of {.
valuable thing. The formula is "A
is worth b. or "any amount of any
thing is worth certain amount OF
something else" If a referendum vote
could be taken | believe the commod-
ity unit would be almost unanimouslJ
sustained. At any rate, why not drop
the contention and unite on a platform
demanding the referendum and the l.
sue Of money by direct loans instead
of by expenditures or loans through
banks and leave the. unit as it is
for the present? G. e. REEVES.
Perry, Okla
Thy parity for reasoning a volt can
only be expressed with precision and
equity in concrete units of an electri-
fed thing" The force of demand may
b. likened to the force of electricity;
but the force of demand is not wal
aie" any more than the force Of cleo ;.
tricity is volt" For purposes of ex-
pressing the intensity of the force OF
electricity the word volt" has been
adopted, the word being derived from
the name of an eminent Italian cleo
trician, Alessandro Volta. Technical
ly a volt" is the "electrO-motiye
force which produces current of one
ampere in a circuit having a resist
ance of one ohm, and is about one
tenth less than the electro-motive force
Of Daniells sulphate Of copper CELL
Hence, the word volt" is a device
adopted as the unit of electro-motive
force. No one knows, or cares, for
that matter. the absolute intensity of
electro-motive force symbolized by
the word volt Neither does any one
l-row. or care, how many volts" of
electro-motive force there are in the
universe. But, by use of delicate ply
steal appliances and the use of the
word volt" symbolizing the chosen
unit OF electro-motive force, and use
OF the numerals. 1t is possible to
measure" electricity and to express
ir words and figures the result of that
measurement.
Now, in the struggle among men to
obtain or to retain the individual pos
scssion of things capable of being
used by man for his enjoyment. a
Il rec arises comparable to electricity. |
'Tollar" in our monetary system IS
the device which corresponds to the
word "volt" in electrical measure
ment. 1t is word adopted to symbol
lie the unit of the force of demand.
Technically, today. the unit is the
.R IL C..