The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-05-20


them is the term, value. There is
value in services and commodities
and there is a value in money and
credit Value interlinks commerce To
finance, and finds an expression in tbs
term, price.
THE leverage acting upon price is
wrapped up in the struggle of two
deathless forces supply and demand.
Demand is created by the ever present
wants of mankind, and supply follows
the resistless energy of productive in
dustry This is the simple law of COM
mercial supply and demand.
RI hus finance and commerce acting
together adjust prices to services and
commodities upon a basis of compare
tive values. Prices enable mankind TO
live an intelligent financial life. Each
man knows how much of his energy
and talent is necessary to command q
certain amount of the energy and tai
ents of another.
1--WE do not work for the dollar but
for the dollars worth. AS a measure
of value then every man is interestah
in an honest money; in a money abso~
lutely permanent in value, and as 1T
tie subject to depreciation as 1t is pos
sible for money to be.
when money is dishonest the world
realities of life becoming chimeras,
and the apples of promise wither to
ashes ON the lips Of anxious endeaNcf
when money is honest the men OF
the nation rest on touches of secur-
ity; locked in the sense of SAFETY the
mind revels in the sweetest dreams
Industry sleeps serenely sure of its re-
ward. while fantastic rainbows. of
hope gild the empyrean of every mans
sky, giving vigor to life and an added
momentus to the energies that create
the industries of a world.
Money is a conveniently recognize
ed and generally accepted medium of
exchange and measure of value; it is
also, by force of law, a medium for
the settlement of debts and contracts,
and for the discharge of public dues.
Law is the first great basis upon
which good money rests. Law Sc
lects the material, prescribes the
forms and fixes the value. The law
prescribes what may be paid or ten
dered in order to discharge a debt,
satisfy judgment or fulfill a contract,
and that which is prescribed for these
purposes makes the Legal Tender of
the country.
treason requires, therefore, that
when a legal tender force is given by
law to several kinds of money, that
these kinds of money shall always be
preserved at equal values. If they are
not, the nature of a legal tender is
violated and the object of the law is
defeated.
mot money, but moneys worth is
the motor of industry, the propelling
force of all human enterprise Gov
eminent must preserve the value of its
Legal Tender at every hazard. The
flag may suffer dishonor in Manila
bay, but it must never be diShonored
at the Treasury in Washington.
"Coined metal is beyond the reach
of political strife. 1t is something OF
itself and has a value even though the
government creating it shall cease to
be.
Paper currency, however, exists by.
statute. When the power behind the
statute ceases to be, the value of the
paper creation is gone. The paper
money of the Southern Confederacy
is every whit as pretty as the paper
money of the United States. The pa
per of the United States is worth its
face; / will be glad to sell 500 of the
money of the Confederacy for one
dollar in gold.
Every note that draws its vitality
from the law. perishes with the repeal
of the law, or the downfall or bank
ruptcy of the government enacting the
law. The locked UP metallic dollars of
the Southern Confederacy, even
though locked up in the heart of the
Desert of Sahara, are worth a full dol
lar today at the Bank of England.
Their dollar value inheres in the me-
tai The paper dollar of the Confed
eracy surrendered its value when the
might heroic, the matchless, the
| transcendent Lee gave up his thrice
honored sword at AppomattoX.
How shall We preserve our indus
| tries from the horrors of a depreciat-
ed paper currency?
Preserve the government from the
hazard of overthrow; then see to it
that that government never makes
anything money but coins of metal
and paper convertible into coins at de-
mand of the holder.
'"The principal function of the mod.
ern bank is that of keeping deposits,
of which there are two classes:
81. Deposits of securities;
"2. Deposits of money.
The latter is of far greater inn
portance than the former, as in one
way or another the greater part of the
money of a country finds its way into
the Golfers of the banks to be used as
a basis for banking operations.
by discounting short time paper,
and by system of credit balance on
the banks books, a customer enjoys
the immediate use of his own funds.
devices which are for many purposes
safer, more convenient and more eco
nomical than the use of metallic mon
ey. Out of these processes came the
modern bank note, which is but the
credit of the bank turned into cur
rency The banking business is safe
guarded by a number of expedients
which we may only enumerate:
q. Banks are required TO accum-
ulate and maintain an adequate CAPT.
tai and surplus.
So Their indebtedness is limited to
a certain amount, which, under the
National Bank Act cannot exceed the
capital stock To make this expe-
dent valuable a definition of indebted
ness should be insisted upon which
will in some way include the notes and
deposits and other items which are at
present excluded