Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1907-11-12
ASKS SOME
PERTINENT
QUESTIONS
Present FURRY In Money Affairs
Causes Discussion of Old Time
Measures
Ballston. or. Nov. g.. 1aO7.

Ballston, Or, Nov. g., 1907.
Editor Capital Journal: Our friend
of the Oregonian Is nothing IL not the
rabidest of rabld gold bugs. His con-
sistency, however, is still open to
question. The writer. having taken a
part in the green back "craze," has
a lively remembrance that the howl
of the hard money men at that time
was for gold basis" for currency.
A gold basis means the piling up
of thousands of millions of credits
upon a foundation of few millions
of available gold--in other words
standing a pyramid on It's apex. AS
soon as confidence" disappears the
gold vanlshos into old stockings, mat
tresses, and private safes, and the
foundation being removed your
mighty pyramid of credit comes down
with crash.
remember a conversation I had
with the present governor OF Kan
sas, then editor of the Marion Rec
ord, and staunch gold basis man,
in which ! showed him that a true
currercy should be onv that has no
intrinsic value, and therefore no
temptation to hoard, but whose In
tegrity every man should rally 10 sup
port, as he would the sacred national
flag. Mr.. Hoch saw tho point and ad-
mittod that that was the best argu-
ment he had heard for "nat" money.
Listen TO Brother Scott, he says:
Your fiatist wants money that will
hevy so little value, that nobody will
ever want TO hoard lt. or hide Il
away" Yet this man, and the rest OF
his kind have been telling us (what
we already know that panlcs like
the present are caused by people
Withdrawing their money from banks.
ana hiding~it away. and this Is given
as the ve~y reason why banks arc
closed by legal holidays and such
TO prevent people from boarding the
coin, and smashing every bank in the
In criticlsing the Journal the Ore
gonian says that the value of the
Portland wheat bills resides I'm the
fact that they are to be redeemed In
money-gold money--within a speci-
fed time" but your true fiat money
has no security, for Il never Is TO be
redeemed" VIII that able editor tell
us what special virtue there Is as
money" about that gold more than
In greenbacks. unless the recipients
want TO hoard n as bullion? II they
want gold, let them take greenbacks,
and buy bullion I'm the open market,
ana then their boarding will not de-
,rease the circulating medium.
In the next column, however, he
ellis MS that what Is wanted Is a ma
Ilonal system of credit currency that
,an be increased. or decreased, TO
meet emergencies. just as our clear
ng house certificates VIII now do.
md that will be accepted wherever
Now. "to meet emergen.
lies, ." how would the platform on
which that able business man. Peter |
Cooper. ran In 1S76,--thc intercon- |
'ertable bond plan-suit Mr.. Scott2 !
For that was the very. plea of Mr.. !
cooper, that we need an elastic cur /
ency whose volume can be Increased !,
n order TO move the crops. and re-
ired into the treasury when not so !
leeded. And are not national bank /
lOtes-mere "hat" money based on
government credit-'accepted wher-
'ver presented?"
The actual fact. the condition de-
old of theory Is that these clearing
louse certificates, or wheat bills as 1
Ie calls them, are nothing more than !
putting in practice OF the Populist's
plan, but without the
'opulist demand for government
WALLACE YATES. /