The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1911-05-05
WORLD CASH UNIT
German Professor Declares Gold Gram
Right Medium of Exchange

not content with his worldwide repu-
tation as the first living German chem
ist, but has made incursions into every
field of intellectual activity-exact sci
ence, philosophy, politics and SOCIOLOGY,
His latest propaganda is the information
alization OF the money system. The
ever-nauowing world says Oswald, can
not manage much longer without uni
versal unit of values, and there is an
easy way to attain it if only government
will get wise to the fact.
Oswald claims for the proposal Tor
world money is not only scientific but
practicable. 1t can be introduced with
out destroying the existing monetary
standards, and it does not raise at the
beginning the difficult problem OF
world-coinage. 1t is the confusion be-
tween money and coinage which has
hitherto baffled all wouldbe inuovators
in this line.
All suggestions for adopting the
present monetary systems for inter
national use are impracticable, says the
professor. The theory that the prob
lem is helped forward by the fact that
a dollar is roughly a English shillings,
4 German marks, S French francs, and
so on, is entirely wrong. There is no
even arithmetical relation between
Austrian, Russian and Scandinavian
money. For these reasons it is impos-
sible to devise world-money which
will represent multiples OF existing
coinages. To alter the existing coinage
values so as to make them even null
tiples of one another is not feasible;
during the process nothing but con-
fusion would result.
The world-money which is to be a
success must avoid the arbitrary STAN
dards upon which existing coinage is
based. 1t must have real foundation.
It must express weight of gold. The
weight chosen must be one which all
the world accepts. Oswald declares
for the gram. The gram is already the
only official weight in all the Latin
countries, and in Germany; while in
the United States, England and Russia
it is universally recognized for scientific
purposes. Its value is Interchangeable.
A gram of pure gold is worth 66A
cents 3.44 French francs, 2.7o Ger
man marks and 2.o4 Austrian kronen.
A "gold-gram" would, therefore, be
the monetary unit adopted in all civ
ilized states. This could be effected
without at all raising the difficult ques-
ton of an international coinage. An
international coinage, however, offers
no insuperable ultimate difficulty.
France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland,
Greece and other minor European
states have already unitary coinage,
and the money of each Except small
change coins) it is recognized in the
dominions OF all the rest. But the
money of the future, the gold-gram,"
need not be coined at first. 1t can be
used merely for purposes OF information
al trade.
All that is necessary is for the gov
ernments and Chambers of Commerce
to recognize the "gold-gram" as use
able in the form of checks and bills of
exchange on international accounts.
By far the greater part of international
trade does not require any correspond
ing transfer of money from one state to
the others. Accounts are merely
booked, and squared off against one
another. The "gold-gram" would
merely appear in account books, checks
and bills, and would have at first no
concrete existence as coin.
Where money actually had to be
transmitted, or where any individual
person required payment in money Of
a debt booked in 'gold-grams" the
ordinary coinage Of the country in
question would be used. In the
United States debt of 100 gold-grams
would be paid over in the shape Of
$65.50 in United States money, in
France in the shape of 344 francs and
so on. At the same time real gold
coinage with, say, units of S, 10 and
20 "gold-grams" could be minted and
used by hotels visited by foreigners