The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1911-07-06

question: "To what shall we
attribute the high cost of living?"
To my mind there is but one primal
cause or factor, viz: the private
ownership Of all the money and cur
rency in the United States. l have
never seen nor heard of this cause
being given by any of the speakers
or writer's. l feel as sure that this
is the primal cause as that 1 write
this article. The government owns
no money. 1t owns no currency,
and l challenge contradiction.
First the government coins no gold
for itself. Second, it creates no cur
rency (bank notes. for itself. 1t
(the government, through Congress)
coins the gold for the owner Of the
bullion, free Of expense. It also
creates the bank notes and gives
them to the banking associations,
not only free of expense, but pays
the banks q bonus to take the notes
and loan them to the people to do
the business of the country with
The only money to which the gov
eminent can make any claim Of
ownership is the silver fractional
currency, and the quantity of this is
comparatively so small that it
amounts to nothing worth noticing.
1t is true the government buys the
bullion or raw material, Of which it
creates fractional silver coins and
the nickel and copper for the minor
coins. The silver purchasing clause
has been repealed. Did you ever
pause long enough to think how the
government pays for the silver,
n
it with the coins it creates from these
materials?
1t does not pay for it with gold
money for it doesn't coin any for
itself, hence does not own any. Does
the government pay for it with
bond, promise to pay a, debt? If
it does, it does not own the frac-
tional currency and minor coins, for
it has not paid for it, it has prom
ised to pay for it, and it cannot be
said to be owned until it is paid for
Under present laws no silver is
bought to be coined into dollars, and
there is no free coinage of silver
Gold bullion is coined free for the
owner of the bullion, and the bull
lion owner owns the money. The
government creates the bank notes
and hands them over to the banks
dollar for dOllar), taking as secur-
ity it's own bonds, which are prom
ises to pay (some time) in gold. Can
there be found a mathema tician Or
expert that can tell when and how
the government is to pay the bonded
debt it owes? These bonds are to
be paid in gold dollars (some time)
We are told.
The government owns no gold bull
lion or gold money. We are said to
be on gold standard the meaning
of which is that gold money is the
only money with which we can pay
a debt, and the bonds of the govern
ment are specifically to be paid in
gold. The situation then is like this:
The holders or owners of the bonds
are the owners of the gold money.
Can some one tell us how the gov
eminent can ever pay the bonds?
In order to do it the government
must get the gold from the owners,
the bond holders. But how? Must
it give more bonds to get the gold,
pay the bonds, and then be right
where they are now? Doesn't this
mean perpetual bonded debt? And
then the interest must be taken from
the products of labor through tax
ing the people. That means more
and more taxes, higher taxes, and
higher taxes means higher prices for
the products of labor, and the higher
the price of products the higher the
cost of living"
No matter how much gold increases,
SO long as the government coins it