The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-08-30

the ugly face of cheap money has
reappeared behind a new mask. In
stead OF free silver, bimetallism, rag
baby (paper fiat currency 1t Is now
REIMBURSEMENT Of the gold standard"
We do need a REIMBURSEMENT along the
lines OF Professor Irving Fishers I'M
shrinkable dollar, but that IL not the
intention. 1t is not that more gold is
to BIO put into the coin stamped hve
or ten or twenty dollars SO as to
increase its purchasing power. but
under the plea of stimulating gold
production to pay more for the metal.
And paying more means that in
stead Of stamping 1858 grains Of gold
one dollar, to make II, say. twenty
grains.
A dollar Is nothing but 25.S grains Of
the metal gold. The dollar stamp means
nothing except that the United States
Government guarantees that a five
dollar gold piece contains 129 grains
OF the metal, a ten dollar gold piece
25s grains OF the proper "flneness."
Beyond that the Government guaran-
tees nothing. When 1t issues paper
money 1t guarantees to exchange this
piece of paper calling for five dollars
for 129 grains Of gold. 1t makes no
charge for putting this guarantee on
the metal, so the mining company
mines and smelts the metal, pays car
rying charges to a mint and receives
the same weight back in coin properly
stamped, or q check which means that
the coin is held subject to call. The
function of the United States Mint is
only TO eliminate the necessity of our
carrying scales and acids to determine
at each transaction the weight and
genuineness OF the pieces Of metal.
All paper money. checks, notes, gov
ernmental or private, are the docu-
mentary evidence that gold is on de-
post somewhere subject to the call
of the payee or that it will be forth
coming IL it Is by him demanded after
given date.
1t is interesting to note the cause
of the decreased gold output during
the last three years despite the fact
that all the nations, especially the
warning ones, are clamoring for 1t.
There has been the same great in
crease in the cost of mining gold as
in mining iron, silver, copper or coal.
There has been the same increase in
wages, machinery, chemicals, trans
portation, &C, caused by the decreased
output of other things and the diver
sion of labor. But the corporation
operating silver. copper or coal mines
can advance the price of its product
to correspond to the increased cost Of
production. However, the producer
OF gold gets piece of metal stamped
IS for every 1s9 grains he sells just
as when the standard of 25.S grains
to the dollar was first adopted. At the
same time he has to pay out per-
haps two of these IS gold pieces or
their deputies in paper bills where
he paid one ten years ago. In other
words a gold mining corporation has
to pay out twice as much of its own
product to furnish its employees and
its purveyors of machinery, chemicals,
transportation, &c, with the same
quantity OF food, clothing, housing,
&c, without increasing it's income
correspondence. The result Is that
many low grade ores become I'M
profitable, with the consequent reduc-
ton of the worlds gold output The
position OF the producer OF gold is
unique. He is the only producer of
wealth df we may call gold wealthy
who does not in the first instance ex-
change that wealth for something
else. The producer of iron, cotton,
wheat, clothing. &C. exchanges 1t for
gold or COLDS paper deputies varying