Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-28
Guilty Dollars
Nv Frederic j. llaskir


can dollar ia To blame for nearly all Of
our troubles for the high cost of living,
for the apitatlons uf tho' radicals which
the capitalists now complain about, and
for the profiteering Of the capitalists
which the rocialsts object 10. for bank
rruptcy. depression. and even for the
war ls the claim advanced by Dr. Irving
Fisher, of Yale. who has published
pamphlet on the subject This pamphlet
seems 10 he the forcrunner Of n campaign
which has for It's purpose 20 fig the blaine
for most industrial and social evils on the
unstable aiuoleon. aud to remedy them
all hv staiiiliznp the same
II is further clear thnt orr currency ie
one subject which will comc up for con
aidetainn after tho war. and that there
will be laid before the public variety
Of plans for changing II not improving y
The advocates of more silver money,
whom we all thought were az dead as tho
cross OF gold have fired few preliminary
gums And there will I've other hats ~ the
ring
Furthermore. The currency is one sui
| iert about whlrlt We all know nothing
The principles whlch govern II are Oh
| srute aud mVstnriuus to all but experts
and perhaps even tu thom That - why
| Throughout otir history. have been
the prey Of grcenbackera. free silver al
voeatea. and various other varieties of
unsafe money doctors
INDICTED
Nuw whether or not Professor Fisher
| is successful IN blaming the buck for
almost everything. rs he seeks to DO ho
certainly offers convincing argument t9
| the effect that ~ our present dollar Is
not really 3 unit Of value At all, and ihcfe-
! fore rarAeg much trouble. and - that
| Il cau bo made real unit If value. =.
can he Rn stabilized hat It wlll always
| Inv the same amount of food clothing
and other necessaries ~ life THIS lest -
a benefit which anyone epn appreciate
| II we can always rely uf.nn - dnllar 70
| buy dollar worth of gopda the prob
lem ~ life will 30 sirnplhcI for us all
! prheaznt usher has been known r.
| scholar as IN advoeato Of the eiai ilikcd
| dollar fer many yrars He has studied
! tho subject deeply lie has obtained for
! HI iraIe,t inc endorsements ~ legion
cf college professors regiment If journal
! late quite . fcw hal r. and even
/ handful nf arr moro intelligent ard daring
national Legislators Vow AZ time whcn
We are rcrunling tho machinery II nur
| national life hr cofncs forward - lHr his
plan before that I'll important individual
| varimieiy known as the common people
| Tho Iayinan and tho ultimate consumer
The lraat that this harasaed person can
10 i H. 81 ~ and wpe his spcctacles and
attend
IN briof. u il 'no professor idea that
the rieo ~ he cost nf living ls not due
primarily to fhc scarcity of fond trit 70
| tho abundance et money In proof ot th'e
hc cites fhc fact that the cost of living
rose steadily from lSoG io 1917 although
| Tho abundance of goods steadily increased
duitrg that ilnc II Is only since the
VA brokc ont m la1i = At m actual
scarcity ~ gonds has been ? factor ~ the
pr"t.lcln
rs n rRrF
True tic great lncrcna. ~ fhr cost of
living has also come since then hftt Pro
fr4s..r Ilshrr shows hat during these
four trying wears. nur currency has bern
steadily Inflated that l. the amount Of
money u circulation has steadily grown
| and fhaf hc rise IN he cost of living has
been exactly parallel fo tins rise ~ he
flood If hard aud paper money including
checks and bonds.
AGAIN. he points ont that Il the 4oarcltv
of the article were tho fundamental
ratisc II IT. rtse IN cost then all articles
would not rlse alike and il the same
time When there is i short crop ot corn
hero IS o hlg crop ot wheat II wool -
scarce. cotton IS abundant It is ln-
po~aill., that all commodities should br-
come scarce 1T one. and III about the
same degree But the fact remains that
most commodities have risen IN puce n
the same time, and 70 much The SAM
extent Tins uniform rise. Il Is argued
/ must have some cause more uniform than
the variation IN the abundance pi fhf
articles IN question such a uniform
cause Is found N the expansions and con
fractions OF the currency These may BE-
shown bt curves 10 have closely followed
he rise aud fall oi prices
THIS Is Il good empirical argument
tnvonc can follow IT But. YOU VIII say
II makes 10 effort 10 eliminate other
factors These src numerous their I'M
partancc IN Your eyes depends l9TEciy 8
aDon vour politics. II YOU are a capt
tall@t YOU Will point to the unrest oi
labor. It's demand for more and more
money II you are 4 socialist YOU Will
italk about proiitccrs. The slngle-taxer
Sec our system Of land tenure as the
cause Of the whole trouble And there
are many other goats. ready to hand
CONSIDER rHE ooID ONE.
Professor Fisher does not specifically
dcnv that these factors enter into the
problem lie does not claim that the
currency Is the only thing that needs
reforming But he asks YOU for the me
mcnt To concentrate your attention upon
the American gold dollar. which is called
our standard Of value
What Is the thing really II Is - y
grains OF gold And the value OF gold Is
fixed bv the government al $3.50 All
ounce Therefore the dollar has fixed
value N GOLD But II has no rixed
value IN eggs. or beef or shoes, Or any
thing else that We use \ on can always
buy - ) grams Of gold for a dollar But
naturally. in fact inevitably, the amount
of anything else that YOU can buy for dol
lar varies And rs we have shown above.
II varies according to the number Of
dollars in circulation
If the government had chosen beef As q
standard of value instead Of gold. and
had decreed that tive pounds of beef
always represented q dollar. then &
dollar would have been fixed unit oI
| value IN beef hut not IN any thing else.
When viewed in this unsparing light
Of critical analysis. our little dollar look,
almost absurd We see that the dollar
IS unit of value IN one particular metal
but that 1t Is not IN any sense unit o
purchasing power We all know TIM
latter fact, but we seem scarcely TO ap
prcciate its significance We know thai