Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1919-11-26

paper substitutes for money are gen
orally used in the transaction Of bust
ness Gold, however, is our unit o
"a value, our measure Of values and, as ;
rule, all values change with the vol
ume OF money in the country. Whel
that volume increases, there is a cor
responding increase in the price o
everything the value of which is meas
ured in dollars and cents. And, for {
similar reason. prices shrink witt
every shrinkage in the volume O
money in circulation.
Beginning with the close Of the Civil
4 War and ending In 1886, this country
went through drastic shrinkage In
the volume Of money in circulation
/ and q ruinous fall Of prices. During
that period Wall Street bankers rob-
bed the country. and the Federal
Government did not dare to interfere
with their scarce money schemes.
While the educational campaign Of
1896 did not win the national elections
Of that year Il marked the beginning
Of the end Of Wall Street domination
over the finances Of the country
From 1896 to 1918 the volume per
capita Of our circulating medium
gradually increased and practically
doubled, and prices Of all commodities
increased In proportion to the Increase
n the money supply.
81 Since 1918, the war has caused an
abnormal increase in the money OF the
country.
n IN address before the bankers,
assembled IN national convention lat
st Louis last MONTH DIR. Irving Fish
~ said !: ,ssi ,da sl.fajss, Agt9l N
SS$ Fs,.v, ., ,.&s3 s,;fas III y u. 4
ION tie whole, the money in circuaa-
ttion IN the United States rose from
three and one-third billions in 1913 to.
five and half billions in 1918, and
bank deposits from thirteen to twenty
five billions, both approximately cor
responding 70 the rise In prices" i:sl
He also told them that @the price.
level Of the United States is now three
fold the level Of 1896. Expressing the
same fact In the purchasing power Of
money, our dollar Of today is worth
only about IS cents Of the money Of
1895. No one questioned these state
msnts because they were true.
1 From this it will be seen that much
Of what we call present high prices
n nothing more than an increase In
our circulating medium, nothing more
than q change in the value or purchas-
Ing power OF our dollars. Take for IL
lustration farm that was worth $50
per acre in 1896, when our circulating
medium was about SIS per capita. That
farm should be worth 500 per acre
when the circulating medium rose to
$40 per capita, and 5000 per acre when
the money in circulation lowered
around $50 per capita. Is not that
about what has happened to land prices
IN Iowa? And the man who gets
5000 per acre for his farm today can
purchase no more commodities with
the $500 than he could have purchased
with $50 in 1896. This illustration
shows that when our unruly, changing
in value dollar is used to effectuate an
exchange Of property it causes no
great injustice, because property prices
as rule change SO as to correspond
with the changing value Of the dollar;
but, as between debtor and creditor,
this illustration has no application
whatever. To demonstrate the truth
Of this statement take the case Of a
farmer who mortgaged his farm to
secure a loan back at a time prior to
1896, when corn sold at SO cents per
bushel and all other farm products at
corresponding price. When this
farmer was called upon for payment in
1896, the shrinking volume Of money
had cut the price of corn down to 25
cents per bushel, and the price Of all
other farm products in like proportion.
In case like that the farmer was re-
quired to pay his debt in what might
very properly be called two hundred
cent dollars, dollars that in any event
had twice the purchasing value of
the dollars he received, dollars that
cost twice as much labor to earn as
the dollars for which he mortgaged
his farm.
At the present time many contend
l. ~,sx f,-r>v a,