Evening star., 1921-08-14
Sterilization Of the Dollar
Deemed Most Pressing Need

Va tAC CuETSuCy. 1Hc dfCid60
business man of fifty years knows
that expansion OF the currency has
resulted in the transfer Of men
from Poverty fiat to Easy street
and that contraction Of the cur
rency has moved them back from
Easy street to Poverty fiat.
- X X
Though we must live the individual
life. we judge conditions too much
from the individual standpoint. A
comprehensive view will disclose that
the last remaining evil in the finan-
ciaI system Of our government is
that no effort has been made to sta
bilize our medium of exchange. We
have 80 long considered the dollar
dollar that we have forgotten its pur-
chasing power. Lately we have as
certained that no increase Of wage
has been sufficient to supply the
shortage Of goods and the increased
cost Of living.
Many evils arose in the business
life OF America because 1t lacked a
financial system which would enable
1t to respond to the demands OF busi-
ness. This evil was corrected by the
federal reserve act. There yet re-
ing the dollar measurably not only
a medium but also standard OF ex-
change so that 1t may purchase prac-
tically the same amount OF a neces-
sary supply at different times. We
have fallen into our error BY con-
sidering the dollar along with the
yardstick and the pint cup.
do not propose to enter into the
question of the intrinsic value Of
the gold reserve which backs the cir
culating medium Of our country. In
the long discussion Of the federal
reserve act it was universally ad-
mitted that 1t was needful to have
a Is per cent gold reserve. That
yardsticks and gold dollars are not
alike is shown by the fact that no
merchant has as yet insisted upon
having on hand Is per cent Of yard
sticks in proportion to the goods he
has to sell. There is either an ap-
probation Of prices when there is a
surplus of currency or a contraction
OF currency when there is surplus of
products. The academic discussion
interests me but little. II I have
typhoid fever. have no objection to
the doctor in the intervals between
calls on me trying to find how 1 got
it, but my demand is that he try to
cure me, whether he learns how 1 got
it or not. The stability of the dol
lar is the leading factor in the bank
ruptcy of Europe. I have no objec-
tion to an attempt to standardiZe ex-
change. but 1t will be found to be
idle unless the exchange will buy
the same things at the same prices
in different countries.
We have spent much time and
a quantity of credit dollars in an
effort to assist in the rejuvenation
Of Europe, permitting at the same
time the shifting dollar to work
its sad havoc in America 1t will
not be a perfect cure for all the
ills Of business life in America, it
will not dispose of the gambler
and the speculator. but if some
thing can be done to standardize
this medium, which seems to have
such an intrinsic value as to up
set the contracts and business of
the world always favorably to
some and unfavorably to others.
1t will dispose very largely of the
complaint which you and I now
have. namely. that our medium Of
of value, our gold dollar of the
year 1913 is worth only 3S cents
for the purpose to which we desire
to put 1t, namely, to exchange it
for necessities.
The government is not to be
criticised for failure to approach
this subject. Data which may en-
able 1t to standardize the dollar
only recently have been obtained
The index system. showing the
variation Of cost in all the princi-
pal necessaries of life for many
years. is now at hand. Prof.
Irving Fisher of Yale believes that
by stopping the coinage of gold
and by adding to or taking from
the content Of the dollar and
charging a brassage fee of per
cent for either the deposit or with
drawal of gold bullion from the
Treasury Of the United States this
standard may be made practically
accurate, so that the purchase of
goods with the dollar will be the
same, and that contracts will be
kept, not by a shifting and uncer-
tain, but by an essentially stable
standard.
There may be other and better
ways Of standardixing the dollar.
The Stable Money League is try
ing to find out. We are lost to-
day In a maze Of legislation, try
ing to readjust business conditions
in America. If the love of money
is the root Of all evil, it is the
entire tree on. which grow the
leaves for the healing of business
diseases. Stabilize the dollar and
other matters will readjust them
selves. But readjusting other mat
ters and leaving the cause un-
touched will result only in the
trouble breaking out elsewhere.
Copyright. 1921, by Thomas R. Mar.hall.)