Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press., 1922-08-10
THE MONEY QUESTION"
(By Henry Ford)

any reasonable view it should be the
worshippers of fetish that best de-
serve the description of fanatic" and
not those who try to show that the.
fetish is a fetish. But in discussions:
OF the monetary system it is always,
assumed that the fetish worshipperss
are the normal minds, and the abnor--
NAL minds those who question the val
idity of the fetish
Take the gold standard. Apart from
the fact that it cannot be as Sound
as its supporters say that it is, else
they would not be in such fright for
1t, there is instruction to be had in the
two positions held with reference to it.
AS everyone knows, the gold stand
ard was not handed down from Heaven.
nor was it established by natural law.
Again, as everyone knows, gold was:
not always the standard, and has even
at times been knownto the financial
world as cheap money, much cheaper
than silver, for example. 1t became
a standard in parts of Europe because:
those who had it wished to make it.
so, and were powerful enough to make
1t so. 1t became a standard in the
United States, at a comparatively RET
cent date, because those same people
IN Europe wished it to be so and were
able. through their influence here to,
realize their desire. 1t became a.
standard by act of Congress, not by
an act of God or decree of nature. 1t
was voted so, just as tariff is voted,
or a maximum man strength of the
army, or anything else. And it can be.
reduced from being standard in lust.
the same way. Everyone knows that
and 1t would simplify matters if those:
who know it would candidfy admit it
once in while.
The gold dollar is the standard and
there are some millions of people in
the United States who never saw
gold dollar: mighty few gold dollars,
have ever been made.
/ All our money is supposed to be-
based on gold That is to saw. the as.
sumption is that if it were necessary
the integrity of our money could be.
proved by converting it into gold at
any time. Of course, that is only arr
assumption. Possessing the largest
stock of gold in the world, through
mlsfortunes of the rest of the world
land our gold is nothing to boast
about; it is more likely something of
which to be ashamed), there is still
not enough gold in the country to re-
deem the money that is supposed to-
be based on it. If ne-Guarter of the
people tried to prove the gold stand
ard tomorrow, there would be the,
greatest financial disillusionment that:
has ever occurred.
! But nobody is going to test our mon.
ey that way. By true instinct the.
people don't care anything about the.
gold standard; the word of the Uni
ted States and the wealth of the Uni
| tee. States is good enough for them.
! 1t IS, however, not good enough for
some people, among whom are the.
International Financiers. No money
. is good enough for THEM, but their
own, and their own is gold.
! That is to say, gold does not matter
or rather it would not matter, but for
one thing. There is not enough of it
to carry on business. The people sell
dom see it any more. Business IS:
carried on by what the gold fanatics:
call printing press money, for that
is what all our currency is, and that
is what our silver and copper coins,
are: Business is still more largely car
ried on by money that is not even
printed, 1t is only written-checks..
notes, rece1pts-a sort of private cur
rency circulating between business.
houses to facilitate trade To facili-
tate trade is the only service that mon-
ey has to perform.
We do get alongwithout gold verv-
nicely. Practically, the people are off
the. gold basis as clearly as if thew,
had never been on it.
And SO, to repeat, gold would not
! matter, but for one thing. There is,
law which nails down gold as the.
standard, But the law is not opera
i've except when it is invoked, and it
is only invoked when the owners of
again.
To EXPLAIN: We have Federal
Reserve System whose advertised func,
ton was to expand the currency as
business required that is, to provide
all the paper money necessary to car
ry trade. Paper mney based on WHAT
On private wealth-the notes and
other evidence of wealth-owned bv
the men who are in business. Federar
Reserve Currency was paper money.
p illtilS press money, created at
the will of financiers who are in the
business, on the basis of the private,
I holdings of the men who needed the
currency in their business. The pur-.
pose of the System was also adver-
used to be to contract the currency as.
business contracted. The currency
was to be elastic" it was to meet the
needs of the people, much or little.
L his of course is all that the widest
fanatic" ever asked. The advertise
ment was good.
Now, it has been possible to ignore
the needs of business in the matter
OF currency, and serve the gold own
ers. Gold owners said, "Here our
stuff is the standard and you are let
ting your currency get out of all pro-
portion to it. We demand that YOU
haul in your lines, draw tight your
functions and let the people under
stand that Gold and not Money is the
main thing here" So that was done.
They called it "deflation". AS almost
every one in the United States has
been debated. the process needs no
description. When you "deflate" you
deflate people, you don't deflate mon
sy.
Whenevr the practical demands of