Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1923-10-20
UNJUST RESULTS
OF MONEY PLANS
UnSound Currency Gives Sellers
Unfair Advantage Over the
Producers.
EXPERT EXPLAINS MONEY
Points Out Dangers in So-CaIIed
Energy DoIIarS-0ther
Plans Exposed.

How demagogues are using false
doctrines of so-called sound money"
to give themselves or the class they
represent unfair .dyantages at the
expense Of real producers is exposed
in the Journal of the American Bank
ers Association by H. Parker Willis,
expert on the money question.
There is no subject in whose name
more crimes against truth have been
committed than that of sound cur
rency,'" Mr. Willis says. THE term
is always resorted to by demagogues.
At the present moment there seems
to be q danger that 1t will be used
by potential presidential candidate
as representing the platform upon
which he expects to run. There is
no question that more nearly and d.
rectly touches the immediate welfare
Of every class in the community"
Purpose Of Money
Primary functions of money and
currency. 1t is explained, are to serve
as a means of exchanging goods and
as q means Of measuring the value
Of goods. Mr. Willis continues:
'Demagogues and those who are
disposed to mislead the public for
various Interior reasons have sue
ceeded in disseminating IA entirely
different view of the purpose of
money. Some of them contend that
the soundest or best currency is that
which is so arranged as to bring
about fair redistribution of wealth
They want a constantly depreciating
currency-one which keeps playing
into the hands Of the seller of goods,
by enabling him to count confidently
upon higher prices in terms Of money
so that he pays the producer from
whom he has obtained them less and
less. 1T is A STRANGE THING
THAT THIS KIND OF CURRENCY
IS OFTEN HIGHLY PRAISED OR
FAVORED BY THE PRODUCER
MSELF, NOTWITHSTANDING
THAT HE is THE GREATEST SUE
FERER FROM IT."
Energy Currency
There is another popular view Of
sound currency which aims to base
1t upon natural products" or mat
ural forces"-usually ii Is true, speci
flying products or forces which have
been monopolized or can be con.
trolled by the advocate OF such cur
rency. Thus from time to time there
have been schemes 70 issue a cur
rency based upon or protected by
farm products stored in warehouses
or occasionally representing units OF
energy" or horse power.
The rulers of Soviet Russia at one
time tem 1ted 10 Introduce cur,
rency eptesentlng tabor Time" each
man receiving a check representing
the number of hours of time he had
put n at work, while goods them
selves were to be valued In terms OF
hours of production time. Thus one
man who put In an hours time Fl
street cleaning received the same
control over goods as he who put In
an hours time at surgery. The
theory was that this kind of sound
currency enabled the poor man" to
get a larger supply of goods.
"The trouble was that when those
who could perform a certain kind OF
tabor were not paid in proportion &c
their effort they stopped making
goods. So ii was not very long In
Russia before the sound currency
which was issued in favor of the
poor man had brought 1t about thai
the poor man could not buy anythins
with the currency. This was an un
fortunate kind of 'soundness. We
do not want something like it in the
United States today. yet very SINH
lar proposals are now being made IL
a good many quarters that ought to
know better" says Mr.. Willis.