Evening star., 1930-12-10
Gold System Called
Baneful to Mankind
To the Editor of The Star:

Mr.. Gtatch'S letters 70 The Star de-
manding a better currency system are
certainly fortnight and commendable.
A metropolitan newspaper recently
printed an editorial entitled Blaming
the Government" A plain intention to
whitewash all Federal fault was evident.
Mention of q rather important Fed
eral agency, however, was meticulouSly
avoided. This agency is money.
How can any editor so complacently
ignore the boon of boons-the idol Of
idolS--the reward business Graves every
instant-the goal of every good" Amer
leans existence? How could the busi-
ness depression be tied up with the oil
that keeps all wheels turning-caSh? Is
it conceivable our governmental deity
gold money-can be responsible in any
way? Rather, can We conceive that it
isn't reSponsible2
When We consider that the so-called
struggle for existence works out in prac-
tice to be merely a sordid scrap for
scarce money, what would happen to
the struggle" were legal tender no
longer chronically absent from our
pockets?
First we make our medium of ex-
change indispensable by marking 1t the
national gold pagod Then we make IL
inaccessible by restricting the total of
authentic currency to the chance cos
mic amount of gold metal! And never
theless the public is expected to be-
lieve-and accommodatingly does be-
heve-that this crude illogical, freakish
sort OF money Is the finest offspring of
union of science and ethics! 1t is
not! 1t never was! And it never
could bel
Gold money simply means primitive,
individual idolatry of the worst sort ex-
tended to national, or world, scope! In
stead of deifying or idolatrizing of
useless metal proving benediction, ex-
perience and history show that gold
money has always been a malignant
failure as a developer of manhood, wom-
anhood and childhood And what else
matters? The mere accumulation Of
wealth in the hands of a comparatively
few avaricious persons is not exactly a
utopian process! 1t is a devilish onel
And we owe the the spectacle of today's
moral, mental, physical and financial
breakdown to the one important func-
tion OF National Government-money
idol!
What queasy folly, therefore, 10 al
lege that governments themselves are
not to blame! Since democracies are
such only in name, since they could be
more accurately described as Rilded
kak1StocracieS how terrible to hold cUl-
pable the well-meaning, hard working.
creative and often big-hearted producer
for his inability to gather the shekels
which do not exist! Pardon the truism
but 1t Is impossible to possess something
which does not exist!
The allowance of legal tender needed
by industry Is SO atomical in amount
that private money lenders, "bankers."
n u
is mot to blame" spring up to supplv
the other nine-tenths Of normal work
ing currency with a curious, spurious.
bookkeeping intermediary called bank
credit. Banks are traffickers in the
medium Of exchange and as such are
ethically as fantastic as would be trait
tlckers in postage stamps! They are
legally permitted to consume for their
private benefit the enormous interest
upon $4,000, 200, ,0O0-thus making the
pubic turn its own credit into debt and
mlrablle dlctu!-pay for the use of what
rs really its own currency! This sos
OOO,O0O,OOO should obviously be in the
form OF Federal cash, so that all money
needed IN business could be owned in
stead OF "borroWed'-at a crushing rate
OF approximately so per cent-and so
Cnat all exchanges could be made with
instant efficiency and perfect Satis-
faction!
>, There Is no halo attached to the word
credit as used in the financial world.
Credit is inseparable from debt and
ueoC S mas oone nothing whatever for the
human race except injure it!
Yet, Notwithstanding, Government Is
olameleSs! Why do not our well maid
congressman react to the above chaI-
!enges? In the last few decades they
nave all had access to the facts about
our antediluvian money system. It is
going to be harder and harder. how
ever. tor them to kick against the
prlcks. They cannot much longer evade
tne issue stated in this manifesto, since
every otner plan under the sun for cor
recting the present trade slumn has
been advocated and already proved ino
adequate! VICTOR MARSDEN