Year: 1878

4. Does thu stamp Of Government on gold or silver
as 70 many dollars give them particle more value
than the stamp OF Government on so much psperf


No, cir. The stamp Of Government may
make it pass for 80 much in transactions be-
tween subjects Of the Government, but as sure
as it gets beyond the Jurisdiction of the Govern
ment, it falls to its real value. The nickel that
Government compels you to receive for cents,
is practically worthless outside of this country.
If this Government should coin piece contain
ing 81 worth of gold, and stamp it IS, you could
get u for it in any market. If it took piece
of gold worth s., and stamped it S, the price
would fall to s., whenever it came upon mar
ket uncontrolled by an arbitrary law. The
stamp of the Government would then be power
less. What would fat money he be worth, in
such casesf


S; Is it not exclusively the condition of a country
tenders par or at a discount from goldi


Somewhat. You can compel q creditor to
receive bis own paper at par, in satisfaction of
debt; but when he is debtor, he can't compel
his creditor to take his paper at par, especially
if the paper is worthless. When the happy era
Of fiat money arrives the debts owed by Ameri-
cans to England must be paid in gold; then the
Englishman can take that gold and buy q few
ship-loads of fat money at 10 cents on the dol
lar, and pay off debts due the United States
in that stuff, at par; for the United States must
receive her own paper, that she has made legal
tender for all debts.


6. If creditor country makes its paper credit
the exclusive medium of payments, would not such
for many hundred years in Venice where times its
paper was at q premium as high as thirty per cent
over gold the paper or credit of the Bank OF Amster
dlm being also at premium over goldf


This question requires answer. The pres
ent greenback is money based on the credit of
the country; but the fiat money, that you advo-
cate, is not based on the credit, for it is issued
with the intention of never redeeming it. A
man who never pays, and never promises to
pay, has no credit. He is a dead beat like the
Government would become. So far from being
at premium for gold, it would not be worth 81
in gold to the ton. As to the financial affairs of
Venice and of the Bank of Amsterdam, centuries
ago, we are as ignorant of them you are-and
that is confessing good deal.


2. If France and England were to demonetize gold
and make their Treasury notes the exclusive legal
tender, would they not be at a premium over godi


France tried, not demonetizing gold, but max
ing paper absolute money, and tried to compel
her citizens to receive it. A bloody revolution,
and large bonfire of the fat money. settled the
question. That's what would happen in that
case. How naturally this modern Greenback-
ism, as they call it, runs back into the ruts of
French Communism.


g. Cannot the sovereign power fix and maintain an
unvarying volume of paper legal tenders that it
shall have perfect steadinessi


God Almighty might, but he has never yet
undertaken it. No other sovereign power could
do it.


9. Is it in the compass of human power for any
country to establish provide q volume of gold or
silver legal tender winch shall not perpetually uc
tuate and vary, disturbing all values with its unceas
ing variatonsi


Is it gold and silver that fuctuates, or is it
the other thingi When greenbacks were at 100,
were they down, or was gold upf When there
are heavy crops and light demand, and wheat
is down to so cents a bushel is it the wheat
that fuctuates, or the goldi You are sort of
Brother Jasper financier. Brother Jasper con-
tends that the sun keeps bobbing around, while
the world stands STILL You argue that gold goes
up and down, whereas it is produce and manu-
factures that fuctuate, influenced by the law of
supply and demand. The greenback has now
got on level with gold, because it is backed by
the faith of the Government When your fat
money comes rolling out, we presume gold will
"fluctuate" again, while the fat remains at par.