People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 July 1893 — GIVE US A NEW DEAL. [ARTICLE]

GIVE US A NEW DEAL.

The Only Scientific Money Is Full Legal Tender in Convertible Paper Bills. A worthy citiztp of Saline county and one of our leading financiers, presented for my consideration, and reply a circular letter from a. certain mercantile company of flMwmp.n iMuti. propounding direct and pert*flwnt que&tions bearing on the financial situation, its straitaped conditions and dubious outlook. the John Sherman plutocratic, monometallic, gold basis, the immediate safety and prosperity of our tax-oppressed debt-ridden land is in jpopardy. Th> will not appear merdrant or idle statement to him who reads, thinks studies the dangers of present conditions. Our country is on the dangerous verge of a financial crisis that might at any moment precipitate chaos, anarchy and revolution. Would not these naturally result if the wheels of commerce stopped and labor were thrown out of employment, bringing privation, hunger and starvation? Such are the conditions that exist to-day, and what brought them about? This brings me to the inquiries contained in the aforesaid circular letter. The letter stated that our country is on a sound financial basis, and then inquired the cause of the present embarrassed situation, the great cause of alarm in financial circles and what would be the effect if this Sherman silver purchase act were repealed? I answered that the present financial basis, that is, the gold basis, is not a sound one, and can never be, judging for the future by the past The past financial history *of our country is filled with financial wreck and ruin when we made use of both gold and silver, (fold and silver in the past were more plentiful than now and their , nsed far les®, as.tlje demand for both in i the arts and retirements of trade, and as a medium of exchange, were not nearly so great, as at present j Gold and siWqr cin never give an ample currency because of the great scarcity of the former, the insufficiency of the latter, and the inadequacy of : both. The annual product of both can i never furnish the required amount of money to keep the vast machinery of the commerce of the world in motion with its numerous dependent and in-ter-dependent wheels and cogs. There are other reasons against gold as a sole medium of exchange. In the use of gold, money sharks, in consequence of its great scarcity, are, through a system of skillful financial legerdemain, enabled to. “corner” it and divert it from its legitimate uses. Anyone familiar with the debates on the passage of the Sherman act knows that it was not the, intention to redeem the certificates in gold. This was an after-scheme, a bargain made afterward to swindle the west and south—the debtor class—and put money into the hands of Walt street brokers, bankers and money-sharks, who are now —through the connivance of those high in authority—still robbing the people of their daily sustenance. * * * I think I have answered the questions as to the cause of the present straightened conditions. Now as to the next —“What would be the effect of the repeal of the Sherman act?” Its repeal, without the substitution of provisions more favorable to silver, would utterly degrade the white metal to a common commodity of simple commercial value. Gold, having thus pushed silver out of circulation as money, would be the sole standard of value, and, having the field to itself, as well as being scarce and easily manipulated, would appreciate above its al- , ready high price, increase its purchasI ing power, enable money sharks to con- ' trol the markets, reduce below the cost of production all commodities and all J produce, whatsoever. By silver being ! thus demonetized we would lose over one-half of our coin currency, which, together with our limited circulation (gold being left us as the ! sole standard) would cause still I further depreciation of prices to folt low, thus inflicting disaster and wholeI sale ruin on the producing and indus- ! trial classes. Thus the repeal of this ■ infamous act, made in the interest of Wall street, would precipitate financial, agricultural and industrial ruin, if there followed no legislation to protect silver from the onslaught of the gold monometallists. The old theories of finance, like human codes and creeds, are vanishing before the resistless sweep of this nineteenth century’s progress, which is proving so demonstrative and regenerative—creating new theories, new doctrines and new systems—thus enlarging human facilities and possibilities. The idea that gold and silver afford the only safe medium for an honest currency is giving way as the true nature and philosophy of money—its functions, its beneficial uses and dangerous , abuses —are becoming better understood. We know, if we know anything, that neither the monometallic nor bimetalic standard alone will do, but in addition thereto we must have as a circulating medium a legal tender treasury note, ample and sufficient to meet the ever increasing demands of commerce and trade, issued by the national government. As long as we use silver and gold alone there will always be great uncertainty and rivalry between the interested advocates of both, growing out of sordid and selfish motives. Another difficulty, top, is in keeping them at a proper, equalized ratio and regulating their parity, all of which create contention and confusion among the various advocates of the two raetals, thereby creating a want of coriw dence in business circles and crippling the business interests of the country. H aving come to a definite conclusi oir after much research, as to what money is, ]yhat are its uses and what have been its abuses in the light of past eXv perience; that money is simply a medium of exchange to faciliate commerce, and outside of this function, which is its essential principle, it can confer no further benefit on man, having no intrinsic value of • its own, but having the exchange value conferred upon it by the fiat of the law; I hold that one thing, as well as another, legally authorized, may constitute money

in its fullest and widest sense. Our country is not dependent for an ample and sound currency on either silver or gold, monometallism or bimetallism. They cannot furnish the motive power to keep the vast machinery of the world’s commerce in motion without, at times of financial strain, causing wreck and ruin, and hurling woe, want and desolation throughout the land. What the country needs is a currency issued by the government, sufficient to meet all requirements, a legal tender treasury note, receivable for all dues both public and private—with no exception clauses—thus placing the government and the Citizen, the debtor and the creditor, on an equal footing. The volume thus issued can be controlled by act of congress. As trade and commerce increase, so can the number of circulating dollars |jp increased. Congress meets every year, hence there need be no reason why, by care and attention to this important matter, an adequate amount of treasury notes cannot be issued and adjusted to suit the shifting requirements of the business of the country. Let the government retain this mon-ey-making power as its sole prerogative, delegating said power to no corj porate body or private institution. This is the true Jeffersonian doctrine, and this is mine.—J. H. Latimer, in Independent Watchman.