The Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 29, 1892 Page: 3 of 16
sixteen pages : ill. ; page 15 x 11 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
, - i*
V
December 29, 1892.
SOUTHERN HKKCllltV.
r (
j fe
h
Easy Lessons for Willing
dents.
Plow and Hammer.
What is money?
It is that which legally cancels a
debt. It is also a tool of trade by
its use title to property passes from
the íeceiver to the giver. It is
convenient means, therefore, of ex-
changing and distributing commo-
dities and products.
Must money have intrinsic value
to be good and honest ?
Not at all. Value is "intrinsic
in nothing. Value is found only
in use. There is no value in an
axe, hoe, plow or other tool or ma-
chine while unused. The finest
dwelling is worth nothing to look
at simply. It must be occupied to
be of value. A library of a thou-
sand choice volumes, unread, is
worth no more than so much-blank
paper. So money unused is abso-
lutely worthless.
What! has money not always
an exchange value ? Can one not
always buy what he will with it?
Yes. In this case its value is
found in letting it go, not in keep-
ing it. Money, as money, has no
value in itself, but represents the
thing the holder gave for it. A
dollar received for a day's labor
represents the labor performed. If
received for 20 pounds of sugar or
a bushel of flax seed, it represents
these commodities. If honestly
acquired, money is a certificate
that the holder has given its face
value in something of real worth.
Well, if money to be "good"
needs no intrinsic or commodity
value, why have civilized nations
insisted always upon the coining
of gold and silver into money?
It has been done by nations up-
on the theory that the supply of
these "precious" metals is more
uniform than anything else that
could be used as money,and hence
stability of market prices could be
maintained, and justice secured
between debtor and creditor.
But what has money supply to
do with fixing the price of com-
modities ? Is not that determined
by the supply of and demand for
them.
Only in part. The relative
prices—that is, the price of wheat
compared with the price of apples
—depend upon their comparative
scarcity or abundance; but the gen-
eral range or level of prices of
commodities depends absolutely
upon the volume of money in use.
All writers on money from Adam
Smith to Amassa Walker agree in
Su-wei
YALI8
POWDER
Absolutely Pure
A cream of tartar baking powder. Htjrbesi
or all in leavening etrengtn.—Unfit.
StmUt Gown nmtni Foot Report,
Rortf, But o PwiyQj, Ml Wftll.tt* H.r
Stu- this. All history and experience
prove them right, too.
What then has the material
stamped as money to do with its
value as such? If volume or num.
ber of measuring units determine
prices, and prices (and hence wages
of labor) hold the scales between
debtor and creditor, tax payer and
public officer, what has the money
material to do with the question?
Only this: General business in-
terests require a form of money
easily divisible into different de-
nominations, not easily counter
feited, light and compact, readily
concealed about the person and
clothed with full debt paying pow-
er.
If volume and "legal tender"
make money good, why do our
financiers insist that gold is the
only perfect article, the only sort
fit to tender to the honest and high-
ly honorable creditor class ?
The "great financiers" are not
wealth producers, but speculators,
who are interested in keeping the
common people ignorant of the na-
ture and uses of money. They
have secured a "corner" on the
gold supply, and so long as the
nations regard it as a necessity,
and by law oblige the debtor to
pay in gold or its equivalent, so
long can the gold barons exact
their own terms and levy tribute
upon commerce and labor every-
where.
How can they exact tribute?
1st. By limiting the output oi'
every form of credit money to con-
form to the "gold standard," they
make money scarce, prices low,
payment of debts impossible, more
debts, more mortgages, more inter-
est to the creditor class.
2d. By crowding legitimate bus-
iness to the wall they gobble up
the valuable property and are rap-
idly coming in possession of all
wealth.
Yes. there is evidently a rapid
congestion of wealth in a few hands
and silver advocates urge that de
monetization has had much to do
with it. If this be true,would full
remonetization restore a just bal
anee ?
By no manner of means. Gold
and silver combined are entirely
inadequate for the transaction of a
healthy cash business. The whole
world has but $3,200,000,000 of
gold and $3,800,000,000 of silver
money. Without any "inflation,"
two nations like ours could use it
all. With a population of nearly
$500,000,000, India uses nearly
half of all the silver. The remain-
der is scattered among all civilized
countries. There is none to spare
anywhere so long as the precious
metals are used as a basis for cred-
it money.
Well, is it not important that
the United States keep her share
of gold (or of both metals) as a
"redeemer" of our paper currency?
The speculating 4 'great finan-
ciers" tell us so, but let experi-
ence and common sense answer.
The legal use oi money is to pay
I debts or "redeem" the note of the
debtor. In business we employ
money as an instrument of ex-
change to procure the comforts and
luxuries of life. This we can do
with any form of money regardless
of material. What then is gained
by swapping one kind of dollar for
another kind? A house built and
paid for with silver or paper dol-
lars will be just as comfortable and
just as much your own as if paid
tor with gold dollars. A farm thus
acquired will be found just as pro-
ductive and your to it will be just
as perfect.
What! Do you mean to say
that a "specie basis" is needless to
make paper monev safe and sound?
Just so! With Gov. Allen, I
believe this sort of basis "a barren
ideality." It is safety and sound-
ness depend not on its exchanga-
bility with metal dollars, but its
receivability for all taxes and its
legal tender power to cancel all
debts. These qualities, or func-
tions rather, make it perfect mon-
ey. These functions are conferred
by law, by congressional statutes.
Bankers and gold boards have no
moral nor legal right to say what
our money shall be. "Congress
shall have power to coin money
and regulate its value."
Well, if congress has the consti-
tutional power to supply money of
gold, silver or paper, with equal
monetary functions, why are we
obliged to use credit until we are
become a nation of debtors, paying
two thousand millions annually as
interest ?
The answer is easy. The mass
of the people who are the debtors
have been too stupid, modest or
cowardly to think or act in their
own interest. Tne "great finan-
ciers" have had their agents to
manage congressional conventions
and dictate candidate and platform,
while the rank and file were ral-
lied to the polls under the lash of
party. This money question, like
many others, has not been consid-
ered on its merits, in a cool, sensi-
ble way, but the attitude of party
leaders has too often settled it,
without reflection or investigation.
Once John Sherman's dictum was
"law and gospel" with every loyal
republican. Thank God! "the
charmer has lost its charm." But
his mantle has fallen on one Gro
ver Cleveland, a so-called demo-
crat. Grover was the choice of
the gold ring bent upon keeping
the American people in debt slav-
ery. This ring knows well that
tariff schedules have little to do
with the question of industrial
freedom, compared with more mon-
ey direct to the people, and the
scourging out of money changers
by making all our money of equal
legal tender.
►4—^4——
The workers vs. the shirkers.
The toilers vs. the spoilers.
The people vs. the plutocrats.
The "great plain people," the
foundation and support and pro-
tection of the republic, systemati-
cally robbed by law, by the mod-
ern barons labeled "aristocracy."
This is the panorama upon
which the eyes of the new born
babe, "free and equal." must open,
and which drives from the hearts
of the human family all hope of
justice at the hands of those who
live by usury in its multifarious
workings.
DADWAY
li READY REI
RELIEF.
'J .tt v utm, «a. vviul l>U8t Medici tin For
r tunny Uou tu me W ota, m lite beat
Application for Bruises, ¡Sprains,
Cramps, Stiff J oints, rain in
the Chest, Back ©r Limbs.
CURES AND PREVENTS
Golds, Coughs, Sore
Throats, Inüamation,
Rheumatism, Neural-
gia, Headache, Tooth-
ache, Asthma, Difficult
Breathing, Influenza.
CUKKa TrtE W wKST FA INS in from one to
twenty minutes. NOT ONE UOUR after read-
ing this advertisement need any ouo SUFFHK
WITH PAIN.
INTERNALLY.
From 30 to GO drops lu half a tumbler of wa-
ter will, in a few moment*, cure Cramps,
Spasms, Sour Stomach, Nausea, Vomiting,
Heartburn, Nci'vouhiuhs, Sleeplessness, Sick
Headache, lilarrnoea, Dysenteiy, Cholera Mor-
bus, Colic, Flatulency, and all Internal Paius.
MALARIA, Chilis aid Fever, Fever and
Ape Conquered.
There is not a remedial agent hi the world
that will cure fever and ague and all other ma-
larious, bilious, and ottier fevers, aided by
KAOVVAY'S PILLS so quickly as KADWAY'S
READY RELIEF.
iWT Price f>0c per bottle. Sold by druggl«ts.~&u
The Way of the World.
Queer world, this ! A lawyer
and an editor stood on a street cor-
ner in an Ohio town and saw a
man murdered in cold blood. The
murderer is a rich man, and after
committing the deed he said to the
lawyer and editor, "Here are a
thousand dollars for each one of
you; defend me before the court
and the people lor the crime I have
committed." They took the mon-
ey and defended him in their own
'way and according to their own
profession—the editor through his
paper and the lawyer through his
mouth. The murderer, through
their joint eiforts, was acquitted.
But see the difference; mark the
result. The people said: "The
editor is a scoundrel and did so for
pay. Lo 1 We will stop his paper
and not patronize him." The pa-
per was stopped, the editor ruined
financially and reduced to a pau-
per. But of the lawyer the people
said: ''He is an able man, learned
in the law, and deserves great cred-
it for obtaining the acquittal of a
man guilty ol murder. We will
give him our law business and pay
big fees." They made him a
judge, and as such he sent his
partner, the editor, to the work-
house, and said he was a bad man
and should not only be deprived
of the means of living, but pun-
ished. We don't indorse the act
of an editor laboring for what is
wrong—but how about the lawyer?
Trestle Board.
Tommy—Paw, what is a special
providence?
Mr. Figg—it occurs when some
other fellow is the victim of amis-
for tun 3 that would otherwise have
happened to yourself.
"I am not wealthy," he said,
"but il the devotion oi a true and
tender heart goes for anything with
you, Miss Clara—"
"It goes well enough with me,
Mr. ¡Spoonbill," interrupted the
fair girl, with a pensive look on
her lace; "but how will it go with
the grocer?"
We want YOU to aot as
agent to soliet sub-
scriptions to Mercury.
Agts. outfit a«nt FREE,
.ifl-tfat - -i.'fciMiKteftit; ÜÜ^ft-i-i . ' - - - S. í¿k¿
V •: «v . !¿>,. • i
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Park, Milton. The Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 29, 1892, newspaper, December 29, 1892; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth185497/m1/3/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .