Money: Speech of Hon. John P. Jones, of Nevada, On the Free Coinage of Silver Part 15

The commodity demand in any one year is not made upon the current year's supply, but upon the entire amount in existence, which, is estimated to be about $4,000,000,000. If the demand for the arts entirely ceased, would the addition, to the money volume, of the $60,000,000 now used in the arts produce any appreciable effect on the value of the $4,000,000,000 in existence?

On the other hand, what is the demand on gold for the money use? All the labor and all the salable property of the western world are constantly offered in exchange for it. It is a moderate estimate to a.s.sume that each dollar is earned, demanded, and paid once a week, or fifty times in each year. This const.i.tutes a total annual money demand of $200,000,000,000, compared with which colossal sum how inconsequential is the commodity demand of $60,000,000 in maintaining the value of gold.

The amount of gold annually used in the arts is not very definitely ascertained, but in 1886 it was estimated by the then Director of the United States Mint to be $46,000,000 per annum. Mr. Giffen estimated it at $60,000,000. It is my opinion that the arts forage on the money-stock of gold to the extent of about the entire annual yield. The bullion or commodity value of that metal being determined by its money value, whoever desires to use it for any purpose other than money, takes the bullion at its coinage value, or else melts up the coin.

Were gold demonetized and deprived of its money function, and its demand confined solely to that arising from its adaptability for various other purposes, the present stock of that metal on hand and in use as money would, according to the estimates of the director of the mint, supply the art demand for more than seventy-five years to come. But, a.s.suming that the estimate of the Director of the Mint is too low, and that my own is nearer the truth, there is at least fifty years' supply on hand.

Were there fifty or seventy-five years' supply of any other commodity on hand in the market, what would be the commercial value of that commodity? What would be the value of copper, of bra.s.s, or of iron, if there were fifty or seventy-five years' supply of either of those metals in the market for disposal at one time? n.o.body can pretend that any commodity of which there is an available supply on hand equivalent to the whole demand for fifty or seventy-five years can have any but the most trifling value.

Contrary, therefore, to the generally received conviction that the commodity demand is the dominating force in fixing the value of gold I maintain and insist that the commodity demand, if entering into the account at all, is insignificant. It is the supremely important _money_-demand, as correlated to the supply, that fixes the value of all money of every description whatsoever.

The demand for gold as a commodity is limited and fluctuating, but when that metal is invested by law with the higher function of money, and thus const.i.tuted a common denominator of all values, that limited and fluctuating demand is changed to an unlimited and constant one, which fixes its value for other and inferior uses. If the commodity-demand for gold were, as many believe it to be, essential to its acceptance as money, it would be a great misfortune to society. The happiness and prosperity of the world, if not wholly dependent upon, are largely influenced by, steadiness in the value of money, and this can not exist without steadiness in its volume. Whatever demand exists for gold as a commodity can only affect the volume of money injuriously--that is to say, by decreasing it. The admonition of history is that a deficiency in the money-supply is more probable, and infinitely more to be feared than an excess, and this deficiency is, in great measure, caused by the insidious and constant encroachment, upon the precious metals, of demands for them for other than the money use. When we contrast the magnitude of the world's interests and equities, which rest on steadiness in the value of money, with the comparative unimportance of the uses of the metals as commodities, it becomes apparent that the subjection of the value of money to disturbance from the demands for gilded signs, looking-gla.s.ses, bangles and breast-pins, is an evil for which society is but poorly compensated by the benefits derived from such uses.

Whatever other quality gold may posses than as the bearer of the money function is inconsistent with the healthful and proper exercise of the task a.s.signed it as such. Whenever any portion of the metal is used for any other purpose than money it destroys the money and thus changes the value of every unit of money in circulation, for, at already stated--other things remaining unchanged--the value of each dollar depends on the number of dollars that are out. Without forewarning, and with out knowledge on the part of the people, large amounts of the money volume, on which so infinite a number of equities rest, and on the basis of which all debts and time contracts have been entered into, are, as it were, surrept.i.tiously abstracted and appropriated to other and always inferior uses, for by far the highest and n.o.blest use of any material upon which the money function has been conferred, is the money use. No other use can possibly be so high or so n.o.ble as that of maintaining all equities undisturbed.

It seems unworthy a highly developed civilization which, as to all subjects other than money, regulates its affairs by the application of intelligence, and bases its policies upon exact data, scientifically ascertained and correctly applied, to depend for its money system upon the accidents, make-s.h.i.+fts, and expedients to which primitive society, by reason of the limitation of its powers and the undeveloped condition of the human mind and hand, was compelled to resort. If the quant.i.tative theory of money be correct--if the money standard be, as I insist it is, a steady and duly proportioned numerical relation existing between the units of population and units of money--it is the duty of society and government to see that as far as practicable that principle is put into operation.

The history of the production of the precious metals from the remotest ages demonstrates that under the automatic system of money this can only be effected by the unrestricted coinage of, and conferring the full legal-tender function on, both metals.

THE PROPOSITION THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD LEND MONEY ON THE SECURITY OF REAL ESTATE.

If a change in the whole number of money units in circulation relatively to population and business do not affect the value of each unit, then no objection can be found to the proposition recently presented in the Senate by the distinguished Senator from California, which created some surprise among Senators. The resolution of that Senator contemplates a loan by the Government to holders of real estate based upon the security of the property; and the issue of a large amount of Treasury notes for that purpose. Certainly, if a dollar, in order to perform properly the money function, must have in it or back of it a dollar's worth of material, there can be no safer security found than that suggested by the Senator from California, namely, the arable land of the United States.

It is the most absolutely secure of all securities; it can neither run away nor be stolen, it can not be burnt up, lost, or destroyed.

Arable land is, in and of itself, capable of supplying all basic wants, and must be always in demand, while gold, so far as concerns any use to which it is, or can be applied, might be dispensed with altogether, with scarcely any inconvenience to society.

Certainly money based on land would seem to be better than money based on gold. Senators who are sticklers for so-called "intrinsic value"

money, and "full-value" money, should be found supporting that proposition. But it must, on reflection, be obvious that, other things remaining unchanged, whenever the total number of units of money (or dollars) in the circulation of a country increases, the value of each unit will decrease. It is an axiom of political economy that no amount of increase in the number of units of money in a country increases the aggregate value of the money of that country.

The aggregate value of the money in circulation in a country, can, _ceteris paribus_, be increased only by an increase of population and business, that is to say, by an increase in the demand for it.

If, without increase of population, the money of a country be increased from, say, $1,000,000,000 to $2,000,000,000, the effect would be not to add to the aggregate value of the money of the country, but to decrease the value or purchasing power of each unit of the money, so that it would take ten dollars to buy what had before cost but five.

GOLD A FETICH--DEMAND FOR A STANDARD OF JUSTICE.

The history of the world affords no example of a money system regulated by human prescience and intelligent calculation. It is not too much to say that the money system of the world--the most important a.s.sociative instrumentality of civilization, in so far as it is not controlled for their own advantage by the creditor cla.s.ses--is practically the result of accident. We are even less logical than the ancients, for they availed themselves of the entire supply of money possible to their civilization and development. They used the full yield of both silver and gold, while we, in order to line the pockets of a privileged caste of money-lenders, reduce the money volume to the lowest possible minimum by discarding one of those metals and making all debts payable in the other.

Gold has been erected into a fetich by methods familiar to the pagan priesthood, who forbade investigation of the claims of their idol to the superst.i.tious veneration of their followers. The quality of a universal standard claimed for gold has been set up by the cla.s.ses which, like that priesthood, had interests to be served by the superst.i.tion. All things else may be subjected to the test of reason and argument, but the slightest approach to a scrutiny of the claims of gold as a much-vaunted universal standard of valuation has been repelled by interested casuists and sophists who const.i.tute the sacred guard of the temple of the idol.

The people of this country, Mr. President, begin very seriously to doubt the sacredness of a so-called standard by which they have been robbed of thousands of millions of dollars--a standard that despoils and impoverishes the toiling ma.s.ses, in order to swell the plethoric pockets of the privileged few. From all parts of the Republic we learn that the people have become aroused on this subject, that they have discovered gold to be a standard, not of valuation, but of spoliation and confiscation.

The world at large shares to a great extent in the doubts entertained by the people of this country as to the orthodoxy of the continuing wors.h.i.+p of gold. Throughout all Europe the suspicion is beginning to make itself felt, among those who have no personal interest at stake, that the constantly appreciating value of this metal bodes no good to society, however advantageous it may be to the moneyed cla.s.ses, and especially the money lenders. It begins to be feared that there may be too long a persistence in this artificial standard, and that the pressure upon the people, in the fall of prices and the increase of the burden of debt and of taxes, which multiply with time, may have serious consequences upon public order. The stock of gold, never half enough to meet the wants of the people anywhere, is year by year being drawn upon more and more for use in the arts, while the yield from the mines is decreasing, and giving no promise of any material increase from any quarter.

The pressing need of the time, the standard for which the people are calling, is a standard of equity, a standard of justice, a standard that shall measure fairly and impartially the rights of both parties to a contract, that will not wrongfully and stealthily add to the burden of the obligation on either side, that will not, under the guise of fair dealing, rob one of the parties for the benefit of the other. The first indispensable step to a realization of that standard is the full restoration of silver to its rightful position as a part of the money of the world.

In any discussion of the question, it would be uncharitable not to make allowance for the force, on many conscientious minds, of what, to the free and unprejudiced inquirer, can only be regarded as an absurd and meaningless superst.i.tion, which, notwithstanding the advance of thought in other directions, still persists in disarranging the industries and vexing the civilization of an enlightened age. It is to the strength of this obdurate superst.i.tion that we must ascribe the horror with which many minds contemplate the possible loss to the country of a part of its gold.

FEAR OF THE OUTFLOW OF GOLD.

Any prospect of the outflow of gold is regarded as the opening of a veritable Pandora's box, from which must issue forth all the evils that can afflict mankind.

It is to this fear, no doubt conscientiously entertained, that we must attribute the declaration of the President of the United States that we do not dare to tread on the edge of so dangerous a peril. It is not difficult to make the statement, but it will be very difficult to prove that we stand on the edge of any peril whatever, if most or even all our gold should go.

We heard this same apprehension expressed, and with equal, if not greater, force twelve years ago, when the silver question was before this body. We were then a.s.sured by the ablest of our so-called "financiers" that the country would be denuded of its gold and that all manner of dreadful catastrophies would result. The prospect was represented to be appalling, although I do not remember that any reasons were given to show how or why gold should leave the country, nor that any statement was made as to exactly how this country would suffer if it did leave.

For my own part, Mr. President, I regard it as a matter of very little consequence whether gold goes out or not. Certainly if, in order to retain gold, we must sacrifice justice, then I say let gold go.

It is not of so much consequence that we should retain gold for the benefit of a small coterie of importers as that we should preserve the equity of time contracts between the millions of our own people who import no foreign goods. It is monstrous to think of violating all equities in time transactions--and nine out of every ten of our domestic business transactions are of that character--for the absurd and inconsequent purpose of keeping in this country some particular commodity, whether it be designated as money or otherwise.

The h.o.a.rding or the outflow of gold is a hards.h.i.+p when, under the law, somebody is obliged to have it, as was the case during the war, when gold alone would pay duties on imports. Combinations to h.o.a.rd gold at that time frequently involved great loss to the importer. But thanks to the silver legislation of 1878 and other legislation making our Treasury notes receivable for customs dues, no damage could now result from any attempted corner in gold.

The creditors of this country never can convince the enterprising and energetic people who form the debtor cla.s.s that it is to our interest that a certain material shall be kept in the country as money, if the expense of keeping it is that the debtors shall continue to be despoiled as they have been for the past fifteen years.

If we can only retain gold at the expense of steady and unwavering prices, and at the expense of a steady and unchanging value in money, then the quicker gold goes out the better. The constantly increasing value of gold by reason of its increasing scarcity means the constantly increasing burden of all debt, and involves the final absorption of all the property of the country by the creditor cla.s.ses. Under the operation of the present system, by which prices are constantly falling and money is constantly increasing in value, the surplus earnings of the people are flowing in a steady stream into the vaults of money-lending inst.i.tutions, and into the pockets of creditors.

In a very intelligent article published in a late number of an influential magazine--the Political Science Quarterly--there is the significant statement, apparently derived from the best sources, that in the year 1879-'80, one-half of all the mortgages in the State of Indiana were foreclosed.

It were better for society that property should at once be confiscated than that the great ma.s.ses of the people in every community should have to struggle through years of painful and exhausting effort in the face of constantly falling prices and then in a large percentage of cases to lose their property at last. But this can not be avoided so long as we attempt to keep up what is called the gold standard. It is a necessary consequence of the gold standard that we shall have the scale of prices that obtains in gold standard countries If the presence of gold in this country is to destroy our people, who doubts that it should go? If its presence is to result in the destruction of equity and justice, who doubts that it should go?

Nearly every witness who testified before the secret committee of the House of Commons in 1857 agreed that gold could only be held by paralysing the business of the country. It is estimated by witnesses who testified before that committee, that in the panic of 1847, in Great Britain, the property of the country, by reason of the measures rendered necessary to maintain the single gold standard, was depreciated $1,500,000,000. I commend that report to the careful and serious perusal of the advocates of the single gold standard in this country.

Among the witnesses before the committee were John Stuart Mill, Lord Overstone, and many other men distinguished in the world of letters and finance. I am informed by the Librarian of Congress that there is but one copy of the work in the United States. It would be well worth while for Congress to order a number of copies of it printed, for there is no work with which I am acquainted that contains so much practical information as to the working of the single gold standard. According to the testimony taken before that committee, the experience of Great Britain since 1819 shows that gold alone, even when re-enforced by paper money convertible exclusively into gold, instead of being a beneficent instrument of valuation, has proved a cruel instrument of injustice.

A brief consideration of the causes which affect the movement of gold will not be out of place in this connection.

RATIONALE OF THE MOVEMENT OF GOLD.

Why is it that gold leaves country and goes to another? For one reason only--the advantage of its owner. Whenever he can make a profit by sending it out, the gold goes; and the period when that profit can be made is indicated when the prices of goods that are internationally dealt in are either rising in the country which it leaves or falling in the country to which it goes. It is only to pay for importable goods that gold ever leaves the country in which the owner resides. Being an international money, and receivable everywhere at its full face value, gold loses nothing by transfer; hence it is sent wherever it will for the time being have the greatest purchasing power.

Whenever the general range of prices in this country of commodities internationally dealt in becomes than higher than the general range of the same commodities abroad, it is manifest that then gold can used to advantage by purchasing those articles abroad and selling them here. If the gold that goes out goes from stock that has been h.o.a.rded here, the outflow has no immediate or direct effect upon prices in this country, although, by increasing or "inflating" the volume of money abroad it a.s.sists in raising prices there, and thus tends to secure for our exported products a better price in the foreign market. But if the gold goes from the amount that is in active circulation here, and if the void created by this outflow is not filled with other forms of money, such as silver, or paper, it results in a reduction of the volume of money in actual use in this country, while at the same time increasing the volume of money abroad.

This increase in the foreign money stock causes a rise of prices abroad, while the corresponding reduction of our currency causes a proportionate fall of prices here, hence there is a constant tendency to an equilibrium of prices of all articles of international commerce.

No outflow of gold would follow a rise of prices here except in so far as that rise affected articles internationally dealt in. No rise of prices of such articles as we do not import would tend in any way to drive out gold. If, for example, raw cotton should increase in price in this country, that fact would not tend to drive out gold, because we do not import raw cotton. But should the prices of articles of manufactured cotton rise here above what those same articles could be bought for in any foreign country our merchants would send abroad for them, provided that, after paying the freight charges and customs dues, they could make a profit on them.

So, also, if crockery-ware were made in this country, and its price should rise to, say, double the present price, then, instead of buying the American, or home-made article, our crockery merchants, finding that they could buy in England, France, or Germany cheaper than they could buy in this country, would decline to buy the American crockery, and would send abroad for any article, provided that, after paying freight charges and customs dues, they could sell it here at a profit. That would tend to increase the s.h.i.+pments of gold to foreign countries.

That an outflow of gold does not follow from a rise of general prices, but only of prices of articles of international trade, is manifest from the fact that if land becomes cheap in other countries, gold does not leave this country to buy it. When real estate is cheap in Brazil, or Australia, or in Germany, France, or even England, the owners of gold in this country do not send it abroad to make purchases of real estate.

So wages of labor may rise in this country, or compensation for all manner of services that must be performed here, and gold would not leave as a consequence. But if cloth were cheaper--quality considered,--in England, France, or Germany, or at the remotest ends of the earth,--than in this country, our merchants would send gold for it in order to sell it here at a profit.

Altogether too much importance is attached to the possession of a large stock of gold, unless that stock form part of the active circulation of the country. So long as it remains in circulation it sustains prices and develops industry and internal commerce. But the tendency of gold being to find the most profitable field for operation, its continued presence in the country can never be relied upon.

When we take gold from other countries prices in those countries fall, owing to the reduction of the volume of money there; and owing also to the action of the foreign banks in immediately raising their rates of discount on commercial paper and suddenly calling loans. As there is less money left in such country with which to pay for commodities, we are obliged to accept lower prices for the products we s.h.i.+p to it.