We have said that there is a true standard of value, and that this is
based in the capacity of a country to pay without infringing upon the
country itself; that is, without resorting to an actual transfer of
supposed title to any part of its domain for something the domain itself
produced. Actual ownership in the soil of a country is an assumption, as
has been stated in the “Papers on Labor and Capital.” If the title to
any real estate is traced back far enough, it would be found to have
originated in the practice of “Squatter Sovereignty.” The inhabitants of
a country having the right to make use of the land they occupy, render
it more or less valuable, according to the amount they can make it
produce, whether it be in the shape of its natural products or those of
artificial assistance, or whether it is simply occupied for purposes
other than production.
The basis, however, of the value is in the productions of the soil of a
country; it matters not how much value may be added by the art of man to
what nature furnishes. This would find no scope for action did the earth
not first yield the fruits of her bosom to the hand of the artist. The
finest cloth, the most delicate silks and laces, the most costly jewels,
even the light that robs night of its darkness, are all primarily the
products of the earth. Without this yielding of the earth there would be
nothing. This giving up of the earth to the demands, efforts and desires
of man, is the process by which he acquires all his wealth. Even the
gold that has so long been called money the earth has yielded, and still
yields. When this is considered in its true light, we come to a
realization that gold is no more money, absolutely, than any other of
the different products of the earth, but with them all it forms the real
value standard. Gold is relatively valuable for the general uses it can
be made to subserve; so, too, and only so, are all other products. Any
other metal might just as well have been selected out of which to coin
money as gold. It no longer answers the purpose it has been used for so
long. It is not “radical” enough to suit “the times.” It is one of the
landmarks of conservatism, reminding us that once it required at least
six months to communicate with, and receive an answer from, London,
whereas we now know the 5 o’clock P. M. closing prices of stocks in
London at 1 o’clock of the same day.
Such annihilation of time and space is entirely ahead of, and above, the
era of gold, which must yield its sway to something more elastic, and
consequently possible of better adaptation to the constantly varying
requirements of the peoples. The world having been so long held in
financial bondage to gold, is now approaching a period wherein it will
rid itself of the yoke. A very few people in the world rule it. What of
the thrones of Europe without the Rothschilds? and what of them if not
for gold? The vast debts of those countries alone render crowns longer
endurable. Just a little more intelligence among the common people—just
a few more newspapers and readers, and the work is done; those who play
king, and they who are the real kings, will fall together. Kings rule
the people, but money rules kings. This is beginning to be realized, and
the realization is not satisfactory to those who produce wealth; they do
not care to live under the tyranny of a god they themselves have
fashioned. But after gold, what?
NEW YORK, Sept 7, 1870.