The creditors tell us that all they want is "good money." They and their
friends glibly insist that all obligations must be paid in "the best
money." This is the delicate and plausible euphemism resorted to in
order to gloss over and, if possible, hide from the world the odious and
repulsive fact that what the creditors always want is the _dearest_
money--the money that costs the people the most sweat and toil to obtain
and which, as time passes, grows dearer and dearer.
This cry for "the best money" is at last beginning to be recognized for
what it is--the cunning device of creditors to "catch the conscience" of
the people and play upon the sense of fairness that characterizes the
great mass of mankind. These interested parties affect to believe that
gold is, by nature, the only money metal, ignoring the fact that until
silver was displaced by hostile legislation it was, and for four
thousand years had been, the principal money metal of the world. But
they will no longer be permitted to hide their sinister purpose under
the cloak of a demand for the "best money." The masses of the people are
aroused on this subject and are beginning to understand it.
According to all fair canons of construction the best money should be
and is a money of unchanging value, a money that exacts from the debtor
the same amount of sacrifice that he bargained for, and which is all
that the creditor is equitably entitled to receive. In other words, the
money of the contract, not a money whose exactions are increasing at the
rate of 2 per cent. per annum. As McCulloch says, debts being stated in
dollars and cents, it is not possible for the creditor openly to augment
his debtor's obligation by changing the figures of the debt.
But, Mr. President, while they can not change the figures of the debt,
they are enabled, by a crafty manipulation of the money-volume, to do
that which, to the debtor, means the same thing; as the following story
will illustrate:
A usurer of the coarser type had lent $10,000 on a neighboring farm, for
which amount he took the farmer's note, secured by a mortgage on the
property. He coveted the farm, and in his anxiety to secure it took his
banker into his confidence. He informed the banker that he wanted to get
possession of this farm, but it would bring $15,000 under the hammer,
and he did not care to pay so much for it. "I have a subtle chemical,"
said he, "by which I can obliterate from the note and mortgage all trace
of the rightful amount ($10,000), and that done, I can insert $15,000.
Then, with the genuine signatures on the note and mortgage I can bring
suit, and as the farm will not bring more than the face of the note, I
shall succeed to the property."
His friend, the banker, however, advised against this course, which he
characterized as not only dishonest, but vulgar, and as subjecting the
perpetrator of the act to serious penalties. "Honesty" said the banker,
"is the best policy." "But," he continued, "I can suggest a plan by
which you may accomplish the same end without running counter to law, or
the views of society. Why not join our propaganda in advocacy of 'honest
money.' Gold is decreasing in quantity, and as the world has been
ransacked for it in vain, it is likely to continue decreasing. If we can
strike down the twin metal, silver, and devolve the entire money
function on gold, it will double the purchasing power of money. Then the
foreclosure of your mortgage will be sure to take your neighbor's farm,
and probably leave him in your debt besides. Instead of being punished
for this, you will receive the plaudits of the 'best society' for the
_finesse_ you have displayed and the firm stand you have taken in favor
of honest money, and you will take high rank among 'the wisest and most
conservative of our financiers.' If your neighbor makes any objection to
your action, you may be able to secure his incarceration as a lunatic,
but if not, he will come to be regarded in the community as a dishonest
'crank' who wishes to pay his debts in a depreciated money; for it is
the constant and assiduous care of our guild to teach that only the
dearest money, that which is the most difficult for the laborer, the
farmer, and the mechanic to get, is honest money, and the dearer it is
the more honest it is."