Excerpt from Rational Money: A National Currency Intelligently Controlled in the Interests of the Whole People and Carefully Regulated in Reference to the True Commodity Bases, the Real Constant of Exchange, by Means of the Multiple Standard
Fact. History sanctions an independent paper of regulated volume.
Reason. Science proves such money to be the best.
Authority. Distinguished leaders of thought, economists, statesmen, and financiers approve the principles on which the plan is based.
The Power of Paper, with the Multiple Standard.
The essential attribute of money is general receivability. Money should not be a promise to pay, but to receive, and to see that; others receive. Next to receivability the most vital fact of monetary science is the movement or non-movement of the money volume. Through this prices may be controlled, a rise or fall produced, or a rise or fall from other causes prevented, or checked and cancelled if it has occurred. Power to control the money volume is power to do justice or injustice between debtor and creditor, laborer and employer, buyer and seller, landlord and tenant, interest receiver and entrepreneur; power to increase the weight and value of every debt public or private, power to produce panic or prosperity, power to regulate industry and determine the distribution of wealth. Such power is an attribute to sovereignty and ought to belong to none but the sovereign people. The money volume should no longer be left to chance or private manipulation, but subjected to intelligent control in the interest of the public.
Steadiness of value is the morality of the dollar. An appreciating dollar robs debtors and depresses industry. A depreciating dollar robs creditors and may lead to feverish speculation. The creditor should receive the same purchasing power that he lent, the same command over commodities, services, all the means of life and happiness, To accomplish this the dollar must not be based on a gold standard, for the purchasing power of gold is not constant, but exceedingly variable. The same is true of the bi-metallic standard in a slightly less degree. The average purchasing power of gold and silver vibrates a little less than gold alone. Two commodities may be better than one, but 100 or 200 or 500 commodities make a steadier base than two. A list of all commodities would be constant in the sum of its exchange values. If the value of one commodity fell the others would gain what it lost, their purchasing power over it would be increased in the same ratio that its purchasing power over them is diminished, and vice versa if one or more commodities rise in exchangeable value the others fall in like ratio. The true standard is a list of all commodities each one being entered according to its importance in consumption and expenditure. The nearest practicable approach to this is a long list of commodities weighted according to importance, each commodity being entered in such amount as to have the same value relatively to the total value of the list, that the consumption of that commodity has to the total consumption of the community. The nearest to all commodities is a large number of commodities so selected as to fairly represent the various parts and classes of the whole. It is this composite or Multiple Standard which justice and progress require us to adopt. A national paper money regulated in volume so as to be in harmony with this standard will constitute a mighty power for justice and prosperity.
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