Show M MM I 1 I 1 1 1 M M 4 i i I 1 4 communications I 1 i i H i 4 5 hi 44 1 i the gold dollar editor park record THE assumption of those who claim repudiation of contract as to the gold clause from hoover to the minority of the supreme court sees to me possessed of a strange fatality of mind a worship of the gold fetish a fixed idea that gold Is imperial that gold Is a sacred substance of elemental intrinsic value absolute and unchangeable they seem to ignore the fact that whatever monetary value has been given this his metal in the united states has baa been by ay enactment of law that gold as money Is a creation of the congress in this nation as well as by law and custom elsewhere and that congress has the power and does change its value as to measured metal from time to time that in the nations history of money there have been many changes and those changes have been made regardless of contracts for as the majority of the court now rule no contract lias has the power to abrogate the money making constitutional right of congress the changes before the creation of metal money or of paper currency has never been called in question until now consider some of these money changes in 1786 the congress of the confederation adopted the silver dollar unit as its standard of 64 grains of pure silver in 1792 the united states adopted the gold dollar of 2475 grains of pure gold and the silver dollar of grains of pure silver a double standard of I 1 to 15 ratio both legal tender various changes were made from time to time in a small way until in 1873 the unit value of gold was made grains fine the act of february 28 1878 1873 directed the coinage of standard silver dollars dollers legal egal tender except where otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract it was at this time when this was done through the connivance and manipulation of t the he gold monopolists that the bankers introduced on their paper the gold clause and the weight on their own account the act of march 14 24 1900 declared a gold dollar of 35 25 8 grains 0 fine as the standard unit this act also provided that nothing contained in the act shall be construed to affect the legal tender lender quality as now provided by law of the silver dollar or any other money coined or issued by the united states stales the federal reserve act of december 23 1913 r W of the treasury authora authority ty to maintain such parity in gold I 1 there were millions of dollars in sub I 1 side and minor coinage there were also seven even kinds of paper currency ini in i circulation in the united states gold I 1 and silver certificates united states notes treasury notes federal reserve notes na national dional bank notes and federal reserve bank notes before the new deal there was b between 1 nine line and ana ten billion dollars of all ki kinds d of U S money issued and there ther e wa was less than fifty cents in gold oi on th the dollar held as security and gold the only money of ultimate redemption under tinder the law federal reserve notes re quiren 40 per cent in go gold id and 60 per cent in acceptable security on a federal debt of nearly gwei twenty aty billion dollars when hoover went a out ut of office effic there was less than 25 cen cents ts on the dollar in gold in the entire country it if applied on the federal debt with more than one hundred billion dollars of other bonded debts in the nation these last showings are made to indicate acate the utter inadequacy of gold as money in the united states or in the world to liquidate the gold contracted to be paid the point set out to be made however Is that repeated money changes have been made in the nations history and no contract obligation has ever before claimed infringement or damage hoover in perfect line with his policy while president and since Is in agreement with the gold monopolists the big bankers and the money trust he Is ready and willing to stand on a technicality choosing the form rather than the sub substance star t a of the liberty bond gold clause as well as private contracts representing a class that sought to test the cases carefully selected interest coupon railroad mortgage for private contracts and gold certificates and liberty bonds for government test this class was willing to crucify the nation on en a cross of gold willing in a frenzy of greed to claim as shylock that it js Is nominated in the bond and demand their pound of llesh flesh though it take the ife I 1 te of the nation what kind of loyalty la is this sor or Is it partisan revenge chief justice charles E hughes than whom there has been no better representative senta tive republican si sneaking leaking for the majority 0 of the court beckles deckles that contracts can not abrogate the money making power of congress that asto as to the gold clause in the liberty bonds we pwe are of the opinion that the gold clauses now before us were not contracts for payment in gold coin aaa a a commodity or in bullion but were contracts for the payment of money naming dol dollars dollard larj legal tender dollars and that no damages can be recovered because no d damage mage Is shown no logs 1086 of purchasing power hence they can not sue la in the court OI of claims the substance and the pun se of all th iheke ese contracts was to a full legal tender payment of principal and interest that value dollar has haa been maintained as the court recognizes zes its purchasing power and as every howling erl cri uc knows know the dollar Is not 69 59 cents but loo cents the old gold dollar in the hands a ads a ot monopoly was priced at or even he possibly I 1 yi ta 00 in av average r e ge commodities gm but lb when be taz taken it w was as reduced to one cent dollar even n yet it maybe a little swollen as prices come up to meet it suppose a huge bonanza of geld bad bau been found sed and a a areil great influx of gold communications continued from PAL page one had bid been poured out until gold as a commodity became cheap that one ounce of gold would only buy five bu shele 0 of f wheat would the bond holder bolder ask for gold or a legal tender dollar tho the catl nations 0 ne being forced 0 on if th tho gold old standard because it was poor toney money or it if as it ye yet t may be that a con conte C renoe 0 of f nations will decide that the scarcity ot of gold b has caused it to fall in its use as money for the world and that some other monetary system Is to be chosen and gold madi made a commodity would the bond holder then want gold or would he demand what his paper calls lor for a legal tender dollar of full purchasing power no mo it Is not gold he be seeks an advantage the gold policy change was not a party action it was tor for the benefit of the nation we must grant the right ol of opinion and as aa to a technical definition there were written contracts so worded in the usual form but the change caused no damage patriotic interest should be above private gain even it if it we were got true every bank note had the gold d clause lor for every dollar loaned but no one regarded it or paid it in my opinion the adment administration s tools took the only method possible ot of successfully meeting a condition that had developed through the use of gold by grasping monopoly to easily control money and which in reality caused private hoarding the wisdom of this action ot of government control of all the gold and the use of it to stabilize the issued money as a reserve Is being ben band g recognized by many able american and european economists bank bankers ers financiers and statesmen the utterly inadequate supply of gold the extremely small base it formed tor for a vast pyramid of credit was a disastrous source of panic and tear fear in so BO much that many nations were forced to abandon the gold standard yet whose credit was sound round statistics show that the business wealth of the nation has a norm normal growth of four per cent per a annum the money demand grows even faster the population has more than doubled in the past fifty years the trade demand of the world has grown tremendously in the last fifty years and while it has been checked somewhat by the great de pres slon this too can be cured by the united states by establishing a sate safe and sane system of trade medium a satisfactory money which means that if the base Is to be metal the two precious metals must be adopted fully now Is the accepted time to prepare tor for a great world worldwide wide increase in trade recent inventions and more coming tend to draw the world into more intimate relations distance the world grows compact and better understanding will ome bome and with that trade will follow money therefore must eventually be designed tor for more than domestic use both as to kind and quantity this nation Is f faced ced with a new beginning and as it beg began a n with the double standard of gold and silver at a fixed ratio so now it must return to it under modern conditions and demands with gold value doubled as to the old old standard and a silver ratio fixed at I 1 present weight per dollar or one ounce ot gold new value to thirty two ounces of silver with unlimited coinage for the world r id would still form a money baste basis t too small tor for international safety except that the base be constantly augmented by new metal supply and that improved central bank systems under national control be devised president roosevelt has demonstrated the power ot of the united states to advance the price of gold and silver as money with the help of great britian and her colonies the financial standards can be fixed and the rest of the world will not be long in joining them what we need Is a united people at I 1 least on the money question to impress tho the financial world that we are not going back to the old gold standard ever but that all sails are set on the ship of state to go forward not upon an unknown adventure but with chart and compass and purpose fixed sincerely CHARLES E STREET february 28 26 1935 salt lake city utah |