mm
Jl
Til are crossing, u you thlnlc you can see
money, look most carefully and see the
spirit of the law, or in other words
money, go back into your dead coins
and bills giving them life and power,
if you can, then describe how money
looks. And if you do not succeed in
the first attempt try it again, crossing
and rccrossing and watching money
going out and in your coins and bills,
being money on this side and mer
chandise on that; meanwhile remem
bering the coins and bills as such
and everything about them are
the same and can be seen and felt
equally as well on one side as on the
other, and that if money consisted In
their material or the stamps on them
then tney ought to, and! would be
money on one side of the line just the
same as on the other. Now again:
"What is Money?"
I answer it is a government due bill,
a visible evidence that the bearer is
entitled to a certain amount of value
in service or conria or thn rlirht tn
and superfine efforts are liable to con- legally free himself from the obliga
f use and disgust, but the subject is one tions of debt of like amount by a ten-'
of considerable moment and ought to a.er OI, 8? aue mil in liquidation
. ti ji j i n 1 4 i luciroii iuu SV9WU1 vi uuo iuiu serves
be thoroughly discussed in all its bear- the jrarpo8e of tabling any person to
ings until it is universally understood, whom anything of value may be due
The common people may be safely to easily and promptly prove it in a
ignorant on some questions but they M61 cnlu!ivf ,an.d "tisfactory man-
cannot be safe while they are ao densely l8 due M much wltJh' lt .
Ignorant on the money question. the due bill, and if the due bill be ac-
And now that the discussion of this cidentally lost or destroyed, honor and
I i i . . i j t a
particular phase of the subject has " wwim gye mm wnat is nonest-
iL u v m , . ly due without it.
been pushed so far by our independent Now it lg Bufficlentlv clear that
speakers and writers, let it continne due bills, acting as money, have prim
until all doubt and mystery are cleared arily only a representative value, their
away and a demonstration reached ii vww w wie vaiue oi the
J I mntAiial rn urhinh Than n.UtA. . I
vt ft uavu vuoj Oil j ww l 1 b 1311 Ji i
An Alls Article by aa Old Li ne Green-
backer who Believes Money an
Invisible Reality.
Comments by the Bditor. Definitions,
Comparisons and Illustrations
on Both Sides of the
' Question.
What ia Money?
Rcshville. Neb., Nov. 30.
Editor Alliance-Independent:
I am tempted to offer some remarks
on the above subject. I am not un
aware of -the fact that these critical
possible that money unmixed with
other ideas, entitles, creations and
things is a potent but invisible
reality.
It is a sensible and answerable ques
tion to ask "What is Money?" Like
wise to ask "What is Law?" or "What
is Fiat?" "What is Voice or Will or
Spirit?"
Now I shall claim that by money is
exclusively meant that particular
something which is a legal tender
for the payment of debts. Nothing else
is money.
It is the law which declares what
shall be a legal tender. No law, no
legal tender, bo money.
Well, what is law? It is the will of
people. Any authorative expression
of this will is the law
The people may audibly express this
will and it is law. They may visibly
express this will in manuscript or
printed form and it is law, but it is no
more law in one case than in the other,
The existence of the will or law does
not depend on its being written or
printed.. It exists invisibly from first
to last and prevails everywhere alike
throughout the realm or nation of peo
ple whose will it is. All laws are in
visible. They may be and commonly
are visibly expressed as in statute
books among cizilized nations, both for
convenience and to meet the occasional
necessity of proving their existence
and identity.
The laws then may all be designated
as the spirit of the people's will, and
where the spirit is the law is. The
spirit of the law is omnipresent, filling
all space within the national jurisdic
tion Now take a legal tender dollar, silver
gold or paper, and it is such by virtue
and only by virtue of law. In the case
of the coins their fineness, weight,
form, devices, inscriptions, etc., an
swer the specified requirements of the
law and all are visible likewise all
expressions on the paper dollar to
the naked eye. We receive and pay
them as money. That's all right.
And when we have them in our posses
sion as our own we naturally or custom
arily feel certain that money is a ma
terial thing which we can both see and
feel, and are apt to conclude that all
this talk to the contrary is nonsense.
But It need not disturb our peace of
mind nor cause us to think less of our
dollars to be told that it is the invisi-
oi-"i'i m ikw resiaing in and ac
companying each and every one of
them which makes them live active.
circulating, legal tender money. What
is seen and can at all times be seen and
felt does not make any one of them
money. You may have gold and silver
coins and paper bills in abundance yet
without law have no money. You mav
ucumj wuu mem dui m such case
iney wouia only be taken as commodi
ties and not as legal tender or money
Aimey wouia De money without law
then it manifestly follows that they are
money everywhere.
To show that the money quality, or
rur"-' "ft i luoouon is an invisible,
.intangible essence or entity, take your
fs icnuer u. o. money aoross the
une (imaginary again) separating TJ. S.
territory ironi that of some foreign
government The spirit of the law.
the merely visible expression or evi-
uence oi which is stamped on your
yvmo iuu uiiiD, wm go wim them to.
nut nAta VA I : i, I
miny years ago, by crystallizing their
will into a constitution, created the
office of governor, and defined the
duties of the office. By the enactment
of statutes they afterward further de
fined the duties of the office, and de
creed the manner in which a governor
should be elected and qualified. Since
then at stated times, they have by the
expression of their will, chosen men to
fill the governor's office. Now though
we define the constitution, the laws,
the elation, and the office of governor
itself as potent 'yet invisible realities,
does that prove that the governor of
Nebraska is a "potent yet invisible
reality," "the spirit of the people's
will?" Not at all. The governor of
Nebraska Is a middle aged, heavy-set,
bald-headed man, who is perfectly
visible to the naked eye. ,
Now this invisible will of the people,
as expressed in the constitution, the
laws, and the elections, "prevails every-
wnere auice throughout the realm" of
Nebraska. It prevails on everv side to
the imaginary lines- that separate Ne
braska from other states. Let us sup
pose that Governor Bovd should con
clude to pay a visit to friends in Kansas.
Of course he would not be able to
govern Kansas. It is a debatable ques
tion whether or not he would cease to
be the governor of Nebraska when he
crossed the state line. We are inclined
to think he would still be governor of
Nebraska. But for. the salce of argu
ment let us concede that he would
cease to be Nebraska's governor as soon
as he crossed the line and entered Sunny
Kansas. Now would that prove that
the governor of Nebraska is an invisi
ble reality? It certainly would be ac
cording to Bro Cummins' logic, but it
seems to us that such a conclusion is
THE EXACTIONS OF TYRANTS.
to
BRAVE OLD LADY HER COURAGE IN THE PAST.
but nota cross the (imaginary) line and
u mo uiuer Biue you win nave yeur
wms uu urns aosoiuieiy intact, and
you can see them and feel them yet the
money attribute cannot be seen any
more, rou nave coins and bills, but
no money, mot even the stamps
(which are held by some to be the
money) though perfect as ever will
make your coins and bills a legal tender
money. They are dead and only the
carcasse3are left for what they are
worth.
Here is a mystery indeed! You en
gage in a soliloquy and 6ay: "I can
yet see what I called money, and all
that there is on and about these coins
nd bills that is possible to be seen,
and still I am compelled to admit that
I cannot see that mysterious something
which made them money in the United
States. They were money there but
only merchandise here."
Then after such experience under
the laws of a foreign power, where our
legal tender money becomes only a
commodity, cross the (Imaginary) line
' Y-," -mA .
"As to the future: The Journal will be just as frank and
pressing its opinions as in the past. Journal, December 5th "
Theabove cartoon appeared in the Lincoln Daily Call Dec.
courageous in ex-
7th.
printed being a subordinate or second
ary matter. Of course we may indulge
in the useless and expensive extrava
gance of having our due bills, yard
sticks and half bushels made of gold
and silver instead of paper and wood,
but the truth would still remain that
wise economy uses wood or some other
cheap material for yard sticks and half
uusneis, ana mat gold or silver due
bills when used as money are not a
whit better than paper ones.
L. P. Cummins.
comments.
It is with pleasure we give space to
the above ably written article from
one of our old-line greenback friends.
The old greenbackers have done more
to enlighten the masses on the money
question than any other school of
political reasoners that ever lived.
Their grandest work has been to popu
larize the great fundamental truth of
the volumd of theory, and thus com
pletely overthrow what is called the
"intrinsic value," "God's money" doc
trine. This they have done most effectually.
However it seems to us that the
reasoning of some of them on some
points is entirely too metaphysical.
and fine-spun; that it is in fact neither
sound, nor valuable as a means of education.
What we take to be the chief error
in the reasoning of Bro. Cummins and
others is this: They define and disnuss
the office or function of money, rather
than the money Itself. What Rm
Cummins says about law being the will
of the people, a "ootent though iniB.
ble reality," is certainly true, and he
puts its most clearly. But this does
not prove that the money which is
made as a result of the neomVs will.
and according to the direction of gov
ernment, is an invisible reality.
lu mane was ciear, let us take an
absurd. He could prove as much by
taking the sheriff of Sheridan county
to the western border of the county and
trotting him back and forth across the
Dawes county line to see the "spirit of
the law." or in other words the sheriff,
go into and out of him, as he does by
his illustration of carrying coins and
bills back und forth across the bnundarv
line of the United States, r 1 1 1
The governor of a state or the sheriff
of a county is a man duly selected to fill
the office and perform the duties of
governor or sheriff. Money is a mater
ial thing duly selected, and prepared to
fill the office and perform the duties of
money.
Again, dollars, carried across the
boundary line of the United States into
Canada for instance do not become
dead carcasses." The silver "dollar of
the daddies" is no more a "seventy-cent
uuuar in uanaaa man at home. The
greenback dollar, which as a "dead car;
cass" would be worth no more than a
dry oak leaf, will in fact go farther to
ward paying for a suit of clothes in
Canada than at home, thanks to protec
tion. It is true of course that it can't
be forced upon a creditor in the void-
ance of a debt in Canada, but the
potency which it possesses at home
gives it potency in exchange abroad.
Lastly, it seems to us that Brother
Cummins' definition of'money as a"due
bill" tends to confuse the mind rather
than elucidate the subject. While com
parisons with other thWs mav throw
some light on the nature and functions
or mony, the one thing of highest im
portance to the student is to grasp the
idea that monev is a thinr unlike any
thing else, having its own peculiar
qualities and functions. When thij
idea. is once firmly fixed in the mind,
comparison and other things will throw
light on the subject. But to begin by
defining money as something else which
possesses at most only a partial simi
larity to it, leads to confusion of ideas.
Editor.
TIi Only Anchor sad Safeguard
National Existence.
tko government is safe unless protected
oj me gooa-wiu or tne people. .Nepos.
So it was written many centuries
ago. and history and time have em
phasized the truth of the saying in
many countries and climes. The
more Ignorant the masses the more
submissive they are to the abuses and
exactions of tyrants under the law.
Dut history furnishes abundant evi
dence in revolts and warfares that
even in countries where the peasantry
aepenaea entirety upon the disposi
tion of landholders for a bare subsist
ence thought of a competency never
entering their beclouded minds, and
where artisans were willing, in
the exercise o , supposed duty
to the government to band over to
the officials every cent of the earn
ings above the commonest living
the Durden became unbearable. Gov
eminent greed is insatiable greed.
When departure is taken from
simple forms, when a govern
ment ceases to be administered
economically, when . opulence and
wealth instead of patriotism become
the chief incentive to office-seeking
if. indeed, the office should not al
ways seek the man when legislation
is so directed that a favored few build
up enormous fortunes at the expense
of the many, seeds of corruption are
sown that will inevitably work ruin
to any nation, no matter upon what
grand principles founded or achieve
ments boasted. As long as a govern
ment depends upon the good-will of the
people its stability is assured, and no
injustice will be attempted. The people
win oe tinea with that patriotism,
which forms the only anchor and safe.
guard to national existence. When the
slaveholding aristocracy of this coun
try, with all its arrogance, corruption
and selfishness of purpose, was subdued
every true patriot exclaimed: Thank
God. the Republic has passed the
crucial test its experimental period."
But time has demonstrated that the
grand victory of right over wrong
won by the people men of the farm.
factory, workshop and mill was not
such a great victory after all since
upon the foundation of one overshad
owing evil, dismantled at frightful
cost of life and treasure, another not
bounded by geographical lines is
erecting itself more dangerous than
the first The same method adopted
by the Southern aristocracy to enlarge
and strengthen itself has in part been
adopted by this new and more dan
gerous element in our national life;
i. e.. the control of na
tional legislation and state legislation
were practicable. Several methods
have been adopted to secure this:
fraud and intimidation at the ballot
box, and corruption of legislators,
and the purchase of executives. It is
not always that money is directly em
ployed that o iicials are bought out
right, but contributions of hundreds
of thousands of dollars for campaign
purposes are made by moneyed mag
nates, created by class legislation,
and the obligations are such that they
cannot be ignored. All this leHsl.
tion. sugar-coat it as they may, is di
rected against the people the pre
ponderating mass of which the labor
ing men and women form the greater
part and not until the latter are fully
aroused to a sense of danger which
threatens thom and the country they
preserved aroused as once before
they were aroused when the cannon of
Sumpter called the nation to action
will they respond; ana then perhaps
ii, may oe 100 late, as through subtile
legislation already enacted and con
templated their means of redress, the
ballot will be so surrounded by pluto
cratic influences and federal restraint
as to make a fair and free ballot im
possible. Profiting by the experience
of the slave-holding nristocracy. the
Goulds, the Vanderbilts, the ( arne
gies, and Fricks and the few
thousands of their class who control
the financial policy, the industries
and the transportation of the
country will quietly lay hold of the
different arms of government al
ready their power is visible with
some and when the ballot is ren
dered impotent as a means of break
ing their hold, nothing will bo left
for the people to do but to submit is
the interests they control are varied
reaching into every state and terri
tory and backed by a quietly organ
ized, but formidable national guard
which is being increased every year
for no apparent purpose unless for
use in such contingency that physical
resistance may be out of the question
because there could be no concentra
tion of forces for such a purpose. Al
most too long have the people slum
bered in fancied security. Pays the
Labor Signal, and unless they are
aroused to tho dangers that threaten
and act the closing pages of the
history of the American Republic may
read like those of other rnnnhiina
whoso lives covered a far greater
number of years than have ours, and
whose downfall was brought about by
the same causes that threaten ours
namely, legislation in favor of the few
against the many, the building up of
a moneyed aristocracy by means of
subsidies and special privileges, and
all at the expense of what is termed
the laborin? ana middle classes.
Will the peoplo never think or act?
Do ffot Fa,"T to See
Our Overcoats
It G.OO, JO.OOapd 012.
They CANNOT BE EQUALLED for the money: '
Elsewhere.
in Mei)5s ai)d J3oy's SlIlTS
tu
for Winter wear we will show you the best values to .
be had. Come and see them at the
GJobe Gfothipg Housed
Cor O apd Oth Gt,
BEST WESTERN COAL ODR SPECIALTY.
PABMEBS' ALLIANCES, SCHOOL BOARDS LSD OLTJBS
save money by buying their
Coal Direct by the Car Load. :j
Wrile tor Prices.
J. J.uTHOiwilG &
W
i
Wholesale Coal Pealrt 1615 Curtis St.. DwvT
1TY TtE QLtOBE IS
t'et
L- :
i
...ejjj.: I
THE
GLOBE
USES NO OIL
HAS ROLLER BEARINGS.
HAS CHILLED IRON BOXES
REQUIRES NO ATTENTION
HAS A SOLID WHEEL
THE CLOBE IS AN ALL STEEL AND IRON MILL AND HAS
LEAST NUMBER OF WEARING PARTS.
THE CLOBE HAS MORE POWER THAN ANY WHEEL OP ITS S
IN THE MARKET, AND CAN BE BUILT ON A SOLID TOWER. AND W
AijVVAiaiiJUi-oUND WHERE PLACED.
THE CLOBE IS THE LIGHEST, SAFEST AND EASIEST RUNNll?
1 TT T TITTTWTir T- nnn-.-. . aaM'
mii,i, nniiiiL tub MAHJiET, AND DOES NOT MAKE THREE RE
LUTIONS TO GET ONE STROKE OF THE PUMP.
THE GLOBE IS THE IDEAL MILL FOR THE FARMER.
8TOCKMAN AND THE IRRIGATOR.
BUY ONLY THB GLOBE.
GEO.W. HOFFSfADT State Ager
Y07 O Street, Lincoln.
Please Mention This Paper.
Our Book Lis
Our list of choice literature is made up of the best and
xeimuie reiorm oooks, Dy ine most noted writers. If vou wan
iT Fi5 , Kicaiyucsuoiui ueiore tne American peoule
should consult the authorities, We name below a number of
uesi uuuns puunsnea.
r T r, tit . PAIfER. CL(
v ' Ta v -ix' uau t0 Action. A valuable book that
should be read by every one, send for a codv. Cloth nA .
STICKNEY, The Railroad Problem. The greatest muHn. ..
year is this great book on the railway problem by a railwav
president. Cloth edition has 14 illustrative dmrrL railwav en
Hamlin Garland. Mr. Garland is one of tho " !"'.'. ' I
our times, and his pen speaks eloquently in behalf of the toTin '
masses. The following are some of his best works- g '
Jason Edwards," Treating of Farm and Factory '. Vn
Main Travelled Road,' Six short stories, $ ?
"A Member of the Third House." The lobby' iAnoliti;; r
Ignatius Donnelly, Csesers Column, The book nf Ration to
"Dr. Huguet," Southern storv with
np p p,, a a . : BO icireacn
. "i". imuug xiiueriuaa Humorists Air Rmt oo -i
the head, and "as a little humor now and then i rJtl ? a S
the best of men" we add two of hi w2 t.e'.l8 shel y
are clean' and pure, and are worthv of a nlnno V ,-he
"A Kentucky Colonel,". . . .P Q m every hhr&-
A Goo
' other
tha
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has' (
found t
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istence.
h are wi
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"Emmet Bonlore," A newspaper man
books
"Bond Holders and Bread Winners," Kin?
C0P?I?.QUARE SKRIKS' Comprising the foUowimV tow p,Yw
w - v"vu v
.25
Industrial Freedom," FourarUclMfKmVnfS'Vv 25
Esau, or The Bankers Victim!'' ' BUnS ted authors 25
"Whither are we Drifting," Willev
"The Farm' Kirfo K,fV V.y'
ThkAlliancb-Indepewdent from
now till January 1, 1894, for only tl.00.
Work of the AClanrr.
The Farmers' Alliance, says a Chi
cago exchange, has been the means of
destroying such combinations as rail
road and elevator monopolies and
grain buyers associations in Colorado,
Illinois, Nebraska, the Dakotas and
other states within the past twelve
years and it is capable of doing more
of this kind of work, if it will leave
politics out of the question, wherever
found. The important question now
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anti-option bilLi Whatever effect its
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prosperity'of thl farmer, the question
oral conduct of ex-
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ant to demand the
of ethics in the
change in the
sufficiently impot!
Miscellaneous and special. 25
The Farmers' Side." Snat. P.tp'' ;"TV ' 50
"The Coming Climax," Hubbard,
The Great Red Dragon," Woolfolk, .' .' 50
"Looking Backward," Bellamy 60
"A Financial Catechism," Brice 50
"A Tramp in Society," Cowdtrv 50
Fizarro and John Sherman," Mrs. Todd 60
"Money Monopoly," Baker 25
"Labor and Capital," Kellog'ff 25
"'In Office," Bogy.:... 8S 20
"Ten Men of Money Island", Norton .'.'.'J 25
;;Geld, Schilling "German Sff.?011"--' .10
Seven Financial ConsDiracifis." vl:. 10
Songs and Music. j
send for catal . 25f
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jare not
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M-les in w
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Ifalienate
flfrac
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Songs of the People Pubi S0.?!?.-;- 10
Wr and AlllTJu one.
Music edition 20
"Songs of Industry," Howe ' " b d covers- -25
Any book on this list sent rvUi u ' ' . : -25
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