44-6 THE IMPENDING REVOLUTION. 



a new one; it is as old as civilization itself. It is the only 

 method, and the only means that will ever break up the 

 monopoly of a few bullionists, who, by controlling the 

 material of which money is made, are enabled to furnish 

 and control the currency also. It is the David of the 

 people going forth to battle with the Goliath of Shylock. 



Under our present laws, and controlled by a syndicate 

 of bankers, money is our master. Issued and controlled 

 by the people, it becomes their servant. Controlled by 

 men whose only principle is greed, and who are moved by 

 a spirit of avarice, it robs the producer by fixing a price 

 upon his products. Controlled by wise legislation it 

 becomes a lever in the hands of the people to increase 

 prosperity; the key to unlock the resources of wealth. 

 There are many reasons why an absolute, irredeemable 

 paper money would take precedence to, and establish a 

 more perfect, just and equitable system of exchange than 

 metals whose production is too limited to furnish money 

 in sufficient quantities to fill the necessary and wholesome 

 demands of trade. We cannot, however, in the limited 

 space of this chapter, enter into an exhaustive discussion 

 of this subject. We shall content ourselves with a brief 

 indication of some of the advantages which a money, com- 

 posed of a material possessing comparatively no intrinsic 

 value, would have as a circulating medium. As we have 

 previously remarked, a variety of materials have, at differ- 

 ent periods of the world's history, been used as money. 

 The early inhabitants of America used wampum and 

 cocoanuts, and the colony of Massachusetts, at one time, 

 made wampum a legal tender for the payment of debts. 



Britain at an early day had two kinds of money; 

 4 * living money ' ' and ' * dead money, ' ' or slaves and cattle, 

 and land and metal. 



"In the fourteenth century the Chinese used a money 

 coined from the inner bark of the mulberry tree," 



