Horace White says: "Nobody would give that which has cost him labor in exchange for something which he could obtain without labor."
MR. MERCHANT: Mr. Banker, you quoted a man there, Mr. Aldrich, I think it was, who said that gold alone possessed all the functions of money. Just what do you mean by the "functions of money"?
MR. BANKER: I am glad that you asked that very question, because those functions have determined the place of gold in the world's business, and made it the standard of value of the world, and consequently the money of the world.
_First_: Gold is a measure of value; that is, all other things are measured in gold.
_Second_: Gold is divided into units, such as our dollar, the English sovereign, the French franc, the German mark, and so determines prices.
_Fourth_: Gold is a storehouse of value; that is, the people of the world hold it as an absolutely safe form of property, varying less in value than anything else they can possess.
_Fifth_: It is such a permanent form of value that it is made the basis or standard of future or deferred payments: not only at the end of a year, but at the end of twenty-five or fifty years.
MR. MERCHANT: I would like to ask you whether you think there is anything in this claim that gold is cheaper today than twenty years ago? Whether it is falling in value, and as a consequence prices of everything else, which must be compared with gold, are rising?
MR. BANKER: No, sir, I do not think that the increased output of gold is the cause of higher prices. The increased prices can be more than accounted for in other ways. Think of it. There are:
1. The Trusts, 2. The Middleman, 3. Advertising, 4. Unscientific Management, 5. Overcapitalization, 6. Monopoly! Monopoly! 7. Extravagance, 8. Militarism, 9. Exhaustion of Soil, 10. High Rates of Interest on Agricultural Loans, 11. Unnecessary Disease, 12. Concentration of Population in Cities, 13. Shorter Hours by one-quarter, 14. Increased Wages by one-quarter at least; in some instances, 150%, 15. Shorter Hours for Women, 16. Child Labor Laws, 17. Minimum Wage Laws, 18. Workmen's Compensation Acts, 19. Insurance Against Unemployment, 20. Old Age Pensions.
MR. LABORINGMAN: Well, I don't know what you fellows think, but I am for everyone of these forward movements that make for a better humanity, morally, intellectually and physically; and I'm utterly opposed to the unfair advantages that any man, or corporation, has over any other man, or any other corporation. A just government rules its people through just laws, and guarantees equal opportunities under the operation of those laws.