Direct Credits for Everybody
By Alfred Lawson

CHAPTER 11

Nation's Wealth Must Secure Its Money

The only purchasing power any kind of money has is given to it by everybody who agree to accept it in exchange for services or property.

Whether it be gold, silver, nickel, copper or paper money, it would be worthless if everybody refused it as trade payment.

The government's stamp of approval is but everybody’s seal of faith in it, and shows their willingness to honor it at face value as a medium of exchange for trading purposes.

The only stability that any money can have is the confidence of everybody who accepts it that it will remain constant in purchasing power.

If everybody, through governmental authority, will make it lawful to use paper money, and unlawful to use gold in payment for services or property, then paper money will have purchasing power and gold will have none.

In foreign trade practice the different countries can stabilize their paper money through agreement to exchange it at a constant trade value.

As the gold supply of the world is totally inadequate to meet the demands of modern international trade, no country should bind itself to make payment of any kind in gold.

Gold as money, should be outlawed among nations as well as among individuals. It is the curse of international trade relationship.

It is possible, however, for each country to have two kinds of money. One for foreign trade and one for domestic trade.

But after all, nations are the same as individuals, and will accept anything as a medium of exchange, providing the proper assurance is manifested that it will be honored when presented for payment.

Money is trade paper endorsed by a country as a promissory note is trade paper endorsed by an individual. The value of either in trade acceptance depends upon the security back of the paper.

If one individual has no confidence in the ability of another individual to honor the note at its face value when due, it will not be accepted as payment for services or property. And if one country has no confidence in the ability of another country to honor its money at face value when presented, it will not be accepted in exchange for property or other valuable considerations.

Therefore, money can be made of tin and it will be accepted as a medium of exchange as long as it will be honored in trade, and has sufficient security behind it to back it up.

Furthermore, a greater quantity of money put into circulation will not lessen its purchasing power unless the security behind it is insufficient.

The reason the purchasing power of paper money of a country having gold as its standard fluctuates is because there is not enough gold in the country to back it up.

On the other hand, if a country will refuse to accept gold as the standard of money value, and will back up its paper money with its entire wealth, then its paper money will be acceptable everywhere for trade purposes at its face value, providing the supply of paper money issued is limited proportionately to the amount of wealth pledged by the country as security for it, and on condition that it is redeemable at face value upon presentation.

There are three important things a country must do after it has made it unlawful to use gold as money. They are: (1) the government, not privateers, must issue and control money; (2) it must issue a quantity of money sufficient for all trade purposes; and (3) it must put the entire wealth of the country back of its paper money for security to assure everybody of its ability to honor it at face value whenever presented in trade transactions.

The reason the interest graft grew to such awful proportions is because there has never been enough money in circulation for trade purposes, which made it easy for schemers to gain control of the meager supply and then tax everybody for the use of it.

The lack of money also limited everybody's purchasing power which reacted as a brake causing trade stagnation and great loss of wealth to both capital and labor.

Now the truth is, the greater quantity of money that is issued for trading purposes, the greater will be the trade and general production of wealth and prosperity. Always providing, of course, that the money issued is backed up by the country's wealth sufficiently to guarantee its stability and integrity, and no interest charges on it.

Plenty of money will mean plenty of buying power. Plenty of buying power will mean plenty of trade. Plenty of trade will mean plenty of production. Plenty of production will mean plenty of employment.

There can be no general over production of wealth as long as everybody has plenty of money to pay for everything they want. So prosperity can be made to travel around in a circle without end, as long as nature abundantly supplies the raw materials to which everybody must affix their labor to make wealth.

The continuous circle of prosperity consists of: The increasing wants of everybody; plenty of money to purchase the things wanted; plenty of employment for everybody to earn the money to pay for the things wanted by everybody; plenty of machinery to produce everything that is wanted.

The increase of the country's supply of money must keep pace with the increase of population and the increasing demand of everybody for a higher standard of living, and the greater needs of money for free trading purposes.

The practice of trade hereafter must be based upon the needs of everybody and then enough money must be put into circulation with which to meet those needs.

The employers must have enough money to pay liberal wages and make enough of everything that everybody wants, and the employees must earn enough money to be able to purchase liberally of the products of the employer. For both employer and employee to be successful they must both work for the benefit of each other and for everybody.

Taking $100,000,000,000, the annual income from the products of the industries of the United States as a basis, that amount of money should be put into circulation in this country, so that the purchasing power of the people will be constant through having enough money to pay in cash for purchases instead of having to beg credit from privateers and pay a heavy tax for it, because of the lack of money for all trading purposes. It is the tax for the use of money that is the root of the financial evil.

As the entire wealth of the United States is about $400,000,000,000, that is four times as much as the $100,000,000,000 recommended to be put into money circulation, and this amount of wealth pledged is ample security to uphold the face value of it.

That amount of money in circulation will also provide a pro rata of about $1,000 per capita of inhabitants in this country instead of about $50 per capita as at present. This would have the effect of stimulating trade, and with plenty of money, nobody would want to hoard it.

With $100,000,000,000 in circulation in this country everybody would have money to buy new things. The merchants would be kept busy advertising, displaying and selling new things. The manufacturer would be kept busy making new things. The railroads and other means of transportation would be kept busy carrying raw materials and manufactured products everywhere. Publishers of newspapers and magazines would have their pages crowded with paying advertisements from successful merchants and manufacturers.

Everybody with plenty of money would want better homes, so real estate dealers and builders would be kept busy furnishing them. Contractors with raw materials and plumbers, plasterers, carpenters, bricklayers, painters would be kept busy by building constructions.

Then work for everybody to meet these demands would be at a premium. There would be more vacant jobs than people to fill them.

Prices for labor and executives would soar high and workmen would receive enough money in payment for their services to buy everything the merchant had to sell and the manufacturer could produce. People would have money for more travel and recreation and entertainment, so railroads, steamships, buses and airplane carriers, also theaters and the film industry would be more prosperous than ever before.

In short, the abolition of money interest, the adoption of Direct Credits for Everybody and the putting into circulation enough money for trading purposes, would be the means of electrifying the people and making a new and greater life for mankind.

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