Nor does it seem possible to put an end to this condition of things so long as our system of production and distribution is competitive; for gold and silver have proved to be altogether the best mediums of exchange, and some medium of exchange we must have in order to carry on trade so long as that trade is left to individual initiative as at present.
The whole community pays tribute to those who have gold and silver and those who handle it, and these last have a personal interest contrary to the interest of the public at moments of the greatest emergency. Competitive conditions have subjected the whole currency of the country to the control of a few men who thereby are masters of our commerce, our manufactures, our exports, our politics, our religion. In view of the fact that this small group practically governs the country in matters of legislation, and by virtue of a sort of class solidarity between the judges and the possessing class, governs the courts also, the men who determine the making and executing of our laws should, in a democracy such as ours, be elected by the people. But they are not elected by the people and they are not removable by the people. They are irremovable usurpers; they are created by economic conditions and, as long as these economic conditions last, they will continue to enjoy the power they now exercise.
FOOTNOTES:
[115] An article by Charles A. Conant in the Atlantic Monthly, Jan., 1908.
[116] Atlantic Monthly, Charles A. Conant, Jan., 1908, p. 101.
[117] Insurance Year Book: Life and Casualty sections, 1909, p. 236-7.
[118] Statistical abstract of the U.S., 1908.
[119] "Monetary and Banking Systems." By Maurice L. Muhleman, formerly U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasurer at New York.
[120] Ibid.