CONDUCTED BY THOS. E. WATSON.
Various Phases of the Money Question.
Hon. Thomas E. Watson, Thomson, Ga.:
Dear Sir:—Your logical editorial in your October magazine under the caption of “The Money Changer and the Politician” hit the bull’s eye and went straight to the heart of the subject. I heartily endorse the editorial. Hon. A. S. J. S——, a very able and conservative gentleman and also a gold bug as we sometimes denominate them, takes issue with you, as to some of your assertions, and as the Doctor is a subscriber to your magazine and very much open to conviction I am led, as a result of a pleasant discussion with him to ask you some questions on said editorial for the purpose of drawing you out more fully on the subject for the Doctor’s special benefit and for general light on the money question.
The questions that I propound embody the objections of the Doctor to what he otherwise concedes to be an able elaboration of the question under discussion.
You say, “Sparta rose to be a state of the first class on a currency of iron; Rome became Mistress of the World on legal tender copper; coined silver did not come into use until the Northern barbarian beat down her frontiers; gold held no place in the coinage till the imperialism of the Caesars had taken its lead in her decline.”
(1) Do you mean to say, that gold and silver did not exist as currency, prior to that period referred to in the passage just quoted?
The Doctor says you are all wrong here and asks that your authority for the declaration be given.