Daily Dr. Paul Quote - Honest Money

Legal tender laws disadvantage ordinary citizens by forcing them to use money that is vulnerable to vast depreciation. As Stephen T. Byington wrote in the September 1895 issue of the American Federationist: "No legal tender law is ever needed to make men take good money; its only use is to make them take bad money. Kick it out!" Similarly, the American Federation of Labor asked: "If money is good and would be preferred by the people, then why are legal tender laws necessary? And, if money is not good and would not be preferred by people, then why in a democracy should they be forced to use it?"

The American Federation of Labor understood how the erosion of the value of money cheated working people. Further, honest money, i.e., specie, was one of the three issues that encouraged ordinary people to organize into unions when the union movement began in the U.S. circa 1830.

Ron Paul, Congressional Record - U.S. House of Representatives, July 25, 2003.