Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I write in response to an editorial in the Jan. 31 issue of the Gazette-Journal, titled "It’s tin-foil hat time, again." It paints Del. Bob Marshall as a conspiracy theorist for proposing a state currency of coins minted from precious metals. This currency would be used for settlement of state transactions.

The author should have known that there are 12 other states proposing the same thing. Yet he goes on to say that the last time Virginia printed its own money, Jefferson Davis was president. Del. Marshall never proposed printing money because the Constitution prohibits that. What he proposed was the minting of coins, which is permitted by the Constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lane County v. Oregon, 74 U.S. (7 Wallace) 71, 76-78 (1869) and Hagar v. Reclamation District No. 108, 111 U.S. 701, 706 (1884), that the United States may adopt whatever currency they desire for the purpose of performing their sovereign governmental functions, even to the extent of adopting gold or silver coin that Congress has designated "legal tender." Bob Marshall understands that as the weakening of fiat currencies continues unabated through the destructive forces of money supply inflation, it is prudent for states to look at silver and gold for state-related transactions.

Many economists agree that America is on the brink of economic collapse as money is being printed with nothing of value backing it up. The government continues to spend like there is no tomorrow and 40 cents of every dollar spent is borrowed, mostly from China.

No, it’s no time for tin-foil hats. It is time, however, to face the reality of America’s situation and take action to minimize the unimaginable effects of the devaluation of the dollar and hyperinflation.

Del. Bob Marshall will be remembered as one of Virginia’s greatest legislators. He has done more to protect the rights of Virginians over the years than anyone I know. He is greatly respected by his peers, but highly feared by his opponents. He understands how to get things done in the General Assembly.

DeWitt Edwards

Mathews, Va.