Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1866-05-23
From the New York TImes7
Gold and its Uses.

don't know whether anybody has missed
me from the columns of the - Iines - but
have missed myself. For four months |
have been a quiet SPECTATOR of the whrling
world around me. Ii has thrown up (politi
cally at least) a vast amount OF filth and
folly and l don't see that n great deal has
been done. 10 this whrl of events | have
not agreed with some of my friends. So much
the worse Tor my friends. Why do not
agree with them Because never did agree
Wi; the Democratic-coneervative, copperhead
| theory of our Government. | don't believ il
Is at all necessary that the rebel States should
govern this country. | don't mean myself to
heip them TO that result. | don't meao to
say anything about it-except this; In my
OPINION If the rebel States not rep resen ted
| In Congress during the next ten years, the
| country will be great deal better off for it,
But am not about to talk politics. The
country Will, for time, be prosperous,
whether We have any politics, or not. Let Us
| turn to the great representative OF Mammon
gold. Why should 1t be at any premium 81
all In short time, it mas fallen from AS to
25 nearly half the distance from top to bo:
tom. Why shouldn't il fall the whole dl.-
| tance! Why is not legal tender note prefer
able to gold, because more convenient Does
a gold-broke smile ? Perhaps it is worth his
" hlle to look little into he matter before he
concludes himself wise.
Let begin. 1 affirm these two facts l.
That gold is now in the world a mere article
of p.oduce, salabie in market, like potato es
and grain. 1t has lost its distinctive charRc-
ter as money 2 That, an article of pro-
duce, It's price depends only on the relation of
supply and demand. Neither of these propo-
sitIons can, think, be safely disputed. The
inferenoes from them are l. Ii the macs of
gold in the world be increasing dlsproportion-
ately to the general mass OF commodities the
price of gold relatively to those commodities
must tdH. that is, the price of commodities
must rise; and hence, III such state of
things, what are called "high prices will
never come down to low prices. 2. If gold
comes down to the level of legal-tender no ties,
| then gold has ceased to be necessary to the
functions OF money. 1t the first two propo-
sitions are true, the second are c0rollOries from
them. l propose to illustrate these PROPOSE
tions .ery briefly.
Gold is an article of produce, like potatoes
What is the quantity of gold IN the world
relativelyf This is difficult question to an
swer /; but We can approximate the truth
The only reliable authority we have for the
statistics of the precious metals from 1900 to
1900. is Humboldts .New Span. From 1900
to 1880, we have Jacobs and Mccullough :;
and, since that time, We have pretty accurate
statistics. The results are as follows : The
whole average annual supply OF precious
metals from America, as stated by Humboldt,
was
From 1900 to lS45, per $1,000 900
rom 1546 TO 1000, per annum lI,01O 0o0
From 1000 to l706, per snnum 10 600 900
From l706 tv 1850 per y $40 900
From 1850 20 1870 per annum IS 800 900
Up to 1910, the supply gradually increased,
till the highest annual amount reached WAS
S43 ,0O0OOO. From 1910 to l848, the sup
ply of precious metals diminished. Now
mark, the whole supply of gold and silver (of
which q large portion was silver) never reach
cd annually the supply furnished by Califor-
MIA alone tor the last sixteen years.
From 1900 to l84O, the whole supply Of
precious metals in the world rapidly dimin-
| ished, thus -
| Ten years ending l10o e3l9, ,825, 900
| Ten yeara ending 1909 207,735OJO
Ten years enddg 1919 169, $40 U0o
| Ten years ending le10 1b7,320,OoO
| Allowing for all errors. the supply of pre-
cious metals in 1880 fell to within twenty
millions per annum. Remember, also. that
four-nfths of this supply was silver. Afses
1880, the production of the Russian mines
began to increase 20 that, in 1882, Mr.. Mo.