The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-07-07
Our Currency,


The currency Of this country is Of a
mixed character, comprising gold, silver,
nickel and paper. Gold and silver being
the legal standards, the iuterchangeability
Of all the different varieties of currency
must be maintained to make it what it
should be for public convenience and to
guard against depreciation, Unfortunate
" for il stability there is too great ten.
dency towards currency tinkering to keep
Il altogether from huctuation in value.
In lengthy article upon the subject, re-
Gently, the N. Y. Sun entertains the fol-
lowing views;
tin our discussions a good deal Of stress is
laid upon the proposition that We should adj
here to our old double standard. There is
no insurmountable objection to that But If
we do this, we must do what we always have
done nadfatdin the interchangeability Of the
too standards and their eqliUaleHt Ualue.
Thus. If man has ten silver dollars, they
must always contain SO much silver that they
win buy q ten dollar gold piece. This is the
state in which we have hitherto maintained
our double standard. The silver has been
kept equal to gold. Now, nobody pretends
that gold has grown more valuable than it was
Of old. But silver has rapidly increased in
volume, and has therefore deprecated. We
cannot continue to use it honestly as a stand
ard otherwise than by keeping of equal value
the coin of the two metals. So long as this
is done, nobody will object to the double
standard. The only objection is against two
standards which are not equivalent and inter
changeable. This is thing we have never
had, and we may safely say we never shall
have. II would lead TO great confusion and
embarrassment in trading circles; and just to
the extent the one kind OF coin was below the
other in value, it would be fraud if forced
into circulation.
We do not now need to 60 into any detailed
calculation Of the relation Of silver to gold.
Il is a plain subject, and we have often dis.
cussed it. SilNer is not 50. valuable metal
as it was, simply because of its increased
plentifulness. This has arisen from the great
productiveness of the silver mines in the
Comstoek lode, which within a few years have
doubled the average annual product Of that
metal for the whole world. But beside this,
less silver is wanted, owing to the fact that it
is no longer used as standard Of value in
several European countries, such as Denmark,
Sweden, and Germany; and other countries,
like Franco, and Holland, and England, are
considering the wisdom of following their ex'
ample. These combined causes have pro-
duced great fluctuations in the market price
Of the metal, and very serious and even
alarming fall in its permanent yalue."
As standards of commercial exchange
the value of gold and silver ought to be
and has been supposed to be .fTed. If
silver is capable of depreciation on account
of its abundance, gold is subject to. the
same laws under like conditions; conse-
quently, the business world might thus be
deprived of any fixed standard of value
Gold is not the most precious of metals
Platinum is more precious on several &C.
counts. Its greater scarcity, malleabiGty
density, and smaller bulk, making it more
convenient to handle and easier Of trans
portation. 1t is the densest Of all metals
except, perhaps, Osmium and iridium
which about equal it in weight. Whether
it could be produced in quantities suff
cient for circulating medium, may ad
nit Of question, and its greater scarcit,
may deter the tinkerers from any attemp
to depreciate gold by the substitution o
any other or more precious metal. Tn
iron currency of Sparta once served tn
purposes Of trade, but its great bulk mad
it unwieldy, and its abundance caused i
TO depreciato in value, although the mos
useful of all metals. The world has hat
coin medium of exchange ever since
housand years, or nearly so, before tn
christian era, and it must for eonyenienc,
continue to have one. It is not so impor
TINT what that medium shall be- as that i
shall be of fixed aud unvarying value
Gold and silver having so long been tn
standards and the medium of exchange il
the commercial world, it would be folly
we think, to undertake to interfere witt
either, now. Let them alone; let their re
spective values be fixed and undisturbed
and the business world will need nothing
better.