The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-03-04

s,..~,h,tiva share of the worlds
uSnaw - deternnined by our inter-
n%"tio1si trade. That $75O,OOO.O IS
not : snfflcient volume to MAINTAIN
nrs.ss al the worlds level or prices Is
evidenced by the FAC tnat sov,uJy
of gold, q considerable part OF wu.c ~
ut least, is in circulation: eitner ~
the form Of coin or Cert1ncAtoe, IT,
sfavs here, aud 1t will 60 away 0n'y
when prices become lower eise"neie
than they are here. 49,. M
II lie believed, therefore, ina ne
such crisis as has been fore0ooeo, can
nvartake US under existing condl-
lions. It Is not believed to be IN tne
nnwer of all the banks in the coun-
irv' ever If they were 80 disposed, 10
take cold out Of circulation ana holo
IL anvv length of time at q premium.
Thev must first lock up the worlQs
money and arreet the WORLDS COM
ma oe. Nor can the paper, or silver,
or silver certificates, now IN circuia-
ton with gold, expel guild. Gold can
be expelled only by forcing into CIR
cnlstion. in addition to $3.50, o0O, O0O,
either silver or paper, equal 10 Tue
entire volume of gold In clrcu!At1On.
In that manner. under dresnam's
law. gold might be expelled ana
probably would be.
1t ia doubtless true. too, that II the
population and wealth OF this cOun-
frv were at q stand, then the q
tinued coinage of silver in SUFFICIENT
Volume. would In time expel gold
from circulation !; but 80 long ~ the
population aud wealth 60 on lncreas-
ing, then the conditions OF tne
problem are changed: In fact' I'D
order to preserve stable wealtn, AZ
[ annual increase Of not less than $4o.-
600. 900 of currency of some kino IS
now required. In other words, the
increase of population and wealth.
calls for an addition to our clrcui4-
ton of ut least $40, OO0, 900 year. Y
while these conditions continue. 81
yer Is coined ut the rate Of only S.
OOO,OOO q year, there is left still q
considerable void to be filled with
gold.
This Is the reason why gold has
increased in the country steadily
/ since the act Of 1873 was passed ; and
whv gold has Increased by nearly
sl4, OOO, 900, duringlast year. and Is
now Increasing ut the Fate OF nearly
81. 900, 900 per mon.h. nOtw1thstand-
ing The depression of business In b
country: and, as q matter OF fact,
there Is to-day more gold In the conn
try than there was before In 1ta
whole history.
Another tact is that $50, 900 900 of
gold in the treasury vas put there In
exchange for silver certificates. The
immediate effect of stopping. the
coin ,ge of silver must necessarily be
to lower the price of silver bullion.
and gradually to appreciate the value
of gold the world over, The diff
culties in the way of establishing an
international ratio, 80 much desired,
or the readjustment OF the relative
value to gold here, would thereby be
increased.
How 1t is possible for such things
to take place as are predicted In ~
last paragraph Of the letter, it Is diff
cult to see; gold to be Withdrawn to
its boarding place. followed by an I'm.
precedented contraction in the actual
volume of our currency. Such a con-
traction, it has been shown, must be
f lowed by q great fall in prices.
What then? Would not gold flow
here as the tides fow? surely 1t
would come as fast as ships could
bring it. What would those who
have been boarding gold do with 1t
then?
Labor, the letter says, already
greatly depressed, would suffer a
still further depression by the scaling
down of the purchasing power of
every so-called dollar paid into the
hands of toll. Here, in one sentence
we have gold boarded, an unprece-
dented contraction to follow prices,
and the scaling down of the purchas-
ing power of the dollar. That ia,
when these impending calamities
come, prices are to fall, everything be-
come cheaper and money become less
valuable-a It the same time. That is,
both sides of the balance will 60 down
together. Usually n side goes up
as the other goes down. Usually as
commodities become cheaper money
becomes relatively dearer, and vice
versa. Usually a contraction of the
money vOlume results In a rise in the
volume of money. and not in a fail.
The contradictions involved in this
paragraph of tn: letter are hardly
calculated to carry conviction t"
those who have ever studied money
questions tall, or to awaken In them
any sense of alarm at our approach
ing calamities from such causes.
In one thing all will agree, and that
Is in the Importance to the whole
country, and especially to the labor
ing classes, now struggling with
want, Of q revival Of Guinness tnd q
return of prosperity. One condition
essential to this il to stop any con-
traction of the currency. No country /
ever did thrive, and never can, while |
its money is undergoing contraction. |
Business cannot be secure when its
foundation is continually giving way. |
Stability in the volume Of money is
the one and essential requisite to a
safe and prosperous business
What Is the monetary condition of
the world to-day? Are we not brought
face to face with, the startling fact
that the gold production of the world
has fallen below its consumption in
the arts, and that there is no prooa-
bility of any new gold for our money
supply FOR centuries to come? With
this condition Of things as to gold,
and shut off from silver as it is now
proposed, where Is the gold supply,
even for keeping up the supply OF
coin now in the banks Of the world,
to come from2 and as aggravating
this state of affairs in this country,
the paper in the country Is under
going contraction by the surrender
OF bank notes. II this state of
things is to last, upon what is there to
build the hope of returning prosperi-
ty2
In the last three years, according