Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-09-19

sioered Tor general circulation. When iron
became more abundant, and consequently
less convenient and less steady, copper Tor
broDze) gradually assumed the duties Of q
standard; but history has recorded no out
cry of iron men that the copper-bugs were
tying to ruin the country. In Its turn,
copper had to make room for silver, as be-
ing the steadiest standard known. And
now the time seems to have come when
silver is gradually yielding to gold as q
standard, for the same reason thai caused
the change from iron to copper, and from
copper 10 silver.
The highly civilized nations Of Europe.
With The most intricate and extended com
nerciAl relations, were the first to recognize
hese facts, and have accordingly adopted
he gold standard. Even the Latin Union,
alter Ysinly struggling for q double standard,
IL practically falling into line. The semi
civilized nations of Asia, with a less compti-
Gated system Of commerce, are still cliuging
70 q silver standard. while the United States,
halfway between the two, is souewhss IT,
the position of our friend in the fable, be-
tween the two buSdles of hay. The silver
pen I've mean the honest ones who go in
for q silver man, and not the double stand
ard msDipulstors) contend, firstly, that gold
is rot yet sufficiently abundant to serve as
a universal standard, and would conse-
quently be cornered by spectators, to the
great inconvenience of commerce; and,
second, that silver has been less
subject to Auctustion than gold These
are their only two sound arguments, snl, If
proved correct, would be strong reasons for
adhering to the silver standard at present.
Bat proofs are wanting. The gold-stsndsrd
countries do not seem to suffer from want
OF capital, as shown by low interest, nor
have they been subjected to any oorneing
Of gold, which would show itself IN a rapid
fall OF prices generally, IS compared 10
prices in silverstandard countries. With
our growing international commerce, the
largest transactions are more and more
balanced by checks, drafts, notes, ETC.,
the banks and clearinghouse, requiring
much less OF the precious metals than for
merly; while the smaller bargains Of
everyday life continue to be rams
acted in silver coins, showing that
silver is not ~"demonetized" in the
gold-standsrd countries (ss the silver men
sssert), but only 'destandardized, and that
bimetallism can and does coexist with q
single standard. The other point-thst Of
greater steadiness Of silver-is hard to
prove. The only way to do this, would be
to compare the prices ofsome staple article
of consumption in gold and in silver; but as
these prices have rsrely,if ever, been quoted
in both standards at the same period and in
the same country, this seems an impossi-
bic task. Until these two points are
settled, however, the United States
should adhere to its gold standard, under
which it has grown and ~prospered without
parallel, the standard of our Europ an
n~eighbors, with whom we are in constant
and lively commercial intercourse, AID not
sink back again to the silver standard OF
China and India.
Let US now look at the second function of
the precious metals, in their capacity Of q
circulating medium-money; and as | com
pared the standard of value to other stand
ard measures, 30 / will now compare
money to another circulating medium,
say for instance, the lubricsting oil of our
machinery" The oil alone can create no
power; money alone can create no wealth
who does not remember the story of the
ship-Wrecked sailor dying of cold and star.
varion, surrounded by mountains of gold
and silver on the desert island2); but as the
oil helps to create power, 80 the money helps
to create wealth. The machine might run
without the lubricator, though under very
heavy strain; so the commercial machinery
might run-in fact, has run-without
the circulating medium, money, for many
years, in the days of barter and exchange;
but it worked clumsily and with much
waste. Too much oil on the other hand,
will not benefit the machine; it will run to
waste and collect in pools under the engine;
and Just so will the money run to waste at
times where too abundant, and collect in
banks and treasures, q useless pile for the
time being, until extended commercial
machinery calls for more grease. The rates
of interest and exchange are the gauges
that show the flow of money and regulate
it, preventing too large al accumulation in
one place, too great q scarcity in another,
for any length of time. The material, size,
weight, and shape of the money
should be determined by pub
the number of tho different pieces to be
struck of. The round, fiat disk was adopted
in preference to the square, oval, or octs-
gon shape, solely on the ground of couven
fence in counting and handling the various
pieces of metal. Our largest coin is now
the gold twenty dollar piece; larger pieces
(for instance the octagon fifty dollar pieces,
coined in the times of our pioneer Miners
being announcement aud clumsy. Below the
ten cent piece the coins are made of nickel
aud copper, because in silver they proved to
be so small that they could not be conven-
ientlY handled, and in paper the fractional
currency proved equally announcement, on
account OF its dirty and ragged appearance.
And this same public convenience it was
which, to MI the gap between the fifty cent
piece and the two and onehAlf dollar piece,
originally called into existence the silver
dollar. The gold dollar is entirely too
small for convenient handling, and the one
dollar greenbaek shares the objection to the
fractional paper currency; it travels too fast
from hand to hand to preserve its neatness,
and carries with it dirt and possibly disease.
These notes, as well as the two dollar notes,
should be called in and their place taken by
the silver dollar. Had this been done at
tue ume the Silver uOLdr Was CdiiSQ 10 HE
again, and had this coin been placed on a
level with all the other coins, in regard to
the amount to be produced-that is, sufi-
cient to supply the public demand and no
mors-no6Ody would probably have object
ed othe silver dollar, which would have differ
ed from the dollar of the fathers only in sofar
as the latter wasthe standard ~ofvalues, while
the present dollar practically served as sub
sidisry coin. Silver having in the mean
time deprecated Cor gold appreciated)
more silver might have been put into this
coin to bring It nearer in actual value to
the gold dollar; but silver might al any time
rise again in value as compared to gold,
causing q silver dollar Of say four hundred
and fifty or four hundred and eighty grains
to possibly rise in value beyond the twenty
FIVE and four-fflhs grain gold-dollar, and