Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-12-31
sENAron nEnKS FAIL uRE.


SENATOR BECR'S FAIL URE.
As whole, Senator Bcck's speech in
support OF the silver dollar was a strong
one and worthy OF his reputation as one
among the most logical thinkers in con-
gress; but in some respects it Is mex
cusably weak.
TO sustain his assertion that the value
OF silver has not declined, he collates the
prices Of staple commoditie3 in 1870 and
1885, aud shows by this comparison that
they are sold for much less now than
then, the argument being that as silver
dollar VIII buy more now than in 1870, II
has not deprecated in value since then.
II Mr.. Beck had paused to consider he
would have discovered sufficient causes to
account for the decline in values since
1870, independent Of any influence
Of the silver value. In the first
place, the prices in 1870 are stated
in grcenbacks then at discount
OF 20 per cent, which would have made
the cost of articles measured IN that cur
rency 20 per cent. higher than they would
have been II measured in gold. Again,
there has been marked decline in the
cost OF production since 1870, caused by
improvements in methods Of production
aud by an increased supply Of labor,
which has reduced wages by conpetl.
ton Everything was "fush" in 1870,
aud prices doomed, Two panics since
then have put commodities down to their
lowest cost Of production.
And Mr.. Beck adds "why should it
(thc silver dollar be stricken down, or
It's purchasing power further Increased
20 per cent. by adding 80, 90 or any other
number Of grains to its weight? In
other words, why should every producer
and debtor have 10 give 20 per cent more
OF tho products ei mis- labor to obtain either
new silver dollar or gold coin with
which to pay his debts than he does now"
He omlts to explain, however, in what
manner the addition of enough silver to
the dollar to make it worth 100 cents can
make it more difficult to obtain, by the
poor man or the rich man. The senator
must have forgotten himself to be be-
trayed into so ridiculous an assertion. A
dollar intrlnsically worth 100 cents is not
more difficult TO obtain than one that is
worth that by the fiat Of the government
supplying the lacking 20 cents. The only
additional cost viii be to The government,
which now buys silver enough to coin a
thousand so-called dollars for 1913, and
the $2O7 is dishonest profit. If it viii
put enough metal il the dollar to make
coin worth dollar in fact, il
will pay out for the silver
just what it gets for the dollars,
and win neither lose nor make by the ope-
ration But those dollars win not cost
the people "A cent more, or be more diff
cult to obtain than the cighy-cent dollar
is now The la6orer instead OF suffering
from the changed value of the dollar, will
be benefited by It, Iihe is paid 81 90 for
ten hours labor now, he gets in fact only
81 go worth OF silver. He will get the
same wages for the same work when the
dollar is increased in weight, and his
money will be worth $500 in silver in
stead of Sl.G0.
Senator Beck ought to stick to the tar
/ if discussion. He is at home there, and
his assaults upon the absurdltles of a
protective tariff are inylucible; but in his
great silver speech are some very weak
spots.