St. Paul daily globe., 1885-11-21

151% ounces of silver. Everybody being at
liberty to get the two metals coined in
France at the ratio of 1873, in other words,
to get the kilogramme of silver $40 fine
transformed into forty five-franc pieces GOO
francs), and the kilogramme of gold ofequal
tineness into 155 twenty franc pieces q, 100
francs), no producer. no holder of silver or
gold. either in Europe, in America or In
Asia, had ever thought OF parting either
with the kilogramme of silver or the kllo-
gramme of gold for smaller sum, whether
in francs or in dollars, in pounds, in thalers,
in Mexican piastres or in rupees. Thanks
to French bimetalism, there existed
parity of value between defined weight OF
gold and defined greater weight OF silver.
The monetary material of the world was thus
unified"
The pamphlet concludes with the follow
ing review of the silver agitation in this
country:
The mass of all the gold of the world would
go into twelve-horse stable. A building forty
times as large would hold all the mass of
silver. If silver did not exist people would
everywhere be under the system of gold
monometaliSm. A scanty mass. Coins so
small and thin that TO make them available in
the circulation the representative procedure
certificates of deposited metal, would have to
be employed for the smaller divisions. Ii
gold did not exist people would everywhere
be under the system of silver monometalism
A very convenient mass. People would man
age perfectly well, though without renounc-
ing the use of deposit certificates for the
larger divisions. The monetary legislation OF
other countries is such that neither France
nor the United States can let themselves come
under silver monOmetaliSm. Yet IN IT.
self, that system has nothing unscientitic.
What science utterly condemns is hump
backed monometalism, especially that OF the
United States, whose humps an ever-increas-
ing one. OF the two SuretieS which money
should have (the legislator, who makes illegal
tender; nature, which governs the issue),
silver dollars have only One-the leglSla-
tor. Legal-tender law prevents any
money from falling below the nominal par.
Paper roubles are at par; greenDacks were
always at par. Silver dollars will always be
at par. Yes, but gold dollars may exceed par,
may be at premium, and against that pre-
MUM holders of silver dollars will no more
be able to defend themselves than were the
holders of inconvertible greenbacks. Paper
dollar or silver dollar when not good money!,
the one is no better than the other, nor
worse. The one no more than the other
stands the ordeal of fire. 1t is said indeed that
the silver dollar contains and would contain
value of So cents. so, rs, 70, etc., according
as the price of silver bullion rises or falls in
the market, and according as more or fewer
millions of dollars were melted down into
bullion for sale. The truth is that never,
never will any one think of melting down a
single silver dollar in order to utilize its ma
terial for the arts, industries or for eXpOrta-
ton, just as NOBODY has ever thought of using
paper money for making cardboard. Having
dsbursed only $1SS, ,000, 900 for manufacturing
S2l5 900, 900 of not good money, can the treas
ury be said to have gained the difference
$27, 900, 900?
No, the treasury must be said to have
wasted $4,000, 900. If for manufacturing the
S2l5, 200, 900 it had not bought metal, but had
bought paper, it would have saved $lS8, 600, 900,
educed taxation by that amount to the great
satisfaction of the taxpayers, and the present
currency would be just the same. 1t would
comprise the same quantity of good money in
gold, the same quantity Of legal-tender
notes and national bank notes, payable
at sight in good money, and the same
quantity of not good money. If the
United States think their monetary stock in
sufficient, if they believe that that stock is
not increasing fast enough through the
fresh golu which their soil is constantly pro-
ducing, if they are persuaded that it is nee
essary or simply eXpedient to initiate their
currency further, we'll, imitation for imitation,
the costly imitation of the silver act should
give way to the costless imitation of paper
money.
Why does the silver-act dollar weigh 4125
grains? Because the object was to revive
the old dollar, the coinage of which had be-
come impossible in 1884. But the silver act
might without convenience have provided
that the dollar should be of less weight
When i. coinage is not free the weight
given to the coin has no more Importance
than the dimensions given to paper money.
The dollar of 800, of 200, of 100 grains
would not be worse than the dollar of 4121a.
But what of the dollar of 500 grains? Would
that not be better? No, for it would not stand
the ordeal of fire and consequently would not
be exportable. Cotton does not fetch higher
price by increasing the size of the bales nor
sugar by making loaves heavier than usual.
These commodities are sold by weight. Just
the same with silver, Whether the owners of
silver in the United States send to Europe
dollars of 4121a grains or of 5O0 or simply
bullion, it will make no difference; silver will
still be bought by weight, to be sent, as now,
mostly to Asia. Mexican piastres are not
treated differently. They are always sold by
weight. Not an ounce of American silver
will enter into European currency SO long as
Europe has not resumed the free coinage of
silver. If the silver act had fixed the weight
of the dollar at 500 grains the treasury would
not have bought larger quantity of bullion,
but it would have made a smaller quantity of
dollars, and each dollar would have cost it
more without any advantage to the public.
The situation of silver would be none the
better. When the rate of discount or interest
at which bills of exchange and loans are ne
gotiated is sensibly low, money is said to be
cheap, and this is intelligible But what
means the cheap dollar? The coinage of gold
is free, and 1922 grains of pure gold are a
dollar. As many multiples of 1922 grains of
pure gold as the miner extracts from the
mine, so many dollars. The issuer of gold
dollars is the miner himself. His all the gains
and his all the losses If in the space of one
month, for instance, he has extracted a sum
OF dollars greater than the sum of dollars
which he expended in their extraction, then
at the close of the month he will have in hand
more dollars than he had before, and
of course each one of them will
have cost him less than dollar
Cheap dollars, indeed, but cheap for him.
not for the public. If he has extracted in the
space of another month fewer dollars than he
spent in the process then at the close of the
month he will have in hand fewer dollars
than he had at the outset and of course each
one of them will have cost him more than
dollar Costly dollars, indeed, but costly for
him, not for the public The coinage OF sill
yer not being free, the ssuer of silver dollars
is not the miner, but the state. The lower
the price at which the treasury buys silver
bullion the cheaper the dollars which it re-
ceives from the mint. But cheaper for it.
not for the public. No American citizens
hand has yet felt the sensation of cheapness
either in receiving or expending the silver
act dollars. The owners of the New Caledonia
nickel mines have been long begging and
praying the French government to begin
making nickel francs and on a large SCALE
Purveyors are everywhere the same. They
are fond of large sales. For the people nickel
francs would not be cheaper than gold francs
Silver mines do not produce eagles, half
eagles or dollars, like gold mines, yet they
produce rupees and sycees, which are unlim-
tied legal tender in India and China respect
lively. This great privilege of unlimited
legal tender accorded by the legislator to gold
in the West and silver in the East is no
where accorded either to nickel or copper.
Just as the mints of Europe and of the United
States are ALWAYS open to the producerS of