The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1886-10-30

Chicago Inter-Ocean.

IluSl suffer l!icNltdDIy IIOIIl IlS uOIi'
use-as money-in proportion to
such non-use-as result of a prin.
ciple or law of finance, rs unalter-
able as the laws of the Medes and
Persians, viz: the restriction of the
legal tender circulating medium OF
the world must always lower the
prices of property. In other words,
the silver question is red-hot in
England, and the government has
been compelled to appoint a royal
commission to investigate it, in or
der to satisfy the demands of the
people. The shrinkage of values,
which has steadily gone on with
the decline of silver, is beginning
to have its effect-and gold is now
getting to be an article Of merchan-
disc in India, where the currency
is silver. Just to realize the ad-
vance, and it is estimated that at the
PRESENT RATE OF ABSORPTION
India alone will require $500, ,OO0, 900
per annum to satisfy speculative
demand for a rise, same as wheat
is bought up in expectation of a
famine.
India can recoup her losses on
silver in no other way, if the squab-
bic for gold goes on, provided she
can get the gold.
This is an element in this absorb
ing question (if it should spread
that is likely tc exert controlling
influence on governmental action
for an international agreement. An
abundance of money makes high
prices, and scarcity of money low
prices, comparatively, and the own
ers of money, in case of a scarcity,
always have the advantage.
Let us see what the advantage
means to owners of property in
Great Britain and the United States.
There is in both countries to-day
| (taking the last census report as a
basis for the calculation) G5O,OOO,-
100000 of property, about equally
divided between the two countries,
and according to Mulhall's esti-
mates in 1880, FL Ass, 100000 in all
the world of gold. 1t must be ap-
parent that while silver is used as
money in other parts of the world,
and not in these countries, the fall
in prices would result largely from
the fall in prices of silver, brought
about by its characterization, and
the consequent increasing of all
values with gold alone; that is,
gold would buy just as much more
of property as the resulting differ
ence made between gold and silver
by the rejection of the one and the
EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE OTHER
AS legal tender money, because sill
yer is just the same as other prop
erty and brings only what will
be paid for it as an article of mer-
chandise. This difference is now
about 30% from its old value when
it was legal tender money.
But we will admit that other
causes will account for, say 334%
of the difference, leaving 2O% as
the actual decline upon property as
compared with gold, which has
already resulted to every species of
property, with few exceptions, from
peanuts to railroads, and from
"three acres and COW" to the vast
estates of the Dukes Of Westmins-
ter and Sutherland.
This difference in value in both
countries amounts to f5, ,OOO, ,OOO,OOO
or about four times the sum total
of all the gold in the world.
Is it honest for the state to 80
legislate upon the relations of money
and property as to give to gold
one species of property only-a
power SO sweeping that a very
small number of capitalists, who
control it, shoul add 2O% to their
actual wealth, and in so doing de-
duct from the exchangeable value
of all other property fourteen times
the aggregate value of the gold used
by the whole world?
Bankers may very complacently
cry out for ian honest dollar" and
not an SO% dollar, after having
precipitated
SUCH A STATE OF THINGS,
And they may induce other classes
of men, who live on saleries, to join
them, but the million who own the
farms, factories, railroads and every
other description of propery, may
retort with these incontestible facts !:
1.-The 80%dollar is the only honest
dollar, inasmuch as the other one
claims of us 2O% more of our prop
erty to pay our bankers notes than
when silver was legal money.
Much stress il laid upon the fact
that England is creditor nation,
and in the case of the remonetiza-
ton of silver, would be a great
loser, as the case now stands.
1t would be we'll to remember
that England's action in the first
instance opened the way for the
present condition of the currency
Germany would never have thought
of demonstrating silver. but for the