St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-10-04
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE.
WHEAT AND SILVER.
thorough Discussion of am ani-
portant subject.

from the Tribunes editorial that some pre-
yious criticism of my views has appeared.
This, however. have quite missed as have
been travelling incessantly since L left st.
Paul. Inc price of wheat concerns SO large
section OF your community, and the devei-
opment OF tue Northwest is so largely contin-
gent on the profitable cultivation OF that
cereal that / will AJAX your permission to SUI
PIGMENT for tae GLOBE the rather hurried in
tervlew you were pleased to publish early in
the month. Judging from the Tribune's BIZ
metallic statement in its issue of the 18th, we
DO not differ materially as to the end to be at
tanned, but oaly in the means by which we
may attain it. | cordially agree with the
Tribune that universal free coinage and legal
tender OF the two metals is what the world
needs, and it is very certain that if the United
States suspended ceipage, or went even fur
ther and deprived the silver dollar of its legal
tender prerogative, storm would inevitably
result, and the air might be cleared for an IN
ternational agreement. But what q storm 1t
would be! Your contemporary, and also
those eminent authorities Dana Horton and
NJ Cernusch however divergent their views
in other RESPECTS, in this at least are agreed,
either perfection here below, and at
once, or eataclysm; make no terms;
better starvation than half loaf;
unless we may walk at once into heaven
let us demolish the world with dyna-
mite! Was there ever such impatience!
At this rate we shall never reach our Mecca.
1t is all very well Tor you gentlemen of the
press to philosophise in your editorial chairs,
and this article of theTribune is most ortho-
dox statement of what is called in Europe Ger
nuschian bi-metallism-but what Is going to
happen to the worlds industries, if we are
to have such crisis as must inevitably
result from really hostile anti-silver leg1sla-
ton in the United States? And what was the
attitude of the New England press only
twelve month since? We were assured that
m
and | remember New York daily of the first
Importance discussing in the most cold
blOoded fashion the ACCESSIBILITY of policy
of what it termed "good od-fashioned de-
monetization." And it seems to me that once
you have suspended coinage, you can hardly
evade the necessity of demonetizing, and for
this reason. Notwithstanding the present
coinage demand for 81, 000,000 a mo nth, sill
yer has fallen fast and still is falling. What
will happen. then, to the price of silver If by
withdrawing your entire demand a mass
more of silver bullion is running loose in the
worlds markets? Inevitably the price of
silver will take further wild tumble, so
that the bullion in the silver dollar, which at
the present time represents only ~ cents
(gold value) might fall to so cents. AS
things are any one who buys 70 cents worth
of silver and can counterfeit the mint stamp,
has coin which can be put into circulation
at its face value. and with little risk. In
other word, I'VE standard dollars invested in
the purchase of silver bullion Can be con-
| verified into seven dollars by any citizen who
has good nerve and elastic conscience. Now
how greatly will the inducement to coin
fraudulently be increased if, silver having
fallen still lower, SIS can be converted in $40.
1t is evident, therefore. that should silver fall
largely ia consequence of suspension OF
coinage, the next act of the executive would
be demonstration. The government would
call in and sell the standard dollar for bullion
thar lis 4krn1 lynfc
of the citizens; and this is an eventuality
recognized, you may be sure, by many of the
Eastern ''gOld bugs" once they secure suS-
pension of coinage all else will follow; silver
will be demonetized, the value of their gold to
| land, labor and ali the material of production
will be enormously enhanced; wages will fall
| and the unfortunate debtor classes of the
| community will be wiped out: thus it will be
| recognized that silver, which Is to-day the
| money metal of more than thousand millions
| of people, is il most precariOuS positions; g
| Slight further fall. and for the reasons 1 have
! stated above, France also might be compelled
| to demOnetZe her prodlgiouS pile OF silver.
and the white metal would become unsaleable
! at any price whatever. l leave it to the
| Tribune to make fair election between al
| ternatives such as these; there is not great
| deal OF loose silver to account for; Germany
| has done selling her coined silver and her eff
| forts in that direction have been extremely
| expensive. Both in Germany and France
| the government receives its revenue at the
| option of the taxpayer in one ounce of gold
| or fifteen and one-half ounces of coined silver.
| Is it reasonable to suppose that while these
| governments are receiving revenues at this
ratio, they will sell silver at its present price:
! that is, tweuty-One ounces OF silver in return
| for an ounce of goldl No, there is no danger
| from this source. In the last two years there
| has been a great awakening Of the public in
telligence, and the governments OF the civil
| lied nations are now asking themselves how
| best to support the value of silver, not how
| they can best destroy it. 1t is better to rely
upon the growth of public opinion rather
! than to suspend coinage, or demonetiZe silver,
on the chance that good may come out of evil
| and the world be guided to the right path by the
| throes of colossal money panic. The world s
| annual production of silver is now about
| $4,000, 000 the distribution of which is
probably somewhat as follows. / say proba-
| bly,, because it is not always possible to dis
| tinguish between the coinage OF the new
silver and there coinage of Old. This is especi-
ally difficult in the case of India, where rupees
are every day melted down to make bangles
| and bangles and bracelets melted up to make
rupees: The United States coins, S24 600, 000;
| England, at home and in India, $4,000, 900;
! Mexico, S12, 000, 900; probable absorption of
| China $4,000, 600; arts and manufactures,
| $4,000, 900; other coinage demands, sl2, 0OO,-
| 000 total S92, 600, 600, leaving only SlS,000OO0
|
| this comparatively small sum which now
| drifts about paralyzing the market and doing
| all the damage. There is radical difference
which must never be lost sight of, when we
| come to consider the effect of price on the de-
| mand for q precious metal and on the demand
| for mere commodity such as wheat. If the
| price of wheat falls the consumption OF
! wheat is at once stimulated, and thus the
| tendency to fall is neutraliZed. But not so
with silver. fall in the price Of silver serves
| directly to check consumption. and thus TO
| precpitate further and a continuous fall.
| Nations that are not coming 1t are Inclined
| as this country is now inclined, to decry the
| metal to talk of bogus dollars, and 10 demand
| limitation or even suspension OF coinage.
| In the arts, too, its consumption will be
| checked, because while the skilled labor re-
| qured in making a silver spoon costs as
much whether it is exerted on silver worth
! sixty pence or sixpence the ounce, the in
| trinsic value of the spoon is becoming
less and the ratio of cost OF labor
| to total value Is increasing; this is an import
ant point to remember, that while silver rails
| in price its consumption is not stimulated,
but, on the contrary, checked; except where
we are possessed of the conditions OF true BIZ
! metallism. If l am right then in saying that
it is this small surplus balance Of SlS,O00,-
! 600 which is doing the present harm,
then if this country were to coin, rot the
| minimum, but the maximum S4,O0O,OO0
| mCnIuly. required ny Tue Q dHu uIis INC PAAOO
| of silver would be sure to improve, and your
"seventy-cent dollar" would in a short time
| be worth eighty-fve cents. A very small
! coinage demand elsewhere would then suffice
to raise the price of silver to sixty pence, aud
i restore the old one to sixteen ratio, in which
| case your standard dollar, now worth seventy
cents. would be worth, as of old, l0S cents.
! suggest this view for the consideration OF
your contemporary. / would ask the Tribune
| how great demand for silver will restore it
to its old price. 1t is clear that coinage de-
| mand of some sort viii do this. l suggest
| that further $4,000.000 per month will
suffice. assuming, as we fairly may, that no
| nation initiates the action of Germany in
| 1873 and sells mass of silver to buy gold.
thus depressing one metal and appreciatng
the other. Nor is it PROBABLE that the conse-
auence of increasing silver coinage will be
what the Tribune anticipates, that this coun-
try will lose gold and come upon silver
basis. Eight years since, when the Bland act
was passed, the entire Eastern press threat
ened US with this socaled law of Gresham.
Every silver dollar minted was, we were as
| in 70 6icpl a rrid