Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-05-07

THE HoxcoTr Of .xEtJ
9TEmllIs,sseAsbna ~.
1fNs IsaSa u s'ahsh sss g Of
Antiq,lYitss' Professor N a. Hulks y
cludes hrgf6llowi9a; ~
A gFat DIAL hal gbeeAbeard lately
of biGatallsmA>- When / see~wliat the
bimetalisrysrY- cgnteDdpg GUrsm to
fix and maihtain ii perpetuity set.
tied ratio-Detween gold and silver, !
ask M ysefflahow this idea arose, and
ssi~g of an historical turn of mind, |
try to find whether antiquity can have
any lessons to teach on the subject.
When gold, silver, copper or iron be-
gan to be used for payment, they
were simply weighed. Even we still
speak of the pound instead of
sovereign. Knowing the relative
monetary value of gold and silver
shekel or half-shekel, knowing how
many silver shekels the ancient ma
ton had to give for one gold shekel,
1T is possible by merely weighing the
ancient coins to find out whether there
was then any fixed ratio between gold
and silver. Thousands of ancient
coins have thus been tested, and the
result has been to show that the ratio
between gold and silver was fixed
from the earliest times with the most
exact accuracy. From the sixteenth
century b. g., or restricting my re-
marks to coined money, from the elev-
enth century b. C., to nearly our own
time, the appreciation OF gold has
been no more than l 2-3-namely,
from 10 1-3 to Is. If now within
our recollection it has suddenly risen
from Is to 20, have they not right
to ask whether this violent distur-
bance is due altogether to natural
causes, or whether what we are told
is the effect, is not to a certain ex-
, tent the cause of i'll mean the sud
den resolution OF certain governments
to boycott, for their own purposes
the second precious metal OF the
world?"
That states the case exactly. M
t adjustment coming naturally through
demand and supply has in sixtee'
years caused gold and silver to draw
apart 33 points; rather it has been
= boycott. The proof is, the purchas
: ing power of silver has not bee
d changed. An ounce of it in bullion
: uncoined and unstamped, will pun
: chase Just as much OF what men pre-
y duce by labor as the ounce coine
a and stamped would when it stood g
! a premium over gold. Wicked an
Q senseless Legislation has reversed
3 rule which was founded on the g,
D perience of more than thirty cent?
J ries; it was done in the interest {
l. fixed capital. y Ages {
trial established that to produce a
u ounce Of the one cost as much az
y. produce fifteen and half or sixtee
ounces OF Tue Quiet.
- Gold has been appreciated because
- the unmerited distinction put upo
- it, and it has been at the cost Of r
" ducing all other forms Of proper
more than thirty per cent. After Il
= act of 1873, panic swiftly followe
-. - and by 1878, universal bankrupt'
:, was imminent. The passage of Il
- Bland law, unfair and but half a on
as it was, made resumption poss:b
- and nearly restored the equilibriu
!, as it was in 1873. But soon the wa
fare on silver was renewed by t
l. fixed capital class. A hired pre-
~ sounded the cry of the national ban
~ ers and kept 1t up until the practic
!, absorption by the people of all t
silver that the Government won
issue certificates upon, and the f
contradiction of every prophecy ma
+, by the goldists, has silenced the
ho but they still hold control in w
;. Street and in Washington.