Los Angeles herald., 1890-12-07
FEW FORCIBLE FACTS CONCERNING
THE COIN METALS.

Europe ana America are Jnc TWO great
forces in modern civilization. Asia and
Africa cut but little figure. Africa uses
but little money in any shape, and Asia
is for the most part mere absorber of
money, or coinage metals.
There are now in circulation in the
countries of Europe and America gold
money to the amount OF 1920, 900 900,
and silver money to the amount of
$4,000, 100000; a total of $5,2S0,000,-
600 of both metals. This is in
the past five years an increase
of $3.50 900, 900, or less than 81 per capita
for the people OF the United States
alone.
France, with Ss,OO0,OOO people in
settled country, with its resources devel-
oped ,on an area of205, 900 square miles OF
land, less than one-third more than
the state of California, has full
third of this money, leaving only two
thirds for all the rest of Europe, all
America and all the colonies of Europe.
France has a gold coin circulation Of
$23.4O per capita of her population, and
SIS per capita in silver coin, total OF
SAL. 40 per capita.
To equal that the United States
should have total stock of gold to the
amount of 81 AYE, 100000, and of silver
full legal tender 81, 1,135, 100000. In
stead we have much less than half of
either sum. Yet our area is seventeen
times that OF France, and our resources
are in state of most active initial de-
velopment.
England has only half as much gold
as France, and only one-seventh as
much silver. All other nations of Eu-
rope and America fall away below Eng
land and the United States.
The output of gold from the mines is
not all coined. Fully two-thrds of the
product is consumed in the arts, and the
annual absorption of the metal, princi-
pally for the purpose of boarding, in
China and India, is fully equal to the
other third. The supply of gold in the
Bank OF England has not increased in
Cne past NNe wears.
This scant supply of money for pur-
poses of exchange is the source of all the
monetary disturbances that shake the
financial world about once year.
If tine stocks OF money in Europe and
America were doubled at once there
would not be more than an easy
sufficiency to do the work OF exchanges.
The only way to increase the stocks of
money is to pass a free silver coinage
bill. If all the silver in the world were
coined into full tender money at the
ratio of sixteen of silver to one of gold,
there would still be an insufficency of
money to do the work of the world.
That the above statements of facts are
correct will sufficiently appear when it
is known that they are mainly drawn
from the writings OF Mr.. Giffen, the
eminent English statistician and au-
thority on these topics, and from those
of Herr Soetbeer, who occupies similar
position in Germany, both of these
writer's being extreme monometalists.
Congressman Cougar of Iowa, who,
with Speaker Reed, was chiefly instru-
mental in defeating the free coinage OF
silver act last spring, dare not face his
constituents for reelection, but ac-
cepted the mission to Brazil.
President Harrison, who threatened to
veto a free coinage bill if it passed, has
reconsidered his views on the white
metal and plainly intimates in his mes
sage that he might sign such bill. His
conversion is attributable to the results
of the recent elections.
Congressman Taylor OF Illinois, who
has introduced bill looking to the buy
ing up of all the silver now
in the country at one-dollar rate, and
to limit the purchase OF silver hereafter
to that mined in this country, is not
more than pure monometalist. He is
Republican OF course.
There is only one proper treatment to
accord to the white metal: give it the
same treatment as its yellow brother,
that is, allow its free coinage.
The country will never prosper as it
should until this is done, and the doing
of this would create such boom from
Maine to Texas and from Newport News
to Los Angeles as has never been known
in the United States.