St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-26
FREE COINAGE talk.
Ex-senator Paige, Of Olmsted,
Discoupses to the Labor
Lyceum.
What the Free Coinage Of Sill
YER Would Mean to the
Northwest.
It Is Time the Debtor Classes
We're Shaping Legis-
latiOn.
Varied Views Expressed by
Members Of the Debating
Society. +


members of the various unions of work
ingmen in the city, the attraction for
| the afternoon being paper prepared
by ex-senator Paige, of Olmsted county,
on the subject Free Coinage of Silver"
The speaker had evidently studied the
silver question closely, and was enabled
| to lay before his audience the salient
points of benefit which would arise
| from the free coinage of silver cur
rency. The speaker, in the course of
his remarks, said:
ION the presentation and discussion
| of the question OF free coinage of silver,
! it may in one sense necessarily in
volve the whole question of finance
as administered by the government.
| The first consideration is to
| qualify money, as it is the metal, the
substance of value, that constitutes
money. 1t is only the authority of gov
eminent delegated to congress in this
country to coin, that is, create money
for the values, and to regulate its value
and those of foreign lands. Legal ten
der is one Of the attributes of money,
hence even promise to pay money
which so-called greenback is, is money.
itself. 1t is money when the fiat or
equally applies to all coins of metal as
well as paper. This principle is af
| firmed by decision of the supreme
court of the United States.
A substance is usually selected to
make tangible or coin into dollars or
other forms that is worth less for other
purposes than that of money. If free
coinage was denied to gold and given
to silver, the silver would at once be at
par with its money value, and gold bal
| lion would be at a discount, and only
worth what
Other Uses Might Give 1t.
To-day silver bullion is at a discount
because of, ana for no other reason than
that, free coinage is denied it, 1t was
frequently said during the late political
campaign that with the fall of silver
bullion, SO fell the price of all agri-
cultural products. This fact only APP
plies to wheat, cotton, and perhaps one
or two other items; and why? Because
the bullion could be purchased at dis
count. then taken to India, and there
exchanged at par for wheat and cotton,
which could be placed in the European
| markets in competition with American
products.
The question here arises, can the
wheat and cotton industry, so vast in
our country, afford to deprecIate silver
bullion? This is question of bullion,
not money, and the tendency results IN
deprecating the value of our wheat and
cotton about % per cent when sold in
European markets. One dollar of money
is always as good as another; never
more nor less. 1t is the fiat or author
ity of government that is money, and not
the gold or silver bullion or other metals
shaped or fashioned in form. size or
weight, these are only the dollar or
fractional parts of it. The inyentio.
and use of money is to avoid the incon
venence Of barter; if otherwise, why
not ignore money and give the bullion
in exchange, as any other substance of
value. Ii this is true. why not utilize
the money by separating it from barter.
the corresponding substance of value,
and make it tangible by using some
cheap substance, and avoid the loss and
waste incidental to the use OF either gold
or silver? But the fashion of the age
is to use gold and silver, therefore we
cannot practically go much in advance
of our time; future generations may be
more wise than we are. To-day the
question is, is it to our advantage as
citizens of the commonwealth to in
crease the number of dollars of money
in our country by free coinage of silver.
1t is the
Number of Money Dollars
and not the kind (for there is no differ
ence in kind that determines values, all
other things or causes being equal. Is
it the issue that the creditor or the one
enjoying fixed income favor contrac-
ton Of the volume of money, or that it
be confined to the gold product as
t, a+,1 Cl,,I,t
and those who desire to accumulate
capital, favor the utilization of silver, or
even other methods of multiplying
money?
Who is entitled to triumph in settling
the issue? Surely it is the poor, the
debtor and the taxpayer. The history
of our country since the close of the war
in 1865 shows that the creditor has con-
tinually triumphed in the administrative
policy of the secretaries of the treasury,
the credit strengthening act, the infam.
Gus act of 1878 demonetiZing silver, the
improper obedience to the provisions of
the so-called Bland act of 1878, and the
silver legislation of the late congress.
All this has done great and almost IT.
reparable injustice to large majority
of the people who say that This injustice
shall now in some measure be repaired.
t o be good, when scarce times are hard.
AT one period in the history of our
country there was lasSitude of trade,
factories were closed, business enter
priSeS stopped and the country filed
with trampS. Many were willing to
work, but begged in vain for leave to
toll. Was 1t a crime to be tramp, the
miserable victim of the law? The law
was the real criminal that furnished
the victim, and the name of the GRIM
inal was contraction of the volume of
money and the prospect of it. The pur-
chasing power of money rises and falls
with the amount in circulation; infla'
ton decreases the purchasing power of
money, contraction increases it.
Is 1t Wise
to depend upon the caprice or chance
product of gold or silver mines to regu-
late justice as determined by the vol
ume of money in circulation 1t is all
the same to any individual whether one
or ten dollars are received for days
work or for any given article sold. pro-
vided that the 81 will purchase as much.
of the necessaries of life as would the
$40. but if in debt as person or part of
community, then the larger the num-
Der Of dollars realized will in the same.
ratio diminish the burden of debt. The
real issue is the purchasing power Of
money, and upon the two questions
hinges the veal or woe of the people,
money and taxation. All services rem
dered by any individual to the govern
ment is free gift, and the payment for
the service from the public treasury is
that the burden of the gift may be dis
tributed among the entire people and
returned to the treasury in taxes.
A distinguished statesman of the
early history of our country said that a
money issued by the government, Sc
cured by the entire wealth of the ma
ton and redeemable in taxes, is the best
that can be devised. For the present
let the product of our gold and silver
mines. be coined, but if in the future
the product should be excessive or in
sufficient. then other methods should be
employed to secure consistent uniform
ity and Justice in regulating the value
of money, as in the question of its pur-
chasing power.
The;reading of the paper was loudly