The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1891-03-25

i.y to offer that the loan will be re
| paid on a day named, has any diff
Guilty in borrowing money from the
banks in that region. So that tn,
trouble with the frce-coinage farm
ers really isthe very old and widely
difiused one Of simple poverty, I. e..
want both Of money and of the
things with which money may bs
procured. The flce-coinage scheme
therefore, is a scheme for abolishinp
or mitigating poverty, or, in Other
words, for supplying people with
money without asking them TO give
anything in exchange Tor it.
What we shave been seeking, there.
fore, from the western friends OIL
! free coinage is an account in detail
af the exact process by which tho
new silver cOihs would get into the
pockets of the pOnr farmers. The
government. If we are not mistaken,
would not give silver coins away tn
MI comers. II wouid ouly give them
out in payment Of its own debts to
lis employees, TO its pensioners, To
It's bondholders, and to the vendors
of It's stores and supplies. But the
coins would still fail TO reach the
farmers. Neither the government
employees, nor the pensioners. nor
the creditors would let the farmers
have them, except in exchange for
something: but If the farmers had
10 exchange something for them.
thcy would be no better of than be-
fore. In this pcrplexity we In
structed our Washington CORES
pondent to go straight to Mr. Simp-
s0n, the new representative from
Kansas, and one of the leading
lights of the Kansas school of polit-
ical economy, and ask him 70 cx-
plain the matter Here is the ques-
tion and answer;
"Bui how would free coinage toud
10 pat any more money into the hands
of the people at large than goes there
now under tho monthly purchase sys-
TEN p
at seems to me It wonld operate in
this way: AS It Is now, the silver
from here, there, aud everywhere, is
bought up by a few spectators who
arc able TO offer it inlarge quantities
Under frec-coinage system, / think
the people who have small quantities
Of silver would be more apt TO deal di-
rectly with the government and tho
coin, flowing ont Of the miHis to them
in smaller individual amonnis, would
quickly find its way into the channels
Of ordinary trade. The rich spccnla-
TORS who now do most Of the handling
of the metal take thoir big sums that
they receive from the government aud
use lem in further speculation. Lit
tie enough Of it ever gets out in petty
sums for circulation among the masses
of the people,
II viii be seen that the trouble is
that the Kansas farmers haye small !
stocks of silver bullion, either in
the form OF ingots or bricks. which |
they now find difficulty in getting
coined, the government coinage
work being all done for the large |
speculators, who take the coins and |
wickcdly use them in further specu-
laiion. Mr.. Simpson believes that (
with free coinage each farmer could /
send on his little store of bullion |
to the mint and get il back in small !
change.
But this only removes our diff
Guilty one degree further back. In
the first place, where does the Kan
sas farmer get his silver bullion
He does not mine it out of the
ground. There are no silver mines
in Kansas. He must have bought
it for grain, cattle, or ponies. Why
did he buy it? Is IL not very
foolish thing for farmer to buy
silver bullion knowing we'll that he
can get 1t Coined only with great
trouble and some expense for coin
age2 Moreover, we affirm positive
ly that any Knnsas farmer can turn
bls bullion into coined money at
the market rate without the least
trouble by sending 1t by EXPRESS TO 3
any exchange dealer ~ any Of the
arge cities Of the east o. west.