Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1891-02-28

N"'Vo VI ehO SOiu StduuuIuj utIlSlNSly
styled "gold bugs" of the Eastern
money centers, who are selfish not
only in their opposition to the views
of the silver men and so.called infla-
tionists, but in their opposition to
any sort of relief measure that could
be instituted by the wisest of congress
sional financiers. This class are in
close utilization with the high protec-
tive tariff extremists of the same
quarter. With this particular anti
silver sentiment of the country Mr..
Atkinson and Mr.. Window are not
justly to be classed, and that they
represent in their expressed views
the settled conviction of many of the
ablest and most patriotic inanciers
of our country, irrespective of party,
is undoubtedly true.
We have assumed that the owners
of silver mines and the advocates of
free silver coinage Gas a means of Sc
curing a redundancy of currency
would be disappointed with the re-
suits of free coinage. The silver
mine owners, because an increase of
the quantity of silver coin would tend
to depreciation of the value of sill.
yer, and the advocates of a more
abundant and therefore cheaper cir
culating medium through free coin,
age would, by free coinage, merely
increase the quantity and bulk of sill
yer coin withoutimproving the quail
ty or increasing the purchasing pow
er of that coin. The effect would be
the same with an unlimited coinage
of copper or nickel. All the nations
of the earth which have silver would
rush it into this country to be con-
verted into coin, Immediately to be
exchanged for gold to be exported
from the country. Thus would be set
up at once disastrous drain of the
gold from the country. Not only
this, but the holders of gold at home
would Immediately begin to hoard
the more valuable and scarcer coin
and it would as effectually withN
drawn from circulation as if exported,
though it remained in the country.
1t is impossible to displace gold as
the single and only standard value
for several reasons: l. The world at
large accepts it as a universal basis.
2. 1t is the most valuable of metals
because the scarcest and because the
limit of its production has been prac-
tically reached. 8. 1t is less subject
to fluctuation of value than silver, OF
any other metal used by the nations
of the world as coin. Many sincere
believers in the free coinage of silver
believe the true ratio Of gold and
silver ought to be one to sixteen, and
if they, by government fiat, make
silver money, instead of commodity
that such fiat will accomplish the
end desired. They overlook the fact
that gold is also a commodity, as well
as money, and that it is of equal value
as money or commodity the WORLD
over. But we can not avoid the con-
clusiOn that the price of gold and sill
yer, like everything else, is governed
by the law of supply and demand
1t is not in the power of government
fiat to affect the intrinsic value. The
Confederate paper money of our Civil
War was fiat money, but while i
fiuctuated and it required a basketfu
of it to buy pair of shoes, it was the
fiat money whose value was affected
and not the value of gold, which in
creased in value as it disappeared
from circulation.
II X
AT the time of the discovery o
America the amount of gold and sill
yer coin in Europe was less than tw,
hundred million dollars. For hun
bred years before gold was discover
ed in California, the price of gold a
compared with silver had been re
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