The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-06-02

or silver for them. Gold and silver coin
then become the basis or standard of ouI
money.
Now then, we come to the vital point
in this discussion. The silver coin is not
redeemable by law in gold coin, and its
value in the markets of the world Is
about twenty cents on the dollar less
than that of gold coin. Yet whenever
the holders of silver coin wish to ex-
change it for gold coin they can
do so at the sub-treasury. If silver Is
worth 20 cents on the dollar less how is
it that the sub-treasury can afford to
change gold for silver and lose 20 cents
on each dollar? Simply and solely for
the reason that we have compulsory
coinage of silver. Under the law author
izing it, the secretary of the treasury is
required to buy 4, GOO, 900 ounces of silver
a month and coin it or issue silver
certificates for it. In doing so he
is able to buy Sc worth of silver
for each S. worth of gold he expends
for silver, and he puts 81 in everv Sc
into the treasury. As long as silver
coin is purchased on the gold coin basis
the government can afferd to redeem it
on the gold coin basis and hence keep it
at par with the gold coin.
The treasury has gained over S165, 000,-
900 by the purchase and coinage Of sill
yer, and as long as compulsory coinage
of silver continues the profits in coming
silver will be sufficient to reimburse the
| government for the losses on its redemp-
| ton.
But the moment free coinage is adopt
ded, the treasury looses all the
profits arising from silver coin
| age, and Immediately gold and
silver coin drop from their legal
or coin value to their bullion value and
the money standard changes from gold
to silver. When s. in gold will buy Sc
worth of silver every dollar of which
will buy as much property. as each dol
lar Of gold, the people will use the silver
for money, not the gold, if the coinage
Of silver is free and unlimited. In other
words, the men who have gold will hold
on to It and it would go out of circuia-
ton as money. The banks and mOnied
institutions are already boarding gold in
anticipation of unwise legislation III that
direction. Gold certificates are no long
er seen in circulation and gold coin Is
growing less every month.
But Mr. Lockwood says: 'That if we
had free and unlimited coinage of silver
that Git grains Of silver would always
be equal in value to either a gold or sill
yer dollar.
To return to his statement that
money is a commodity, and like every
other commodity it value depends upon
supply and demand"
IF this is true. then the value of
of silver as money depends upon the sup
ply and demand of gold and sill
yer, not only in this country, but in
foreign countries also. When England,
Germany and France used silver as a
legal tender for all debts, and did not
restrict its coinage. The value of our
present silver dollar was not only equal
to, but above that of our gold dollar,
and its coinage was free and unlimited,
and because it was at premium its
coinage for thirty years ceased entirely.
If the coinage of gold and silver is free
and unlimited as soon as the bullion in
either metal goes TO premium above
the other, its coinage will cease. If the
owners of silver or gold bullion can get
a premium of even one or two per cent
over the other they will sell it in the
market and pocket the premium
instead of having it coined.
If the premium amount to five or six per
cent, no one would be foolish enough to
have such metal coined. While the
free and unlimited coinage of silver
might tend to raise the price of silver,
we have no assurance that it would send
it to par with gold. Most assuredly it
would not go to par unless foreign coun-
tries also remonetized it. Gold bullion
now being premium of nearly 20 per
cent over silver, if the coinage was free
and unlimited gold would not only cease
to be coined, but all the gold coin in the
country, would at once go out of cirCu
lation.
The director of the mint has recently
stated that the total amount of gold coin
and bullion in the country available for
currency was about 800, 900, 900, while
that of silver was a little over $500, 000,-
600. How long do you suppose this gold
would be available as money, with a
premium on it in the worlds market of
10 or even ) per cent. If we adopt free
and unlimited coinage of silver we GER
tainly run the risk of losing every dollar
of our gold What would we gain by it
anyway. Under the present compulsory
law we are coming all the silver our
country produces.
The history of our coinage goes to
show that under free and unlimited
coinage. it is practically impossible to
keep the two metals at par with each
other in circulation as money when !
the bullion in the dollar of one metal, is |
at premium over the bullion In the
other metal. Previous to 1878, when |
silver was demonetized by our govern |
ment, the silver bullion il the dollar |
was at premium over the gold bullion |
in the dollar, as a result but very few |
silver dollars were coined. For thirty |
years not a silver dollar was coined. |
During eighty years under free and I'M |
limited coinages only about $685., 900 |
silver dollars were coined. While under |
the present compulsory coinage laws, |
we are coming more than that amount |
every two months, and about So, 000, 900 !
a year.
Mr.. Lockwood attempts to answer
what is called an objection to free coin |
age that would make this country the |
dumping ground for the silver of the !
world. Ii we are to have free coinage |
it will be lucky thing for this country |
if the silver would come here; for under |
the present compulsory law, we are con- |
verting into money more silver than the |
produces, and as we are certain |
to lose in single day nearly twice the |
amount in gold available for money |
than there is of silver in the whole coun-
try, we shall need all the silver the |
world can send US, to take its place, and |
then we will not have half enough.
Your correspondent says: Another |
objection that has been urged against |
free and unlimited coinage of silver is |
that II would fard To incraaSa larrelv |