The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1891-06-11
What is a Ailver Dollar

The discussion of the silver question
at the court house last Fridoy evening
brough hit some important phases of the
money problem into notice, but can
hardly be said to have settled any of
them.
The first speaker was MIR. Turrell,
who talked about silver from the bust
ness point of view, without any poll
tics in it, as he claimed that no party
had as yet made free coinage an issue,
except the alliance party. The bullion
value of silver dollar being 70 cents
at this time, re-coinage would simply
mean that the government undertook
to pay 70 cents for every dollars worth
of silver owned by the silver barons-
as about twenty men practically con-
trolled the silver output of the United
States. Not only would it pay premi-
UNI to this class, but the natural law
of demand and supply would bring
the silver of the whole world to a mar
ket which offered so much more than
it's intrinsic value as bullion. By the
same memorable law, gold would dis
appear from circulation here. This
would make money plentiful here, and
help the debtor classes pay their debts
in deprecated coinage, but it would
be easy for capitalists to stipulate that
all future loans be paid on gold bas-
Is, which they would be very apt to
do. In the end the people must be
taxed to pay this premium to the own
ers of silver, and he thought the con-
sequences of absolute free coinage of
silver would be disastrous to the pros
perity of the whole country.
President Lankerd followed, taking
up the relative values of gold and sill
yer as his theme. He aptly compared
the fluctuations in the values of the
two precious metals to the relative val
ues of wheat and oats. At one time
bushel of wheat might be worth four
of oats, at another time less than three.
He thought the superiority of gold ov-
or silver in the markets of the world,
consisted in its stability, and the great
labor necessary to obtain it, as COM
pared with silver. He also called atten-
ton to the large amount of gold which
was being drawn from this country to
foreign nations at this time, the bal
ance of trade being greatly against US,
whereas in former years it had been
slightly in our favor. This he .attri-
buted to financial stringency abroad,
but thought that free coinage would
increase the balance against us, and be
disastrous to Americas becoming the
great trading center of the worlds
commerce.
President Lankerd next called upon
G. P. Greene, who was present in the
audience. Mr.. Greene disclaimed any
preparation for talking on the subject
of silver coinage, but approved of the
statements made by the preceding
speakers. Continuing, he touched up
the history of coinage in general, and
reminded the audience that gold had
been demonetized by the Latin con-
gress at one time, in an arbitrary
fashion, and afterwards when the Ne
vada silver mines flooded the markets
that this same congress had renon-
cited gold and demonetized silver in
the same arbitrary way, as the speaker
contended, in each case to prevent the
laboring classes from profting over
the capitalists by these fluctuations in
the abundance of gold or silver. The
speaker denounced both these metals,
asserting that men were worshipping
gold now to more corrupting degree
than in the time of the golden calf.
A free discussion followed, the ques-
tons being asked, what fixed the value
of a silver dollar, and whether the
stamp Of the mint gave it its value
The answers made to this were vari.
/ .
Gus and not'wholly satisfactory, some