The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-04-30
years named

The adoption of free coinage for silver
would simply make gold an article of
merchandise. 1t would drive the one
hundred millions of gold coin to pre-
MUM, and replace the gold standard by
the silver standard OF the purchasing
power of onlyabout 76 cents to the dollar.
There are certain principles which are
as we'll established as the law of right
and wrong in human conduct, which
have largely been lost sight of in the
silver discussion, but which nevertheless
govern our currency. We will enumer-
ate some of these:
First-A government cannot create
money out of anything which it may
choose to call money.
Second-No law can create absolute
value. 1t may give promissory value,
but that is all.
Tnird-All classes of people, rich and
poor. workingman and employer, are
better off with q sound and stable cur
rency than with any variety of cheap
currency. i'
Fourth-No part of the people can be
benefibted or injured by changes in the
monetary standard, without cores
ponding injury or benefit to all the rest.
Fifth-As the bulk of the business of
the country (by this we mean wholesale
transactions) is transacted upon credit,
anything which tends to disturb or to
threaten disturbance, of the standard
of value cripples credit and demoralizes
all buiness.
Sixth-In every instance in history in
which the finance of the nation have
been disturbed by changes or threatened
changes in the standard of value, the
poor always suffer, while the wealthy
can gaurd against these changes, and
consequently can reap the benefit
Seventh-A government cannot make
an inferior form of money equal in value
to a superior form. Or, to make prac.
tical application Of the above, the gov
ernment cannot make the silver dollar
equal in valve TO the gold dollar simply
by passing an act for that purpose
which free coinage unlimited legal
tender law would be. g-
Why can it not do this? For the
simple reason that the superior form OF
money, gold, costs more than the in.
ferior form, silver, and it is this cost
which constitutes its value as medium
OF exchange. The kind of money that
every man wants is the kind that will
buy the most of things that he needs
that is, that which has the greatest
purchasing power.
To adopt free coinage for silver, with
unlimited legal tender powers, would
mean cheap money. 1t would be jus,
the same as taking the gold dollar and
reducing it by cutting off one.q quarter o.
the metal. By "cheap money" in thil
connection is not meant lower interes
rate, as some seem to think. The only
man who is benefited by change K
cheaper money is the man who is il
debt. But to the average man, to wag,
earuers OF every kind, such q chang,
means greatly increased cost of living
with no increase of income. The work
ingmsn would receive the same number
of dollars per week as wages, but th,
purchasing power Of each dollar woult
be less and If he has debts, the depre
citation of his debts will by NO means b,
the same as that of his wageg. Suppose
for example, he is receiving 81 900 wage
per year and that he owes 81 900. A re
duction of 20 per cent in the value o
money would cut his wages down 20 pc
cent in purchasing power each year
Every year that he labors at that rate. b,
win lose 5000 in the purchasing power o
his wages, while his debt is cut dowI
800 but once. Hence he is the loser II
the long run.-Tolsdo Blade.
Simmons Liver Re0ulafor curas cen