Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-01-03
WHY THE FARMERS WANT sIL
VER

So6O <1csosos COptc0 Ob,
criticising the position taken by the or
gsnized farmers at their conference at
Rock Island. Dec. "a. The grist of the
criticism is that the farmers don't know q
good thing when they see it; that they
don't know what they want. anyhow, and
that they can assign no good reasons for
wanting what they do want.
The conference declared in favor of
| free coinage OF American silver. Says
the Herald. do the farmers want an in.
crease 10 the circulating Medium Ger.
tsinly. by all means. 30 do the people
| engaged in all other kinds of business
and industries. except that small number
who have surplus capital to loan. Leg
islstion. looking towards such an in.
crease. is not. therefore. class legislation,
but is In the direct interests of the peo-
Pile.
Then. says the Herald. we have al
ready law whereby the entire output of
| the American silver mines is sin effect -
utilized as money. and this Is better
scheme than the one the farmers advo-
cate. ct may not be in order to remark
that the Hsrdlds political friends voted
almost solid against this law while on its
passage in congress. Why this change
offrontO But take notice. The pres
ent law requires the treasury to purchase
so much silver bullion at market price.
below fixed limit, and pay for it in Ger
tificates having sll the functions of mon
ey. Very good. But just now, and &C
cording to the Herald. for many years in
the future. enough silver bullion to make
| a standard silver dollar can be purchased
for about 20 cents. In other words, sill
We: bullion, sufficient to coin thousand
standard dollars. is paid for with about
800 worth of certificates. Therefore,
free coinage, the farmers plan. will in
crease the circulation provided for by the
present law about 40 per cent (these fig
ures are given as round numbers not
claiming to be strictly accurlte) II an
increase is desirable, as the Herald does
not venture to deny. the farmers plan is
surely preferable.
But again. The present law is mands-
tory; free coinage may be optional. If
owners OF silver bullion do not choose TO
offer 1t for coinage, no increase of circu
lation can result. But under the present
law. il these owners of silver bullion do
not choose to offer it for sale at the
treasury, no purchases can be made, aud
no certificates issued. Which is the great
er probability that man will seek mar
ket where he can realize 20 cents or one
where he can realize 100 cents for the
same product, Calm yourself ON this
point, MIR. Herald
Again. the product of American
mines may diminish. then the
expansion of the circulation must dwindle
In q n T. = L..
woods we have not access to all desirable
sources of information. but what we have
is TO the effect that the output of the
American silver mines might be largely
increased did the price of the product
warrant it. The present law offers no
inducements to the mine owners to in
crease their product; free coinage will
offer very substantial one.
But, after all, exclsims the Herald in
triumph, farmers have no silver bullion
to carry to the mint, why should they be
interested in furnishing the mine owners
a market for their product at a fancy
price, and thus help to build up another
great monopolyr This question reaches
TO the marrow of the controversy. But
notice first. the clause limiting free coin
age to American silver was inserted to re-
lieve the sntisilver men from the appre.
hension they so often express that with
free coinage all the worlds output of sill
yer will be dumped upon US. and in pay.
ment for il drain us of all our other re-
cources. Such an emergency we can
guard against even il need be by pro.
hibitory tariff.
Now the farmers interest in free silver
is just excactly this. and. by the way, the
farmers interest is no greater than that
of the laborer. the tradesmsn or the man
ufacturer, except in so far as these may,
and often do. combine so as to IL the sell
ing price of their products, and thus
maintain their profits which the farmer
cannot do. The price the farmer receives
for his products is not determined alto.
getber by the law of supply and demand.
but also, and more potentially by the
value OF the money he receives in ex-
change. He may not know. or may not
realize that the dollar b, receives today
is of different value from the one he re-
reived 10 or 20 years ago. We are liable
to forget that the unit of value, called
dollar. is so many grains of gold. of
certain fineness. and that gold is COM
modify, like wheat, and tiuctuates in val
| ne according to the law of supply and
demand. This unit of value has been
unchanged for many years. while the
worlds product of gold has increased at
a much smaller ratio than has the worlds
population wealth and business. Hence
the supply of gold is relatively smaller
while the demand for gold. and the uses
of 1t are relatively greater. Therefore gold.
being scarce, is approaching in value, and
thus the farmer in exchang ing wheat or
| other product must furnish larger
amount of product to obtain the same
number of dollars. Right here is the
cause of the shrinksge of values so no.
ticesble all along the line.
Some one may say what's the difference.
II the dollar the farmer gets for his
wheat is worth more it will buy more,
and so he comes out even. But he don't
come out even. for if there were
no trusts or combines to interfere. yet the
farmer neither fixes the price OF what he
has to sell. OF of what he must buy. He
takes what is offered. and pays what is
asked. So, in the exchange. all costs of
transportation and handling, all profits of
trade and commerce, all risks and losses
are charged up to the farmer, and COL
lected also, for he can't help himself
And these charges do not decrease with
the decline In the value of his product
Besides the farmer does not want to spend
all his earnings. He should lay by per-
centage of his receipts against a rainy
day, and this decline in the price of his
product is taken out of what should be
surplus. Free silver coinage. and il a full
legal tender. comes in here To check this
advance in the value of money. It
means to the farmer better prices for his
products. This means to the laborer
more work and better wages. This means
increased activity in all dedartments of
trade and commerce, and this means in
dividusl and national prosperity. If so
be it that the silver mine owners are ben
Gifted and even made wealthy, yet the
greater good to the greater number, re.
sulting therefrom, is ample justification.
We have not space to enlarge upon the
self-evIdent deduction from the forego ng
premises that an increase in the value of
money means . corresponding increase In
the burden Of every debt. The federal