The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-10-23
THE TRUE ISSUE.

The True Contention of ssThe People,
They Demand the Free Coinage of Silver
In Order to Get on the Gold Basis and
Arrest the Depreciation In the Value Of
Their Property.
have been entertained, and, must
confess, considerably amused by a per-
usal of the article from the pen of 81.
Nv. Wheeler, of Seattle, Wash, as pub
lished in your journal of August Is,
under the caption: Free Coinage of
Silver VS.. National Bank Circulation. I"
Mr.. Wheeler not only puts the people
in false position, and volunteers to
formulate for them unsound premises,
but he illogically reasons from his as
sumed premises to unsound and false
conclusions. Trusting that the Ameri-
can Banker is willing to give to both
sides OF controversies fair hearing, 1
offer few ideas in defense of free coin
age and the peoples demands. Mr..
Wheeler says that money is ''a COM
modify, established as medium of ex-
change, the value of which has been
fixed by the commercial world, ETC." Is
not Mr.. Wheeler mistaken? Is money
a commodity? And is not the value of
money affixed by law? Is it possible
that all the standard authorities and
the supreme court of the United
States are at fault in this mat
ter? l assert that the value of
money is an ideal thing, a legal
fiction. Mr.. Wheeler then says that
1.-THE basis of which money is gold,
and by this the value of every article
OF commerce and trade is fixed, and
this is true of silver, whether bullion
or coin, etc" Indeed! Suppose during
the next panic which takes place in
India Mr.. Wheeler should go over
there and try to borrow silver money
upon gold collateral. Could he do it?
No indeed. Why not? Because gold
is not legal tender in payment of debt
in India Legal tender is the essence
OF money value Mr. Wheeler recog-
nizes this fact in his remarks about
wheat, which will notice further on.
But would Mr.. Wheeler have us under
stand that during our entire history
prior to 1873 we had no money? He
will, during that period covering
about eighty years. seek in vain for
gold basis" How, then, and why did
gold become the basis? If Mr..
Wheeler will reflect he may conclude
that law, and not the commercial
world, fixed both the basis and the
value thereof.
Mr.. Wheeler, in the course of his ar
ticle, in discussing the national bank
ing question and the demand of the
people that the national banking sys-
tenn be abolished, has touched upon
the leading vital issues between the
people and the plutocracy, to wit: The
value of money as affected by its vol
ume and the rate of interest it bears,
and the relative merits of the policies
OF leaving the regulation of such value
in the hands of individuals and corpora
tions, or restoring such regulation to
those whose sole prerogative it is-the
people through their congress. But
Mr.. Wheeler disingenuously attempts
to place the people in a false light as
regards their contention in this behalf,
by assuming for them that the chief if
not the sole desire animating them in
their demand for the free coinage of
silver is an imitation of the volume of
currency and (what Mr.. Wheeler ap-
pears to think would follow reduc-
ton of the rates of interest. In this
Mr.. Wheeler is not only disingenuous,
but he betrays therein ignorance of the
laws of finance. The people answer,
first, that they demand the restoration
of silver to its money functions and
the privilege of free coinage in order
to treble what fnanciers are wont to
call the "basis" or standard of value"
which, under the existing system,
measures labor and all it's products by
the value of metal or commodity, the
supply of which is constantly and
steadily decreasing in the face of rap
idly increasing population and volume
of domestic exchanges. The people
want to get off a gold basis" which
means to them declining prices for
land, labor and all products; ruin,
bankruptcy, despair and obliteration.
Second, the people know, and Mr..
Wheeler ought to know, that an in
crease in the volume of money, up to
certain limit, would have tendency to
raise rather than lower interest rates
The reason is plain-mOre money, more
business; more business, more demand
for money; increased demand for mon
ey, higher rates of interest. During
periods of general depression and fall
ing prices people dare not borrow mon
ey to invest. Besides, increased vol
ume of money means higher prices for
labor and commodities. Six per cent,
with wages at one dollar per day, is
better than eight per cent. with wages
at one dollar and a-half day. An in
creased volume of money would help
those now in debt Coupled with a
lower rate of interest it would not only
help them but all future posterity.
The alliance intends to have both
more money and lower interest.
Mr.. Wheeler quotes Senator Stewart
as follows: 1.-THE government does not
buy gold; it coins it for the owners of
the bullion to furnish money for the
people" Commenting upon Senator
Stewards statement Mr.. Wheeler says:
Suppose silver was coined in the same
manner, what would it be worth? Sim
ply what the law of supply and demand
would fix upon it in gold, and the price
of coined silver would fucuate in the
market the same as silver bullion does
to-day" Here Mr.. Wheeler is wrong,