The weekly intelligencer., 1891-03-21
SILVER COMA CONVERSATION.

SlLN En- COlN-A tON ' EhSAllON.
A and b met on the street and after
an interchange of the days compliments
they drifted into conversation upon
the great question of the free coinage
of silver.
81 don't believe in it" said B. Gas
soon as you pass law providing fol
the free and unlimited coinage of silver
you open the doors to the entire world,
and this country will be flooded with
cheap silver dollars. Gold. as the nor,
precious metal. will be driven out anG
this country will be left to struggle
alone with Il debased money"
IL do not believe that your fears are
well founded" answered A. "Accord
ing to statisticians, Europe does moi
produce half as much silver as she
consumes in the arts. Her bank re.
serves call for 1929, 900, 900 of her sill
yer coin, and the balance of her bul.
lion, $G75, 200, 900, is in the hands OF
her people. The average ratio of the
European silver coin is little less
than Is . of silver to 1 of gold, while
our ratio is 1898 or about one-half ratio
higher. Hence the amount of silver
contained in the European dollar OF its
equivalent would coin only 96.95 cents
of our standard silver dollar. The loss
to Europe's silver owners, therefore,
would be some S33, 900, 900, besides the
cost of sending the silver here to be
coined.
"But suppose your fears should be
realized, and all the nations of the
earth should send their silver to this
country, what would be the result? Oh
course they would not bring their pre-
cious metal-for silver is precious-here
and give it away, they would want an
equivalent. Our stock of gold, which
it is presumed they would first absorb,
amounts to S7O9, 100000. But Europe
has 81, 1O3, 100000 of silver, and for
the balance, 1895, 10000 she would
have to take something else. What
would it be? Wheat, corn, meat, and
manufactured goods-and this country
would soon be enjoying the possession
and use of 81, ,5S9, ,462, 200 of silver coin
and be the richest nation in metallic
currency on the globe, except France.
"But, mind you, the flood wouldn't
stop here. The annual output of sill
yer in the world is, in coin value, about
$3.50, ZOO, 900 of which little over $751;
100000 is produced in this country.
This leaves little overS100, 900, 900 to
be brought here every year to be ex-
changed for our wheat, our corn, our
meats, our manufactured goods-and
what an impetus it would give to busi-
ness. How cherrily would our farmers
resume their work at the plow! How
merrily would spin the wheels of our
manufactures. The very bells that
call industrious labor to its daily toll,
the shrill whistle of the locomotive an
nouncing the coming train, would sing
a refrain of joy, prosperity and CON
tent.
"One hundred and sixty milliondollars
a year! Thus year by year would our
money increase and our prosperitygrow.
Trade and enterprise, no longer shack
eled for the want of funds, would spring
to new life and the young giant of the
western hemisphere would become more
gigantic still"
"But,n said b, show would it be
when we wanted to buy certain articles
from other countriespn
"No trouble about that. We already
sell to other nations about 800, 10000
more goods and supplies year than they
sell to us; hence they will be the ones
concerned about finding suitable
medium of exchange. This would put
Great Britain, Germany and other
European nations in the market as pur-
chasers of silver in order to be able to
buy our goods, and this competition
would almost at once bring silver to a
parity with gold and send it to pre-
MUM. Then, the stimulus that would
be given to silver mining would greatly
increase the production, and all the
great silvery streams would come flow
ing into this country to be exchanged
for our products. In ten years our
money volume would increase to near
ly $4,000, 100000. The United States
would be by all odds the most prosper
Gus nation in the world and it wouldn It
be boarded wealth either. While this
country would be adding to its accu-
mutations of silver coin at the rate of
s160, 900, 900 or over, each year, all the
vast populations of Europe would be
compelled to put up with the pitiful
$50, 0,000,0 ,000- of gold coined each year,
resort to paper money, or undergo a
revolution. I have no fears whatever
of your apprehensions being fulfilled,
for statistics tell me that those coun-
tries that have the most silver coin also
have the largest amount of gold; but
should the free coinage of silver run all
the silver of the world into this country,
even though it also run all the gold out
believe this country would, in ten
years, become the envy of all other
nations, and enjoy such condition of
prosperity as no other country has ever
yet enjoyed within the memory of man. -
.The annual output of gold is sl2l 900 one
half OF which goes into the arts.
THE EAST AND WEST.
The east is the money loaning part of
the United States, while the west is the
money borrowing portion. This is the
great cause of the great cry for free silver