, 1891-02-19
RATES or ADVERrIsINs.
FACTS N FICTION

FACTS AND FICTION
The arguments and facts presented by
the free coinage men before the house
committee on free coinage must result in
calling general public attention to this
great question and eventually bring about
4 better understanding of its importance.
Arguments and statistics have been en-
tiruly on the side of the silver advocates,
while the anti-silver men Lave mainly
confined themselves to unsupported as
s~ertious or predictions of calamsties which
they have been making ever since the
passage OF the Bland bill. 1t was shown
that the prices Of the whole range OF COM
modities had dropped steadily for
the past seventeen years, keeping
pace with the depreciation in silver.
Wheat, fer instance, has fallen from
kI.42 a bushel to 81 cents, although
the increased production of wheat has
only kept pace with the Increased populA-
ton and consequent consumption. 1t
takes three measures of wheat TO secure
the same amount of gold which two meas
ures would secure previous to the demon
etiration of silver III 1873. What is true
OF wheat is equally true of the whole range
of products. This Of itself is sufficient to
prove the advancing value of gold, which
must necessarily imply a contraction Of the
currency, or a currency insufficient for the
monetary uses of the population. When
it is known that the worlds production
of gold is rapidly diminishing while the
worlds business is rapidly increasing re
may well pause to consider whittier We
are drifting
The only argument hat we have seen
advanced by the Anti-silver men is that
the government would now pay 81 for
perhaps 80 cents worth Of silver bullion.
and at such rate the country would be
flooded with foreign silver to use the
phrase Of Senator Sherman, and gold
would thereby be driven out of the coun-
try. As to the latter part of the PROPOSE
ton Senator Sherman made precisely the
same prophecy when the Bland bill went
into effect IN 1878, but notwithstanding
the amount coined since there is a great
deal more gold in the country now
than there was then. As to the
value Of silver bullion measured on a gold
basis the statement is true, but it is
claimed by the silver advocates that the
ONE silver is lifted out of its com-
modify condition and its money function
restored the abnormal value attaching to
gold will be lost and the two metals will
at once stand in their old ratio OF one
ounce Of gold to sixteen OF silver. To
prove this they show by history that
these two metals have been used for
money purposes from time immemorial;
that Notwithstanding extraordinary luctu-
atoms in production the ratio Of value
has been maintained between the two
metals with marvellous uniformity. and
that the improved methods of producing
them. while they have increased the
worlds output, it has only kept pace
with the increasing population and bust
ness of the universe. They show that
at the legal ratio in the United States Of
l 70 10 SILVER oommanieu a premium over
gull in 1878, just previous to the demone-
tiIa'on OF the "hiVe metal n ool'eVe
Z" = sen evident proposition mat 'ne ue-
"ohetizsaon OF S'Ve' 'enucep 'ne o'F'ula-
ung meuium oo per cent 'na' 'nlS ne0eS'
s~rlS increased tue ricnes Oh tue rich eS
increasing the purchasing power oil the
soiu; tna' " pore with CORRESPONDING
aA'snnesS upon Tue ueotor classes oV iofe,
ing 'hem % pay oaek "hat tney borrowed
In ooin "nieh nuu greatly increased ln
VA'ue rom 'ne ume "nen .ney borrowed
J.. Ano lastly thA' II geounu down the pro-
aucinS CLASSES oy iofoinH them 10 eApenu
or the product of labor to secure a dollar