The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-07-03
no,xrrn orrsrIoNs oN sILvER.

| If.be Government will put silver enough into
| adollar or combine with other NATIONS 10 hx
/ ratio between gold and silver 80 a. 20 make we
] silver dollar worth Que huhdreu cents IN
! I1,rrq hssno objection to the unlimited coinage
| of these silver dollars.-IIMEs' June 10, lsSs.
Kindly enlighten tyro and possibly the
nnblic bv being more specific on the silver
I dollar question.
First II change from present ratio Of 16 70
/ what-20 10 l or - TO !. as at present OF
WHAT and give reasons tor particular ratlo
seIected If % TO be chosen. then your Sill
var dollar contains 5g3 instead of 4l2.5 grains.
In the past few weeks silver has varied from
e5i( 10 gO an ounce. or per cent. How would
vonr scheme TO make silver equal 70 gold dol
lars fit in with such fluctuations
Second. Suppose. after MAKING silver equal
10 gold dollars. silver rises. what them for
many years silver dollars were never seen OK
cept as rarities. because they were worth
more than gold dollars While permanent
aopreciation above present market ratio OF
n 10 | is not probable it is possible,
90 should SOB grains silver dollars become
worth five or ten cents more than gold dol
lars. what is TO become Of the silver dollars
No doubt these questions border on the
puerile, but they are perplexing to
There was in TIE TINES Of June 18th an ar
ticle on silver which, we think, demonstrated
the impossiDility Of an absolutely fixed ratio
between gold and silver Of any permanenoe
We abandon. therefore. the hope of doing
more in this respect in the future than has
been done in the thousand or more years
past and that is changing the ratio from time
10 time az may be necessary TO effect an APP
proximate parity in value Of the silver and
gold money.
We adhere to the belief that gold in itself
is the monetary standard Of value of the
great financial and commercial nations Of the
world. This is simply fact, no matter how
unreasonable it may seem to some minds
The question, therefore, is. how much metal
is necessary 10 make silver dollar of equal
intrinsic value with the gold dollar? This
valuation at one time may speedily be
changed by reason Of the cost Of pro-
duction or the law Of demand and supply.
The international agreement and fiat Of gov
eminent can hold silver up TO some extent if
it is overvalued that is if the metal in a
silver dollar is worth less than the metal in a
gold dollar but no such agreement or fat can
keep silver dollars in circulation If they
should become more valuable than gold dol
lars. They will disappear hereafter as they
have done heretofore.
At best the establishment Of s. ratio be-
tween gold and silver is an experiment and
one likely to be repeated from time to time.
All that bimetallists can insist upon is:
LIST. That there is not enough gold TO fur
nish the necessary money for the world.
I'd. That silver is an established money
metal and must be used TO supplement the
deficiency Of gold.
3D. That the ratio of value between silver
and gold must be fixed with gold as a stan
dard and with reference 10 the intrinsic
market value Of the metals.
4th. That stability can best be obtained by
international agreement.
9th. That no permanent stability Of ratio
can be expected. but that this is not so essen
tial as to prevent the use of both metals.