Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-04-16
THE SILVER DOLLAR.
A Practical Answer to an Enquirer Alter
Facts


Facts.
A correspondent sends the following
query to the Press
To the editor of the Press:
SIR do not understand the silver
question as an issue between the two
great parties lam informed that the
present silver dollar is worth only %
cents in the silver markets, and if this
is SO ! desire to know why the same pow
ers that make it pass current for dol
lar could no do the same With the 10
cents so frequently referred to in the
Press. II it is base currency in one case
so it must be to a degree in the other,
Truly yours, Taos. +. TRACY.
Poquonock, Conn, March Il, 1892
The American market price on an
ounce of silver, $50 grains, is SSlf cents,
at which price 4l2l5 grains of silver are
worth about G3 cents.
If our correspondent will remember
that the government is authorized to
buy and issue legal tender notes for
sum not exceeding 100000 ounces Of
silver per month, and that 100000
ounces of silver is very nearly our entire
annual product, he will see that it would
be a very different thing for the govern
ment TO open its mints for the unlimited
free coinage of silver Here are some Of
the points Of difference;
Instead of there being 81 100000 of new
currency issued every year, there would
be -nobody knows how much Our own
silver production would increase with a
rush, and the silver Of the world, repre-
sented by the present price of 63 cents
for 4l215 grain, would, come upon us to
he coined The difference is plain be-
tween a limited supply of currency and
an unlimited supply. The country saw
it before when gold was limited and
greenbacks threatened TO be unlimited
in volume Gold went up or greenbacks
went down; you can put it either way
you wish
Free silverites ask why this would be-
and how tcould be, seeing that Europe
coins silver principally at a ratio Of 1919
to l, and coin it at is to 1. VIII it be
natural they inquire, for Europe to ask
us TO coin it's silver when we require 33
per cent. more silver for equality with a
given amount of gold than they do? The
point is. however, that we have got gold
and England wants gold She wanted it
all last year, and she will want it all the
more if it is locked up and becomes
scarce, as "A consequence Of free coinage
here And Europe viii try by every
means to draw gold away from US, and
when she succeeds gold will 90 up and
silver down TO its intrinsic value. Our
government, Of course, cannot prevent
Europe from doing this cept by a
treaty and this the democratic house
will not let us make
The government can still say, "GOQ
have got to take this 4l2l5 grain dollar
as a dollar And people would have to
take it in payment of their wages. The
merchant and his salesman will take it
with the usual smile and bow and
''thank you II. won't say, we can
allow but 6S cents worth of credit on
that. 1t viii be eaA Ter just to mark the
IS cent goods up to a dollar and not
make any remarks.
The democratic party is in favor Of
this sort Of free and unlimited coinage,
without making first any agreement With
other nations to insure us against for
eign drain Of our gold. The republican
party wants TO make an international
silver treaty, so that the silver question
can be settled on basis of permanent
justice to our wage workers and the
producers of both metals New York
/ Press.