Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1892-12-28
Single Gold Standard.

Melinda Sissins in National Econo-
mist: The Iron Age places the entire
national, state, county, and municipal
and other public Indebtedness, together
with all private debts, at S27'969, 2l7.-
Ol9. To say that the total amount will
now reach $50, 900 600 600 is not far out
of the way. The annual interest on
this sum at 4 per cent, which is a low
estimate, amounts to 81 200 ,000, 900.
which must be paid each year out Of
the products of labor. The payment Of
this vast sum becomes more oppressive
from the fact that portion of the pub
lie Indebtedness is payable only in gold,
and also portion OF the private debts,
as money lenders now demand gold
clause in their mortgages. The effect
of this is to create great demand for
gold, which has resulted in making its
market value reach as high as % per
cent premium above the average value
of labor'S products, which are measur-
Ell by silver, the money of the world.
Therefore to pay this annual interest
of 81 200 coo under gold standard
of payment the farmer must sell % per
cent more of his products, and the wage
Garner must give % per cent more days
of labor to make up this extra premium
to get the gold. This premium on ST.
200, 0O0,0 600 of annual interest amounts
to $500 ,000, 600, which added to the an
nual interest makes total 81, 800, OO0,-
600 to be raised from labor each year:
and, further, when the principal of $50
600, 900 600 is paid, the % per cent must
be added, making it S37 500 ,O0O, 900.
These destructive effects upon all pro-
ducers in debt arise from the demone-
tization Of silver in 1878, when the legal
tender quality of silver was destroyed,
and the government stopped its coinage
which is the present case under the sill
yer bill passed in 1890. At that time
gold was also made the only unit of
value, a quality that silver had enjoyed
for eighty one years. We have shown
that this gold premium of % per cent,
has been added to all gold bearing obi
cations. But they will tell us that the
gold bearing obligations form but a
small part of the $4,000, 600, 600; yet,
notwithstanding they are not all paya-
BILE in gold, the debtor has to pay this
difference on every dollar of the $50
600 600, 900 for the reason that he has to
sell his products, or his days labor, on
a silver basis, which is today So
cents on the dollar, that being the
present price on silver bullion.
Silver is the money of the world; Thence
all products are sold on a silver basis
while our debts are largely paid out on
a gold basis. To show this, out of a
total population of the world of about
l 400, 100000 only 90,OOO,0OO, or about
one fifteenth, live in countries where
gold alone is legal tender; $4,000, 600,
or about One-seventh, live where gold
and silver are both legal tender, while
the balance, or over three-fourths, use
silver alone.
Hence it follows that, while the debt
or class of the world must sell their
products on silver basis-the price of
silver bullion and all other products
beng the same-the creditor or bocd-
holding classes have succeeded,
in large bondholding governments, in
making debts payable on gold stand
ard of payment, which IS 80 per cent.
above the present price of silver and all
products. They have done this 10y
abolishing the free and unlimited coin
age of silver, thereby placing capital
| above labor.