Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-09
THE MONEY QUESTION.
An Address by the National Executive
Silver Committee.


that there can be no adequate final So
luton Of the money question but by
re-endowing silver with the money
function, and making silver coins stand
ard money coequal with gold for all
money used. The present policy of
making subsidiary money of silver to be
redeemed in gold, and OF piling higher
the fabric OF credit and credit money on
the constantly diminishing basis Of gold,
is unsound and unsafe and must end.
The enormous increase in bank credits
and other forms of credit currency in
recent years, relatively to the volume OF
gold in which they are ultimately re-
deemed, imperils financial stability
everywhere and is standing menace to
all business enterprise; tor, panics must
occur more certainly and frequently and
be more disastrous. What is wanted is
more standard money relatively to
credit and credit currency; broader
basis of primary money, and not a
higher superstructure of credit devices.
| This can be secured only by. making
silver and gold coequal as money metals.
with the coinage OF both on eqnal terms.
The act of July IA, 1890, as inter-
preted by the treasury department, un-
der which 1900, 900 ounces of silver are
bought monthly and stored as collateral
security for notes redeemable in gold,
makes no addition to the standard
money, while it raises higher the fabric
of credit on a foundation growing mar
rover. This addition to the currency
volume might as we'll be of greenbacks
as in the form now given it. 1t requires.
| therefore, no extraordinary financial
acumen to foresee that this condition
will not long be maintained. The plain
solution of the difficulty is the full
monetization OF the silver accumulated
under the act, to the end that this and
all the silver anybody may choose to de-
vote to monetary use may go to swell
| the volume of money for the final re-
demption of all other kinds of currency.
The facts upon which the bimetallist
bases his conclusions are indisputable.
The arguments by which they are estab-
tablished are unanswerable. The facts
are that the supply of gold is admittedly
| Inadequate to provide for the worlds
need OF money; that many times more
people are made to use gold exclusively
as standard money than in 1873. The
production of gold is diminishing, while
population, wealth, commerce and con-
sumption in the arts are rapidly in
creasing. The increase in the demand
for the arts and dentistry in the United
| States alone being sufficient to absorb,
according to the report OF the director of
the mint, in ten years more than the en-
tire gold product of this country. That
the value of gold under these influences
| ia largely increased, and must continue
to increase, and prices as certainly fall
is manifest. What fraudulent pre-
tense, in view of these facts, to insist
that gold alone is the stable or honest
money standard What else than foolish
homage to knavery is the babble about
"honest money" and "short dollars u
which constitutes SO large a part of the
stock of answers to the demand for free
bimetallic coinage.
Nothing is more absurd or ridiculous
than to claim that shapeless lump o.
silver to which monetary use is denied,
measures the value of silver coin which
has monetary use added to what every
other use silver may be applied. Gold
if treated as silver has been, would act
in the same way. Ii since 1873 both
metals had been accessible for money
uses, as for indefinite ages before,
the annual addition to the metallic
stock of money for the world would have
been somewhat less than from 1849 to
1873, but would probably have been suf-
ficient to have maintained a reasonable
stability in the value of standard money.
So now, while it is certain that gold will
continue to increase in value and prices
measured by gold continue to fall, it is
reasonably certain that the supply oi
both metals will be sufficient to main
tain stable relations between money and
commodities, and thus secure the in
dustrial world what it has sorely lacked
since 1873.
The bugaboo of foreign silver coming
here no longer alarms intelligent men.
Under free coinage silver would be $l.29
an ounce here; it is $1.3S in India, and
with open mints would be $1.33 in the
states of the Latin union, which is the
value of all the coined silver OF Europe.
The requirements of England and the
continent for silver to pay balances TO
the east would not be materially
changed, whether the profit of the diff
ference between $95 and $1.3S were
made on silver sent there or only the
difference between $1.29 and $1.38. In.
dia absorbed quite as much silver in the
years before the fall of silver here as
since then, and will continue to absorb
both gold and silver, but whether oul
silver goes abroad at $.95 or 81 20, il
quite material to this country, not only
from the direct loss on exported silver
but in the far greater loss sustained in the
price of wheat, cotton and their manu-
factured products, which have and viii
follow closely the rise and fall of silver
bullion, for reasons often explained.
wheat at the present time is less inau.
enced by the price of silver bullion thar
cotton, it is due directly to the failure o
the crop in Europe.
Ii the value of silver here should fal
| to $50 an ounce, as probably it would /
! demonetized as the gold monometalist
would have it, while its purchasin,
power among two-thirds of the popula
tion of the globe continues at from $l.3
to ST. 4S, then the production OF silver il
, this country should be made a crime, al
: its continual production and sale her,
; at low price, while used in other coun
tries at high price, would be destruc
tive of our agricultural and manufactur
ing interests.
The silver question, therefore, is 81
{ issue and one that vitally concerns tn
welfare, not only of the industrial classes
but of the business men generally, an
, it will not down at the bidding of an,
!, party, nor can it be ignored or lodged
5 il ia a living issue and must be met an