Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1893-08-17
THE SILVER STRUGGLE.

The SILVER SlHlbbLL'
A few days since the News In
answer 10 a correspondent gave the
total product Of silver In tho United
States by years from 1870 up to and In
elusive Of 1891, the figures for 1892 not
being Mt hand. Those are bs,O00,0OO
ounces Of refined bullion. The yield
Of gold during the same time was
100000 ounces. While the ratio ~
TO weight Il about 10 TO I, IL will be OBJ
served that the values, estimating the
gold at $50 an ounce and this silver NJ
the wnll street price, are nearly
equal. This on the face Of II would
show that exlsting conditions are
proper-that the law Of nature which
hedges the metals with protection
through scattering them and making
their production difficult agrees with
the plan OF the monometallisis
in making or trying to make the
present silver dollar worth little less
than fny cents In comparison with
gold. This IL a conclusion reached by
20 arranging the premises that II IA
inevitable, but Il Ia unnatural aud
Illogical.
II IL the morost absuriliy 10 profess
willingness that bimotalllsm con.
tinuo in this country and base thu
ratio OF the coins upon no shifting aud
uncertain measure rs yearly produce
tion. What n another California
should be- discovered and the single
gold standard continue-every ounce
OF silver In the county would at once
begin to appreciate and keep on appre-
ciAting until the gap between the
metals would be- 40 narrow ~ TO DO
practically indlstinguishabls, and then
probably turn the other way. This
for two reAsons-silver mining would
bo neglected and the visible sup.
ply would be constantly undergoing
diminution rather than increase, while
the gold product would steadily ad.
vance. The standard would, according
to tho monometalllsls, have to shill
accordingly; and to assert that the
government could continually change
Its measurements OF coinage 10 keep
pace with supply and demand would
DO 10 assert RTrant nonsense. IL would
not only bs utterly impraoticable, but
would make values Of all kinds 10 un.
stable II 1t could be- done that we would
be worse OF than ever--a condition
which radical monometallism in n
country which produces large guam
titles OF and has always used both the
money metals must inevitably bring
us to.
We cannot with safety base our cir.
eulAtion upon either metal to the ex.
olusion OF the other, ami the volume
OF business transactions even exclusive
OF sxohange balances is 30 much greater
than any one kind OF money we pos
seas that we must either have more
than one kind, resort 10 fictitious
money In the shape Of paper OF various
kinds, or suffer the business TO shrink
down to the proportions Of It's life
blood. And to mako ono coin supreme
aud the other with no value but that
which the former reflects upon It, Is to
prolong the prevailing uncertainty be-.
cause Of "a kind VI money that has no
value Of ils own being In circulation
at all. Unless, we repeat, silver can
be given u place Of it's own-One In
which It will not bo disturbed at least
for some yeaH-there Is no probability
OF the existing order Of things under.
going any change tina, is worth men
tijring.
tits proper that this matter be- dis.
cussod far aud Wide, but Il ought to be-
discussed dispatslonateiy and Ia the
Light OF reason aud existing oonil.
tons. Butthc very desporstcuess Of
and speakers desperate aud thus
they iujure th5 cause more than
they eau ever repair in some cases.
When We read or hear such argu,
menta II seems as though no COM
promise could be hal, the extremes AT,
~ iar apart, But We have great hopes
of ConRress aud faith in the admins
tratlon. Speeches like those Of Vesl
Ia The Senate aud Bryan the Hous.
ore opening the eyes Of the East to IN,
merits OF the silver cause. And whet
we add to this the declaration by III,
Atlanta Journal the Secretary OF th,
Interiors paper aud aquasi edministln
A.. ,.,,,.t, ia. E.v,r a. FIRE poluuuy Al