The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1893-03-04
WHY is GOLD LEAVING US9
We have the tremendous advantage

WHY is GOLD LEAVING US2
We have the tremendous advantage
over Europe that she can not raise
enough to feed her people and this gives
ducts. Butthe amount that she must take
and that w have to spare is too large
to he paid for in money, and we take in
payment, bonds and stocks that we sold
to Europe when we were poorer, and
manufactured goods. The balance be-
tween Europe and America when paid
in money will be paid in gold, whether
it goes from them to us or from us to
them, simply because gold is less bulky
to handle than silver.
But n.this trade all the commodities
are first reduced to II money value and
are bought and sold on that basis. 1t
makes no difference what we callthe
pieces of money. But when money is
scarce a given quantity of it will buy
more bushels or pounds Of food products.
we say then that food products are low
in price. When money is plenty agiven
quantity of it will buy less of food pro-
ducts and we say corn, wheat and meats
are high. Naturally then when we
cease to use silver and depend on gold
alone we can expect that our food pro-
ducts will be low and if we used gold
and silver both they would be higher.
The decentralization of silver must
tend to put down the prices of our food
products that we trade to Europe, and
when the balance is against her it will
take less gold to pay. that balance and
we will get less gold than if money were
more plenty and our prices higher.
But there has been another and a
special cause why our. prices are low
and why gold leaves US. When the
price of silver bullion began to fall it
was a great loss to Asia in settling her
balances with Europe. 1t was especial
ly disastrous to India to have to pay
London debts on the basis of the London
value of her silver currency on a bullion
valuation. Hence India had to bestir
herself to pay her balances to England
in some other way. She went to raising
wheat and shipping it to England, and
every effort has been made also to in
crease the supply Of cotton from India
and Egypt. THE very name of cotton,
cloth, Calico" is from India, Calicut,
i. e. Calcutta.l These products raised
by the cheapest labor in the world met
ours in the markets of Europe and ours
at once began to fall in price from the
competition in quantity and from the
low cost of production in India and
Egypt. The reader can now see that
the total value of u exports to Europe
whether the quantity continues the
same or not in bushels or pounds) shows
Il smaller amount of money due Amer
lea for her exported products. We can
see this in Lafayette county. Some
years ago this county sold out of it,
above what we used at home, a million
bushels of wheat at a dollar a bushel.
will say. If that can be repeated by a
thousand counties We would export a
thousand million bushels and get a
thousand million dollars. This would
be paid mainly in goods, in bonds for
merly sold to Europe and the balance in
gold, at the rate of q dollar for every
bushel. But under Indian competition
we get fewer goods for the same num-
Der of bushels exported, and the balance
in our favor grows less and the stream
of gold coming this way grows smaller.
Finally it ceases, as prices of our pro-
ducts go down and at last, when wheat
is down to half a dollar and cotton to
six cents the money value Of them is so
small compared to the money value Of
what W. get from Europe that the
balance is against us and we must pay
it in gold, and thus gold goes abroad.
The coinage of silver not only does not
drive out gold but the above shows that
il we would coin all the silver that our
people need for home use it would raise
the price of silver all over the world and
India bills of exchange in London
would be worth so much more based on
silver, would be so much higher that
the growing of wheat in India would be
less profitable than the growing of trop-
ical products. And thus the COMPETE
ton would be reduced in quantity and
the price raised. Even if the quantity
were the same, if India continued to
send wheat in the same amounts as
before, It would be quoted higher in
money value and so would ours. So
the way to stop the outgo of gold to
Europe is to take care of our W silver,
as the constitution provides, by coming
it for the owners. when they want 1t
coined, just as we do with gold.
There is no man in a bank who does
not know that We can do it, for bankers
all know by experience the tremendous
power Of the country to absorb silver.
We are bringing it in all the time but
never send any back to the money n
tiers. 1t is a puzzle to us what becomes
of it and I often talk with other bankers
about it. The people keep it, and have
faith in it.
AS an example L might sum up this
way:
Export to Europe q hundred
million bushels at one dollar. 500, 900 600
Needed from Europe and re-
ceived as imported goods ..... 10000, 900
Balance paid US In gold 10000, 900
Now compare this:
Exported one hundred million
bushels at half q dollar each. 700, 000, 600
European prices remaining the
same, we need and take goods. 10000, 900
Balance against us $40, 900 600, pay
able in gold. So gold goes out.
The astounding thing to me is that
any American should be so blind or SO
unpatriotic IS to favor putting down the
prices in which we quote what we sell
to Europe while what she sends us
the same. Especially does each
and every interest coupon held against
us in Europe stay at the same figure
our products fall.
Tie Bland-Allison law coming silver
dollars brought gold back to us, but the
Sherman law buying bullion and issuing
paper money on it drains it out. For
the coinage into dollars permits our
country to absorb the silver; it is in use,
busy, out Of the bullion market, no one
wants to sell it as bullion. But the
piled up i'll the treasury is a
menace to the bullion market for Europe
faorS that wa will adOnt the GOLD stand |