The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1893-06-30
A PARITYFoF GoLDAND SILL
YER. .


A CORRESPONDENT writes that
he hears a great deal about the
parity of gold and silver, and he
wants to know what it means.
1t means making a gold dollar and
. silver dollar equal in value. Ac-
cording to the United States mint
standard, one ounce Of fine gold
is worth $20 6718, or, to drop the
decimal, $2067; while one ounce
of fine silver is placed at vi 1920,
or, simply, $1.29. A gold dollar
contains 1922 grains Of the yell
low metal; silver dollar has 37I.-
25 grains Of silver. The alloy that
is mixed with the precious metal
has no value. 1t will be seen from
the above that, according to the
standards, gold is abont sixteen
times as valuable as silver. But
since the Sherman silver law,
which requires the Government to
purchase every month 100000
ounces of silver, not to be coined,
but to be stored up in vaults, has
been in operation, silver, instead
of increasing in value, has declined,
30 that an ounce of fine silver, in
stead of being worth $1.29, has
sold in the markets of the world
as low as 83 cents an ounce, and
never since July, 1891, has the
price been as much as 81 per
ounce.
Now. when an ounce Of silver is
worth 81, u silver dollar coin is
only worth ~ cents; but when an
ounce Of silver gets down TO 83
cents, then q silver dollar is worth
only ga cents. Thus it will be
seen that a silver dollar Is no lon
ger worth as much as the mint
standard, and, therefore, silver
dollar Ia not equal in value to a
gold dollar. That is to say, the
parity or equality of the two met
ais is not preserved. Instead OF
gold being only sixteen times rs
valuable as silver, weight for
weight, it is twenty-four times as
valuable, and, therefore, in order
to preserve the parity of the two
metals, the quantity of silver in a
dollar coin would have to be in
creased from 81 grains to 457
grains.
It may be contended that all
that is necessary to give money q
value is for the Government to fix
its stamp on coin, and that set
ties it, so that when the Govern.
ment makes q coin and proclaims
it to be q dollar it is a dollar, nc
matter what may be its weight
or the metal Of which 1t is made
Such a statement may do vel
enough for the people who arr
forced to obey such laws, but sucl
arbitrary regulations have no Of
feet in foreign countries. 1t il
easy enough to pass a 60-cent 0,
an S0-cent dollar on our own peo
pie, but in foreign countries it il
impossible. If the United State
had no business with any foreigl
country we would not care wha
foreigners think of our money, bu
when we are buying and borrowing
to the extent of hundreds of mil
lions abroad every year it become
absolutely necessary to pay at
tention to how foreigners valu
our coins. They will not accsp
our silver, and hence we must pa.
in gold. The result is that on
country is being stripped Of tn
yellow metal, and the Nationa
Treasury no longer possesses tn
gold reserve required by law. Col
is becoming scarcer every day
while silver is getting to be a drug
The parity Of the two metals
practically destroyed now and
this state of things continue som
time longer gold will be held At
premium, as IL was during th
civil war and up to 1877. hefor
specie payment was resumed,-
New Orleans Picayune.