St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-08-19


EDITOR DEMOCRAT:
The exact status Of silver and " hat ii should
be lencetorth, is the alahsOrlng question, not
only OF the people OF this, but OF ali tie leading
COniuCr rci;,i nations.
Our towns and farms are crowded with per
sons who. II IL Congress, could settle tho uIlt.--
ton without difficulty or hesitation. and We
have few who could make millions ont OF no
MjHG and leave enough Of the nothing TO Sub5l-
die he money deficits of foreign powers ami
OF our own people. all the way down tile tram
OF future a2Cs.
have thought the following data might AID
them, or If not them, others, who may not he so
proficient III the sciences Of national iHaucc and
monetary eXpcdicnfs.
The present standard gold dcllar contains
23 % grains pure gold and 2.55 grains OF alloy to
make it hard, which together make 25.6 Grains
of standard gold. The standard dollar Of silver
contains 37l25 grains pure silver and tl.25 grains
OF alloy, or 4l2.5 grains standard silver one
ounce Of pure gold will coin sag Gt, and
ounce of pure silver will coin Il %. Their coin
age ratio, under existing laws, is l to IL. Both
the gold and silver dollars contain Q parts Of
pure metal and Of alloy When Congress once
fixes the ratio OF the two metals it has to
MAN so, as to this government unit! again fixed
by Congress.
Our coinage system was originally established
ny Congress in 1892 at l to Is. In 1851 it was
found necessary to change it by requiring the
gold dollar to contain, what it now contains,
1922 grains of pure metal. Before that it con-
talned 2495 grains, a difference OF l IS grains.
The necessity for changing the coinage ratio
is brought about by the change in the CONNER
clal ratio. II the two could be kept equal, the
coinage standard might not require to be
changed. Congress could continue to coin it
without such serious consequences will al
ways follow. whenever the two values, j. e., the
coinage and the commercial, differ materially.
When the present standard OF the silver dol
lar was established, the commercial ratio was
to 16. Its present value is to II. It is there
fore plain to be seen that to make Il silver dol
lar worth, in the commerce of the world, as
much as a gold dollar, it must contain "a III
stead OF 1t grains for every grain Of gold
ANY one can see that the United states can
not make other nations give lis 1922 grains Of
gold for 371.25 grains of silver when silver is
worth J less in commerce. as Il commodity,
than 1t was when the present standard was Cs
tdbliShed,
The binletalists are unwilling to increase the
quantity OF silver in the coined dollar SO much |
as to make 1t commercially lcorN the present
standard gold dollar. 1t is d fact that i'll the
far West, and anoIg the miners who arc to-day
cIamorng for the unlimited coinage of silver, !
the silver dollar is not as current as the green
is as good as gold, while tho pure metal in the
fol mer is worth III the commercial world only |
81 cents. f. y. {.
The positions of the Louisiana repre- !
sentatlves and Senators on the money !
question, are developing. The New !
York Herald prints these terse inter- |
views with the gentlemen who look |
after the interests of this State:
Mr.. Robertson (Dem.), louisiana" !
am opposed to the unconditional repeal |
of the Sherman law. | am in favor OF !
as outlined in the Demo
cratic platform, and will be found !
by that document all the !
time"
Mr.. Price {Dem.), Louisiana" am
in favor Of the repeal Of it the purchase
clause OF the law, but not prepared to |
say that am in favor of it uncondi- |
tionally until can feel that there will
be some legislation that will give us an !
Increased currency"
Mr.. Meyer Dem.), Louisiana" The
aw is illogical and faulty, and if con-
tinued matters will certainly become
wOrse.7
Mr.. Blanchard (Dem.), louisiana"
stand by the Democratic PLATFORM"
Senator Caitery (Dcm.), Louisiana,
says ho is for the unconditional repeal
)t the law.
Senator White Dem.), Louisiana.-"I
I'm in favor of unconditional rcptal.'
Representative Dayey is also I'D favor
If unconditional repeal and Mr.. Boat
Ter is for conditional repeal