The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-06-28

wheat in New York, 1ss1-1s90, was
eL16. The average gold cost Of 70
pounds of wheat in India was 31.OS.
plus 10 cents freight, makes price in
Liverpool s1.9o. Average price of -
pounds Of wheat in New York, $1.16,
plus 81 cents freight. makes price in
Liverpool 81. 1917, which lacks but half
. cent bushel of bringing theory and
practice together. If each farmer will
multiply by 90 cents the aggregate
number of bushels of wheat sold by
him in the ten years, he can see just
how much he has been damaged by
silver demonstration.
All this is merely preliminary to the
statement that those best posted in
monetary matters assert that were the
Sherman silver bullion purchasing act
repealed, and no free coinage measure
substituted therefor, the price of silver
bullion would go down to 60 cents, and
perhaps even as low as SO cents an
ounce. This would, of course, greatly
intensity the evil conditions now exist
ing, and would further depreciate the
already ruinously low price of wheat
and cotton.
So, then, it appears that so long as
India remains upon silver basis, the
United States, in self defense, must
adopt the free and unrestricted coinage
of silver, to the end that the low price
of silver may not prove the source of
the spoliation and ruination of the
American farmer. Either India must
adopt the gold standard or the United
States must accord to silver free and
unrestricted coinage. For the United
States the evils connected with partial
metallism have less terrors than those
directly consequent upon the entire de-
monetization of silver. India, with her
silver basis, forms an almost unsur-
mountable obstacle in the way of the
United States adopting a rational, scien-
tific, American monetary system.
What, then, can we do? We can do
this: Supplement our volume of gold
and silver money with an additional
volume of absolute full legal tender pa
per money, which shall be not prom
Use to pay, but a promise to receive, and
shall not be redeemable in any other
kind of money. Reinforce and support
our monetary system with an act of
congress providing that as fast as we
lose metallic money by export, there
shall be issued an exactly equal amount
of absolute legal tender paper money
to take it's place, and thus render the
pernicious fallacy of metallism power
less to work any harm. This is the
scientific solution of the problem in the
interest of the wealth producers
George c. Ward, in Topeka Kan Ad-
vocate.
For some time past have been con-
WINGED that some sort of tabulated
statement should be formulated, cover
ing a period of years, and showing the
price of wheat in England, India and
the United States and the relation
borne to such price by the steady de-
probation in the market price of silver
bullion. The foregoing excerpt is the
result of an effort on my part to fill
'long felt want
Not more than forty-eight hours had
elapsed from the time l sent to the Adj
vocate the copy for the article from
which the foregoing is an extract until
became convinced that there were
serious errors in the article. I wrote
at once for the return of the copy, but
too late, as the matter was already in
the forms and partly run off.
! / erred, first in the matter of freight
per bushel from New York to Liver
pool. For the last two or three years
it has been my luck to always pick up
and examine publications emanating
from the bureau of agriculture, wherein
freight from New York to Liverpool
was quoted at from ~ to 81 cents per
bushel. But, happening to get hold of
a report for 1891 of the secretary of
agriculture, l was surprised to find
that the average rate for the ten years
in question was fraction more than
cents per bHshel.
Then l was in error as to India's ra-
ito of coinage and the purchasing value
of an ounce of silver, in India, when
coined into rupees. 1 made my calcu-
lations upon the basis of ratio of 1917
to and gave an ounce of silver coined
into rupees, purchasing power in
India of $1.33 and put the value of
rupee at 40 cents. l examined several
cyclopedias, almanacs, etc., ETC., and
found variety of divergent state
ments. Webster's dictionary puts
the rupee at SO cents, and the fifteen
rupee gold coin, the mohur, at $780,
The cyclopedias give variety of val
ues inhering in ten or twelve differ
ent kinds of rupees. Whitaker's
English almanac values the rupee at
S. 1917 d., or about As cents, but puts
the rupex or ten rupee piece, at one
pound, 81. 86.6, which would make the
rupee 1875 cents. Our reform writer's
vary in their estimates of the Indian
coinage value of an ounce of silver and
the value of rupee.
But l am now convinced that the Is
rupee gold coin, GIGS grains of pure
gold) the mohur, is worth $7.1O.5, and
that the true value of the rupee (165
grains pure silver is 1881 cents. This
makes the ratio Is to 1 and gives the
exchange value of an ounce of coined