The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-08-15
, was doubled, unless there was
corresponding increase OF the

property WOuiQ not pe iuC1eSseo'
Blackstone, one of the greatest think
ers of modern times, said that horse
might sell for ten pounds at one time
and twenty pounds at another time,
the difference in price resulting from
the difference in the amodnt of money
in the kingdom. Ifa man give his oo-
legation to another for one thousand
bushels of corn and the government
should sfterward change the bushel
measure so as to require l12 pounds
instead of 56 pounds to the bushel
to discharge the obligation, paying
the enlarged bushels would place
upon the debtor a burden ne never
contracted for and give to the
creditor an advantages that be was
not entitled to receive. The prln-
ciple is not different. when the ooiiga-
tiop is expressed in dollars. A strlk-
ing example Of this unesrned profit ap-
pears upon investigation of the puoiIc
debt of the United States. That debt
in 1865 amounted to g, 800, ,0OO, 900 and
100000 bales of cotton Would
have paid the entire debt. We have
paid on the debt in principal, interest
and premium more than IS, ,OOo,ooo;aoS0V'
We have reduced The principal to so52,-
100000. To-day the balance Que cans
for more cotton, more -four, more iaoo:
and sacrifice than the entire deot
would have commanded in 1855. The
burden has grown no lighter.
One of tbs most eminent bimetai!ists
of the country in the early part o:
1873. before the United States anG
Germany demonetized silver, ,Wroes
that, in case any couatry of importance
adopted the gold basis, persistent
decline would set in 10 the prices OF
commodities, money would appreciate;
that times would grow harder, splrlt!
OF unrest and dissatisfaction Wouio
manifest itself aud would result IN
strikes, idle workingmen seeking EN-
ployment, &c. The history OF the past
twenty years could no be more cor
reetly written. This prediction was
followed by another, in almost the
same paragraph to this effect: Various
causes will be assigned such as, lm'
proved machinery, new inventions,
and over production; some Will also
claim that falling price and bard times
have resulted from local causes. but few
people will realize that the true cause
OF the appreciation of money ana the
depreciation Of property. Our OWL ex-
perience and observation that all these
causes have been laid hold of during
tie last few years. :. y
The remedy, however, is the i'm.
portant question. The Democratic
party both by its platform and by its
tradition is pledged to the restoration
of silver to the mints. That platform
saws: I'VE hold to the use of both
gold and silver as the standard money
of the country, and to the coinage OF
both gold and silver without discrim'
mating against either metal or charge
for. mintage." At the time OF the
adoption of this platform in the House
of Representatives of the United State:
seven representatives to one had voted
in favor of free silver and eight TO one
in the senate.
Wbenever-a proposition is made to
restore silver to the lnints various 90
jeetions are urged against it. For IN
stance, some people claim that the IN
trinsic value Of the silver n a dollar Is
not worth q dollar. There is no such
thing as intrinsic value. Intrinsic
means to lie in. Silver has properties,
such as hardness, which accompany II
wherever it goes. Value is not pro-
perty; value is a conception OF the
mind, it is something that resides IN the
mind Of the person and rot in the ob-
ject sought. If a nan was on an uDln'
babited island and had no hope of ever
getting off be would prefer bushel ol
wheat to bushel of gold. So what the
intrinsic value advocates really mean
is commercial value. The commercial
value of gold or silver is always equal
at least to the coinage value. II the
mints of the United States were open
to-day for the coinage of silver at the
rate of 4l2s grains to the 81, that would
be its value for all other purposes, be
cause if a man had silver enough 81
that rate to coin one hundred slivel
dollars, that silver could not be pur.
chased for less than the one hundred
dollars, for so long as the purchaser die
not offer the owner as many dollars q
the silver could coin the owner woulo
lust make dollars out Of it.
There has never been q time wher
the commercial value Of a money meta
fell below the coinage value when the
mints were open to it. Twelve Of the
ablest men in Great Britain after
| most thorough investigation reported
to the British government that Francs
had kept the commercial value all ovel
the world st Isl to l for period OF sev
euty years, and that France, England
Germany, United States, or any othel
leading country, could maintain tnt
value of silver at whatever rates il
might establish. If value is concep
ton of the mind, it may he askee
| whether it can be created by law. NJ
| it can not. Demand, however, may b'
created by law, and that makes tht
| value. To illustrate, suppose the nltee
States government should prohibit bJ
law the use of any kind of horses II
this country except yellow horses, th'
result of such legislation would be t
destroy the demand for all other klnt
of horses and their value would g
down. On the other hand'there woult
be a largely increased demand for tn
yellow horses. That is precisely wha
the United States and other countries
have done when they have declared
by law that the people could only us'
the yellow metal for money.
1t is to be observed that all refer
ences to the repeal fall IN price o
silver never 60 back on 1878 when it
value was destroyed by legislation. II
put white horses on an equality witt
yellow horses, the law prohibiting tn
use of white horses must he repealed
TO put silver on parity with gcld
| the law prohibiting its use as money
must be repealed. Another objection
| urged to the coinage of silver is its cos
of production. A few silver mines
have yielded their owners fabulous for
tunes and in those rare instances, NJ
doubt, silver has been mined at smai
cost, but that proves nothing, for some
farmer fortunately circumstsnced may
produce corn at a very low cost, bu
that would not prove that all farmers
in the United States produced corn al
tbo ssp,a nrica These alleged statistic!