The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1894-06-14
The Money Of the Common People


government, silver has been the
money of the farmer, the mechanic
and the tradesman, while gola has
been the coin Of the money dealer.
The silver dollar was chosen by
the statesmen who founded this
government as the measure of all
values, even that of gold itself, and
hence in the coinage laws of 1893
We find no mention of any dollar
other than the silver one.
This dollar was. and continued tu
be, until 1873 the measure of all
values in this country, and this fact
explains how the change from 412!
grains of silver, the original measure
to gold, disturbed all values and
brought about the great depression
of '73 to rs during which time the
people were robbed of one third of
their possessions for the sole benefit
of the money dealers of England and
the United States. On this subject
our esteemed contemporary the
"Cleveiand Plain Dealer" truthtully
says:
sIt is significant fact that the de-
grafton of silver entails an equal
degration of all values kno wn to in
dustry and commerce, with the one
exception of gold. Depreciation
in the price of silver means depre.
citation in all prices, and the pro
ducer of it suffers no more by it
than the producer of any other com
modify. Only the thoughtless can
say that the silver miner alone is to
be directly benefited by an increased
price for his product, for the prices
of all mems products rise and fall
with that cf silver. The statistics
of prices, particularly since 1878,
which prove this to be true beyond
question, are SO easily to be consult
ed that there is no excuse for the
ignorance that could prompt denial.
The prevailing low prices through :
out the world are due directly to
the depreciation of silver through
its rejection for coinage. A decline
in price from SO to SO cents an
ounce, with corresponding decline
in all other prices, Immediately fol
lowed the recent demonetization in
India. Between the sowing and
harvesting of last years wheat crop
| in Ohio its value shrunk more than
81, 100000 and the same shrinkage
proportionately affected all other
products of the fields, mines and
! factories.
1t may be said that there has been
no actual depreciation in values and
that what we call such is an illusion
growing out of the relative increase
in the value of gold. But however
we may state it, the effect is the
same; the shrinkage in values,
whether real or illusive, causes losses,
discourages production, throws labor
out Of employ and paralyzes trade.
These evils that have necessarily
resulted are not Illusions.
All this is true wholly regardless
of the volume of money in circula-
ton. A rise in the standard, gold,
is the cause. Contraction of the
currency has the same effect OH
prices, because as money becom es
scarce its purchasing power grows
greater; values shrink, or in other
words, the standard rises. The
present low prices are but the
primary result of single high
standard, and an aggravatlon of
that evil through still higher aug
mentation of the standard will come
more gradually, but none the less
surely; because gold, being utterly
insufficient in quantity to serve as
the medium of exchange, its adop-
ton as the sole metal of coinage as
unlimited legal tender must iuevi-
tably be followed by a contraction
of the volume of money.
Some careful observing econo-
mists assert that the downfall of the
Roman empire, commonly attributed
to moral corruption, was largely
due to the decline in the supply of
gold and silver that destroyed the
industrial equality on which the
prosperity of the empire rested. On
the other hand an increase in sound
circulating medium enlarges the
facilities for exchange and directly
raises prices. 1t is well recognized
that signal service was rendered to
all mankind by the Macedonians in
seizing the treasure stores mased at
GAIA, Persepolis and other points,
coming the gold and silver into money
and issuing it it payment for labor.
Whatever may have been finally the
chief cause of Rome's downfall, it is
certain that her rise and culmina-
ton in the emancipation of man were
due rather than to any other cause TO
the rapid increase in the volume of
money. To the draining of the Mex
lean and Peruvian treasures by Cortez
and Pizarro and the subsequent