The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-10-10
FREE SILVER WANTED.
AN ENGigsHMAN'S ABLE DEFENSE OF
TIE WHITE METAL.

YER.
Rt. Hon. Henry Chaplin, who was a
member of the royal gold and silver
commission, member Of the Salisbury
cabinet, and also a member Of parila-
ment, recently made an able speech be-
fore the Scotch chamber Of commerce
at Edinburgh upon the suhJect OF "bl,
meIallism in Relation to Agricu!Vursi
Depression" The speech was quite
lengthy, but his defense Of silver re-
nonetiZation and bimetallism we re-
produce. Mr.. Chaplain said:
"Now, what are the usual OBJ scClons
that are urged to our views! l nave
been asked by some correspondents 10
reply to one or two OF them, and Will
do so. The first, the old stock argu'
ment, is this: Yor cannot MAINTAIN
fixed ratio bet Ween 3 Id and silver any
more than you can between any TWO
other commodities. You cannot inter
feCe with the laws of supply and de-
mand. The thing is impractlca0ie; II
is, in fact, q bimetallic dream. NOW,
our ODD ,nents appear to be still IN
blissful ignorance of what is, perhaps,
the most elementary fact of our con-
tention, viz: that the bimetalllc theory
affords. perhaps, the most perfect and
most striking instance Of the operation
of those laws IN specially fnstruc1lYe
case, and believe am right IN saying
that that isstbe opinion OF every teacn-
er of political economy n England ~
the present time. Mind you, this IS
very ancient history, but so many OF
the critics have so little learned their
lesson that will repeat one argument
on the subject, and I think it WILL SUI
flee. What we say is this, that the Ia"
can exact that either, Or both OF the
metals shall be legal tender Tor oeot'
That we know, becauae II has Osen
done effectually already. And thereOY
the law creates what is and what hE;5
been the chief demand for the preeio%s
netals-namely, for the purposes Gi
money. The law can also enact ta2t
they shall be legal tender at q given
ratio between the two, for this also has
been done, and done effectively III the
past. Now comes the question: HOW
is the ratio maintained? The answer
to this question is that debtors will al
ways try to pay their debts IN the
cheapest way they can, that is 20 say,
in whichever metal is the cheapest.
What do those debts amount tor Inc
indebtedness OF the world is estimated
at something between twenty and
thirty thousand millions sterling. Con-
sequentIy, If either metal falls, Tor any
reason, below the legal ratio, there Will
be an immediate increase IN demand
upon it for the purpose OF the pay.
ment of debts. The increased demand
produces its natural effect. The metal
which has shown the smallest tendency
to fall returns to the normal, or ratner
the legal level. Formerly II was golo
at the time Of the great gold dlscoVe,
ries forty years ago. More recently IL
has been silver, the production OF
which Of late has much Increased, 81
though in nothing like the same pro-
portion as the production Of gold III
creased in former DAYS. And IN thls
way an automatic action IS set up,
which not only keeps the relative value
of the metals steady, but makes 1t I'M
possible, as We contend, for them TO
vary, except within the smallest limits.
If great increase III either metal
should occur, and begin to have the
least effect, the parity is immediately
restored by the operation Of natural
law. And this explains at ence the
practical stability Of the ratio duTlog
the long periods antecedenG to 1873,
when variation of the production OF
the metals was Infinitely greater than
it has been ever since then. / feel that
ought to apologize for repeating this
fundamental argument in replying TO
the ,,antiqUated objections with which
We are assailed, but If | had not done
so l was afraid that would be attack
ed, like your distinguished country
man, Mr.. Arthur Balfour, in the city
not very long ago, for not answering
the objections which were advanced
against bimetalllsm. The next ob]ac-
ton that | hear is this: Even II you
could maintain ratio you never could
agree as to what the ratio should be.
My answer, gentlemen, Is this: Blmet-
allists would accept any ratio rather
than 60 on as We are at the present
time. But what the final decision as
to ratio should be is, obviously, q
matter Of agreement among the d!tfer-
ent people who are concerned. Ny
own opinion upon that point is, and
always has been this, it is not so i'm
portant as people think, and for this
reason: So sensitive is silver nat the
moment bimetalltc settlement was
really on the tapis the market price
OF silver would conform to any ratio
that was fixed long before 1t was en-
acted by any positive legislation.
but then hear it said that even II
you could agree upon the ratio the
enormous quantities of silver that can
be produced even at the present price,
must inevitably break it. Well, to be-
gin With, have my doubts as to this
lllimitable production. am aware or
no facts and no information to confirm
the statement. Certainly there are
none to be found in the whole evidence
before the conference at Brussels. But
the answer to that argument IS this:
What is of importance is lot the an
nual output of the metals, but the to-
tai amOnnt of the mass of each Of them
which is alreay In existence This is
an idea | want you to carry away IN
your minds. The annual output now
is, what shall say ? probably 30,OO0,OOO
sterling year of each. Perhaps it is
even more than that Of silver, but what
is the existing mass? l turn to the re-
port of the gold and silver commission.
There find that the estimate Of the
mass of gold in existence in the world
five years ago is 1,550,00Q,0O0, or in
round numbers, say 1,S00,OOO,OOO ster-
ling. Silver, on the other hand, is esti-
mated at little under 2,0OO,OOO,OOO
sterling. Now, supposing that the
present annual production Of sill
yer was doubled, what does it
matter whether you add 3O0OOOO a
year or 100000 year to the existing
mass? You have 2,060,0OO,O0O Of
silver, instead Of 2,050,00O,0OO as the
mass of silver IN the world. Why, the
difference is fractional-barely IL per
cent. That is aIso the reply 10 the
question have been asked 10 answer
6y a gentleman well known to you
(Mr. Lindsay, who was the president
OF your chamber. Mr.. Lindsay asked
me this question: 'If the ettsct OF
monetizing silver be to enhance the
value Of that metal, will this not Lead
10 d still further increase in its pro-