The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-18
"A HOLE As A MONETARY COMNoD-
ITN."
some Suggestions With Regard TO
Driving Nails through Dollars.


From the Chicago Times-Herald.
EN-Speaker Crisp is in the field as a
candidate for the United States Senate
to succeed Senator Gordon. He inaugu-
rated his campaign with a speech at At
lanta Wednesday last before the Geor-
gia legislature. Secretary Hoke Smith
Will be the most formidable competitor
Of Mr.. Crisp. and will oppose him vigor-
ously on a sound currency platform.
Alr. Crisp's opening speech is one of the
most remarkable ever heard ON the mon
ey question. In innocent ignorance of
the FUNDAMENTAL principles OF values and
uses OF bullion, coin and currency, 10 can
scarcely be said 10 be paraNced even 10y
tAe now obscured and almost forgotten
Coin" Harvey.
For instance. Mr. Crisp said: a silver
dollar viii buy an that a gold dollar viii
IN this country or abroad" So prepos-
ferrous a misstatement must have sadly
puzzled the merchants, bankers and 9TH
err business men who heard its utterance
from the lips OF man who had filed tie
nigh office Of speaker of the American
rouse OF Representatives. Within the
next moment of his speech Mr.. Crisp
SAID; The value of everything is fixed
by supply and demand" Yet I'm the same
breath the speaker declared that the vail
ne OF the silver dollar which strictly
speaking, Is its commercial value, could
ne nNed infallibly by congress. Take a
piece of silver metal said Mr.. Crisp,
and you cannot buy anything with n.
Let a law be passed authorizing the
free coinage of silver" and then. accord
ing 20 the speaker, Notwithstanding his
previous assertion, silver, intrinslcally
worth various sums according TO the laws
OF supply and demand. would be indeNi-
bly, worth, II called a dollar, gold dollar.
Inc greatest discovery found in MIR.
Crisp speech Is, however, the monetary
value of hole. IF you drive a nan
through the center of a silver dollar
said the speaker, 1t is worth but 20
cents, so 1t Is claimed, and a gold dollar
under the same test remains worth
dollar True" continued Mr.. Crisp, but
pass law which viii permit a man TO
take that mutilated dollar to the mint and
nave 1t recoined-it viii be worth Just as
much as a gold dollars.
Accepting this as practical financial sci
ence, the free silver advocates ought forth
with to start up a hOle-punchng industry.
II one hole in silver dollar is worth
80 cents two holes In silver dollar ought
ought 70 make a silver dollar worth two
gold dollars
To demonstrate the utility of a hole az
a monetary commodity every believer in
with MIN punch and, after purchase
of goods, should make as many holes with
his punch IN his silver dollar as the price
of the goods required. The monetary
value of hole in a silver dollar could
thus be indefinitely enlarged without even
the Intervention Of the mint If a man
had a sufficiently small punch he might
put holes through enough in q silver dol
lar to drain out the entire gold reserve
of the United States, to buy up the VAN
derbilts and Astors, and to become
CrOcsus to degree that would put to
shame the ancient fable. The new means
OF acquiring wealth would not be a Midas
touch nor washing Pactolian sands. 1t
microscopic apertures In 50 cents worth
Of silver.