Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-05-21
AGAINST FREE COINAGE.
Secretary Carlisle Speaks Strongly
Against It at Covington, Ky.
Says Theory Is All Wrong for Conditions in
Our Country.

|
Cincinnati. Nav oo--In Contra, Gar
den Covinpton tonigbt Secretarv ,,ar1isI,
received an ovation unnarallejed in tbf
history of nolitics in that section Of Eon
tucky OF tho 1000 who ;auued tban,
selves into the snace hardly largo ero,, y
| for two. thirds that ,,or, thoro - %,
of all narties cIassaS .rd cond;t;ons
Women were thcre notw;tbstandino :,
was ureed that thev stav awavand let tbc
voters hear the sneaker Many Thousands
conld not oct bevond IN. o,tos
When the secretary anne,rnd AT tho ,,rdo,,
there was wild cbeerip, n w.S bell,
mora enthusiastic than that c;vnn hin, a,
| the home of Mr. Oueep n few mipntos b.,
fore. when he reviewed the narada a.
| thousands from Covipotop Newnort ond
suburban villages. augmented Inv 500 from,
| Cincinnati. with hands and horns
The secretary was vocirorousIv oboar.l
throughout his spcech and Mt its close
He spoke in opposition to the free COINAGE
of silver. In concluding be said.
Substantially tbe,wbolo aryument for
free coinage. so far as it is addressed In
the honest neonle of thu countrv is b.Sod
upon this fiimsy foundation rnon an or.
roneous urincinlo and n false assumntior
of facts That the amount of money In
circulation. or available for circuIotion
has more or less Influence unop the nricns
of commodities is not disnuted hv anv.
bofy. but il is not the anount of matoIlic
or redemption money alone that cxerts
this Influence
If all other conditions remain tbe same
if the relations between snnnlv and d.
tion. TRANSFORMATION and financial ex-
changes are stable an increase or decrease
of the currency in circulation or avail
able circulation will to a certaip extort
increase or decrease prices as the case NAV
be- but by the terms umonev,' and "cnr.
rency." in this connection. I mean every
element that enters into and is utilized in
the complicated processes of buyine and
selling in the markets for products and
in the mercantile exchanges. whether If
be gold. silver. bank notes United States
notes, checks. bills. or other forms of
credit. written or unwritten.
Credit or confdence is an element of far
greater importance in fixing or upholdino
prices than the mere amount of actual
money in use. or available for use. and in
fact. about 95 per cent of the entire busi
ness of the country is transacted without
the actual use Of metallic ,nonev or ite
paper representatives: and as to metallic
money itself whether IN gold or silver
it is not used to the extent of mora than
per cent. in our business transactions
In view of these facts, which are as well
established as any other facts relating TO
our commercial and financial operations,
how absurd it is to contend that prices are
fixed bv the amount of that particular
kind of currency which does not consti
tute more than one -hundredth part of the
whole.
In the broadcast and most comprcben
sive sense the business capacity and per-
sonal integrity of each individual consti-
tute part of the effective currency of the
community in which he lives, because
these characteristics enable him to become
a purchaser of the commodities il has to
sell, although at the time, he NAV have
neither money nor property.
Credit is purchasing power, and the
man who possesses it competes in the
markets with the men who possess actual
money, and contributes as much as they
to the maintenance of prices
To assert that prices are fixed by the
amount of redemption money alone is
equivalent to the assertion that if all the
silver dollars, subsidiary silver coin, sill
yer certificates, United States notes, treas
ury notes, national bank notes and every
other form of credit were destroyed, lcav-
ing nothing but the gold, prices would
remain the same as they now area pro-
position so preposterous upon its face
that / presume no man with any regard
for his reputation would venture to make
it except in a disguised form.
The great majority of our people render
service for wages in one form or another
and they are compelled to purchase in the
markets everything they eat, drink OF
wear and in most cases they are compelled
to pay rent for the use of home for them
selves and their families.
Like the farmers, they have no silver
bullion to carry to the mints to be coined
at the public expense; they have moth
ing to dispose of but their labor and their
skill, and as general rule all, or sub.
stsntially all, the wages they receive must
be used in procuring commodities for the
personal use of themselves and those de-
pendent upon them.
Uhoy oa,,ot oat drink nr xvoar tbo