Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1895-06-12

was formed. Silver at that time was
at slight premium over gold.
Silver then began to fall as measured
In gold, and the breach in the COM
mercial parity of the two metals gradu-
ally widened. With redemption, gold
asserted its Importance, and silver cor
respondingly declined. Under the
Bland-Allison act of 1873 creditors be-
gan to make their notes. bonds and
mortgages payable in gold, to the ex-
clusion of all other forms of legal ten
der money. This increased the de-
mand for gold. Silver had ceased to
be a primary money.
The speaker asked What is the
remedy" and replied:
Let us have nothing more to do with
the men who have assisted in tying the
hands of this great nation. and deliver
ing its financial policy over to the gold
gamblers of the world. The bank Of
| the Rothschilds in England is now be-
hind the United States treasury. They
are our financial agents; our financial
managers. We are paying them the
princely salary of $S,O0O,000 for each
six months of their valuable services.
We are in the hands of the pawnbrok-
ers of Europe"
The remedy, he declared, was to re-
store silver; put it on a legal ratio with
gold; repeal all laws discriminating
between the two metals, and put sill
yer in competition with gold as quickly
! as possible"
Continuing, he said: "Silver once in
competition with gold, and this will
take some of the demand off OF gold.
| To that extent it will lower the value
| of gold. The extra demand for silver
will raise its value. Everything will
advance in value at once. We can show
| gold that we do not depend on 1t for
money. 1t will then be our slave. 1t is
now our tyrant. 1t will then come back
| and beg us to take it as in 1873, when it
one of these gold dollars-was worth
| &c less than silver dollar. Our trade
with foreign nations is only per cent
of our business and our domestic busi-
ness is SO per cent of all our business
Which do you want legislated in the in
| terest of, the SO per cent, or the 4 per
cent?"
In conclusion Mr.. Harvey said: IF
an unrighteous influence by schemers
and tricksters abnOrmally enhances
the value of gold so a commercial parity
at 16 to 1 cannot be maintained, then
do as our forefathers did, change the
ratio, and make the change in weight
and size of the gold coins. Monroe and
Jackson did it. They were not called
oh Inin
lating in the interest of the people,
and not in the interest of the favored
few. We are not compelled to keep
the legal ratio at 16 to l we can chang
it to 20 to l, if necessary. to fix the
legal ratio to correspond with the COM
mercial ratio. but if the change is made
let us make it in the rich mans money
and not in the poor mans money.
This is question of capital on one
side and humanity on the other. OF
sound money-the sound of the clod on
the coffin-on one side, and sound mon
ey-the sound that has the honest ring
of the peoples money in it-on the
other side. 1t is a question of an En-
glish policy or an American policy
Which shall it be?"
LAUGHLIN'S REASONING.
Prof. Laughlin, replying for the mega,
tive, began: Apart from the well-un-
derstood use of money as a medium oi
exchange, money is used like a COM
mon denominator of value with which
other articles are compared AS q
measure af value, it serves in a similar
way as a quart cup may serve as q
measure of capacity; and as there is
not needed q separate cup for every
quart of milk in existence, one car
measure hundreds of thousands OF
goods by comparing with the same
standard of measure. There is no need
of an amount of money equal to all
the goods in existence. The measure
of value is that in which prices are
! stated and debts are paid, provide
the measure of value is also made g
legal tender in any country. 1t is evi-
dent, then, that the quantity Of meas.
ures is not so valuable as the unvary.
ing stability of the standard of the
measure"
He stated that goods, when expressed
in terms of a common denominatol
of value, are today exchanged in enor
nous quantities, mainly without the
use of any money. The necessity of ar
increasing quantity of money is grow
ing less important with the develop
ment of this system of exchanges. From
90 per cent to 95 per cent of tranac
tions are performed by this machinery
, without the use of money, and recen
: investigations made by the comptrollel
/ of the currency show that 54 per cen
of retail transactions are similarly per
formed without the use of money.
Prices since 1873 have not fallen be
, cause of lack of money. Silver has fall
en- about so per cent, as compared will
; a very modest fall in the price of com
modities. Silver does not have the SAM
| purchasing price in 1895 as in 1873
, Hence, free coinage can not be urgeC
as just means of paying debt.
Prof. Laughlin said: "Since we un
! dertook the purchase of silver in 1877
it has fallen about one-half in value
| although we have purchased abou
/ $600,000,O00. 1t is perfectly eviden
that there is no use in the United State
t acting alone to bolster up the price o
| silver when we have failed even in con
} cert with the Latin Union. Free coin
: age of silver at 16 to means the singl,
3 silver standard. Today the marke
} ratio between gold and silver is nearl.
2 "a to 1. If we had the free coinage o
; silver at 16 to 1 there would be th
) premium of about 16 ounces of silve
as premium on Withdrawing ever.
: ounce of gold coin in circulation. Tn
| free coinage of silver under such condi
3 tions as exist today would not mean tn
| concurrent circulation of both gold AM
} silver. 1t would mean the immediai
f adoption of the single silver STANDARD