The Colfax chronicle., 1895-11-09
THE CHEAP MONEY FALLAcY.
Free Coinage of Silver Means Depre-
ciated Dollar.


ciated Dollar.
The advocates of the extended use Of
silver as currency plant themselves
also on what they regard as funda-
mental principle, namely, that it is de-
sirable to have cheap money. But as
a matter of fact, no commodity money
land all true money is commodity
be II gold, silver, copper, iron, cattle
or cabbages, can be relatively cheaper
than another kind. The value of each
Gf not token or representative cur
rency, and minting is free) will depend
upon the amount of labor embodied in
it, or that will be required to purchase
it; and no legislation can give it any
other value. Ifstatute could make one
metal or other commodity equal in
value to another, the state that first
availed itself of the opportunity would
acquire boundless riches, and the dream
of the alchemists would be realized.
If it requires five hundred million
dollars to supply an exclusively gold
currency for the United States, and
silver is d depreciated to fifty per cent.
in value in comparison with gold, 1t
will require one billion dollars in silver
to perform the same money work as
gold; and it will require the same
amount of commodities or embodied
labor to buy the exclusively gold cur
rency that it will to buy the exclusive
ly silver currency. A man who advo-
Gates the free coinage OF silver for the
purpose of obtaining cheap money
means, if he has any clear idea of
what he is talking about, depreci-
ated dollar, which, if left without any
provision for redemption in gold,
would be worth just what the bullion
contained in it would buy in the open
market; but which invested with legal
tender ability becomes an instrument
of rascality for the scaling of all obli-
! cations of Indebtedness, wages, bonds,
savings bank deposits, insurances,
y trust payments, pensions, and the
like. A person contracting to perform
work for a given number of dollars
especially the day laborer-wants, and
is entitled to have, the dearest dollar
that the market affords; and any other
kind of dollar means full work for less
wages.
A remaining argument for the free
coinage of silver, or for legislation for
its increased use, is the assertion con
tinually made with all confidence that
there is not sufficient gold in the world
to effect its exchanges. and that the
adoption by the United States of sin
A c..1 l,r1a &C
use of silver as currency, abolish hal
the present money of the world, ant
produce tremendous and widespread
disturbances in prices and business
If these assertions be true, the silve1
, problem becomes invested with philan
thropic interest, and the ad vocates o
free coinage virtually call upon thu
/ United States to legislate for the ben
eft of humanity generally. 1t is i'm
portant, therefore, to ascertain at tn
outset the extent of the field open t
, such service. More than one-third o
! the population of the globe use copper
for money, or trade by barter, and can
. not by any international influence b
induced to do otherwise. To anothe
third, the almost exclusive use of silve
! as a money metal is an absolute Eeces
sity of their condition, and there is NJ
doubt that they will SO continue to us
, it, and in increasing quantity, for
long future OF the remainder of th
worlds population, a large proportion
, Il. e., the mass of the people OF Rus
: esia, France, Spain, Italy, Portuga
Mexico, South America and the like
. could not by reason of their economi
!, condition use gold to any great exten
!, as money, even if al abundant suppl
OF it was to them available. All of tn
nations of the latter class use grea
amount of silver for their subsidiar
= coinage because they cannot use gol
: or any other instrumentality to equs
: advantage; the United States alon
J carrying at the present time ovs
y seventy-seven million dollars worth
J such coined silver. The claim that ii
: adoption of gold standard of valI
. by the United States would be II
:, obstruction of silver" as coinas
!. metal is therefore simply concre
;. nonsense, the offspring of profour
ignorance or charlatanry; and II
problem of the scarcity of gold is a
o cordingly of moment, not to the who
population of the world, but to only
% very small part of it; to the people
the few great commercial countries.
/. David A. Wells, in Toledo Blade.
, SILVER GOING BACK.