Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-07-25
The True Question About Money.
On. Y. Tribune. }

Joint debate is not always the best
means of bringing out the truth. The
disputant who has the worst of the case on
its merits always has many opportunities
of fixing up fictitious issues, and wasting
time over points on which he can appeal
to prejudice and ignorance, as Mr.. Har-
vey is doing at Chicago. The main issue
in the monetary battle, as the Trib-
une sees it, is not whether some error
was made in the past, or some proper
thing done in a mistaken way, but whether
after the lapse of twenty-five years the
minis can be safely and with benefit
opened to the free coinage of silver, as they
were before 1876. And the question of
questions Is whether the changes of a
quarter of a century in monetary condi-
lions and methods have made free coinage
useless, dangerous, unjust and wicked
1t is only just to Mr.. Edward Atkinson
to quote note from him explaining that
his Views have been misunderstood, and
that he thinks the quantity of money in
fluences prices only in very long periods,
while as to any more speedy effect of a
change in quantity, his views are those of
the Tribune. 1t is not, however, so much a
question of time, the Tribune thinks, as
of conditions and methods. If the changes
of the last twenty-five years had been
spread over several centuries, or by some
miracle had been compressed within a
single year, they would still settle the
question of free coinage and the guam
titative theory OF money as completely as
they do now.
No one will doubt that the world has
gained intellectually by the revolution in
monetary methods which has come to
pass in a quarter of century. The clear
ing house makes it easier and infinitely
safer to complete settlements of 500, 000,
900 with SO, 000 600 in money than it
was a quarter of a century ago to com
plete those settlements with 800, 900, 900
in money The telegraph, extending
everywhere and placing the money of the
whole world at any point where it is
needed the rapid communication by rail
roads and steamships; the multiplication
of banks and depositors and the general
use of Checks the tremendous fall in the
cost of producing the precious metals, and
especially silver, have completely changed
the world as respects the needs for
money, the quantity required for safety in
transactions of an equal amount the pos
sibility of using two kinds of coin cur
rency without loss, and the peril of using
any money that does not measure exactly
as the money of the commercial world
measure values.
These changes here only family out
lined, have simply annihilated the theory
that any given quantity Of money is nee
essary to support in safety credits and
transactions Of a certain amount There
has been substituted the master fact
that commerce makes all the currency
that can possibly be needed at any time,
provided the conditions to give 1t perfect
soundness are strictly maintained. 1t is no
longer question whether there is coin or
paper enough In any country or at any
given point, but only whether 1t main
tains its money with such integrity that
its purchasing power Is everywhere &C
cepted as equal to that of the best money
in the commercial world. If 1t does, oil
the money 1t can possibly want will be
created, or ships will be loaded with the
gold of the whole world to buy its products,
If rightly valued in the worlds money.
What the Statistics Show.
Boston Advertiser.)
All ctatisticc IF pricoc cbo1u hot tho