Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1895-05-23

us, II Il incumbent upon those who
Insist upon the adoption Of this revo-
lutionary poiicy to show plainly and
conclusively in advance not only that
1t would result in NJ injury. but that
u would he positively beneficial, for
If not positively beneficial the change
w0uld ut least be wholly useless.
Free and unlimited coinage of full
legal-tender silver dollars Ut the ratio
of l6 To | means that our law shall be
80 changed that any owner of silver
bullion may send ii TO the mints ana
have II coined, at the public expense,
into dollars each containing ILL., L.
grains of standard silver, the dollars
when coined to he deliv ared to the
owner Of the bullion, and all the peo-
pie of the United States TO be com.
PEELED by law 20 receive them as dol.
lars in the payment Of debts, although
not intrinsically worth more than fifty
cents each The - $40 grains OF
standard gold contained In gold dol.
lar Is worth 100 cents, or the euuiva.
lent of loo cents, all over the world,
IN Silyer-Standard countries as well rs
In gold-standard countries, and 1t Is
worth just as much before 1t Is coined
as afterwards; but the H. IL grains
Of standard silver contained hi a silver
dollar are not worth anywhere in the
world more than about fifty cents.
Or, TO put the statement in 4 different
for l6 pounds of silver cannot he
exchanged Tor l pound Of gold any
where In the world. but Ii requires
about 81 pounds of silver to procure
pound of gold anywhere hut some
one may say that this Is nor fair
statement, because 1t measures the
value Of silver hy gold. The answer to
this objection is that the statement
does not attempt TO measure the value
Of either Of the metals, but simply to
compare them, one with the other, and
that for the purpose of making the
comparison the value OF gold Is deter
mined by its purchasing power IN the
markets of the world and the value of
silver IL determined in the same way
If a man las borrowed a thousand
dollars in gold. or ITS equivalent. and
has promised 10 pay 1t, or has pur-
chased a thousand dollars worth Of
another mans property and promised
to pay for 4 III the standard money
recognized by law at the date of his
contract. believes that 1t would be Just
and honest TO discharge his obligation
In a new standard worth only half as
much as the money he borrowed or the
property he purchased, he would ap-
preciate and endorse this argument and
1t would De useless to discuss the qlcs-
ton with him, But the immediate If
feet OF the adoption of free coinage
policy at the ratio of Is TO | would be
10 contract the currency to the extent
Of about 6520o0,W0, by the With
drtwal of that amount Of gold from
circulation and from use rs the basis
OF notes and other forms Of credit
prices would moi even noTninally adj
vance. On the contrary, for the time
being at least this contraction would
greatly reduce prices because il
would alarm the country. destroy
credit, and undoubtedly produce the
most serious linacial disturbances this
country ever witnessed.
suppose the change is made, and
that the business affairs of the country
have been finally adjusted 70 the new
standard. what VIII be tlie effect on
our domestic trade? The prices Of all
~ Il
that Is to say. il will require a greater
number of dollars to purchase n given
amount Of any commodity than II re-
qnircd before. There appears 80 he Il
singular delusiou In the minds of some
upon this subject. Many good people
Gus manner, which no one has yet at
tempted 10 explain. the government,
hy legislation or otherwise, can in
crease the prices of the things they
have to buy If there IL any financial
peeromaney by which this one-sided in
crease of prices can be accomplished,
our frcc-coinnge friends ought to ex-
plain II 10 the people.
Facts prove not only that the de-
monetization Of silver did not reduce
the amount OF redemption money in
this country. but they prove that the
fundamental proposition Of the adyo-
Gates of free coinage is erroneous and
that prices are not fixed or regulated
by the amount Of redemption money
alone, for. If SO, prices should have In
creased since 1873"