The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1895-08-15


coined
'.History," saia the Secretary. "teaches
that bad money schome sh ould be expected
now. 1t comes In the form of a proposition
for the Tres. unlimited and independent coin.
age of silver at 16 to 1. Coinage at 16 to
means sixteen times as much silver as gold
In a dollaI-25 grains of standard gold.
al 1-2 gI aims of standard silver Free coiH-
age means without charge to the bullion
holder. but at the expense OF the tax payer;
Unlimited means to coin all that is offered;
Independent means without reference to the
course of other nations. In the language or
Ben Hill. Il oppose this proposed legislation
because ] favor all of it's pr blessed Objects
and oppose all OF its real effects
TIE sILvERITEs CLAIM.
"Ths free silver advocates claim, first:
that the act of 1878 was surreptitiously
passed and robbed the people of one-half Of
the money Of final payment; second: that
7or this reason there is not sufficient m onsy
OF final payment. and the appseciat OF
gold has daprecisted everything else. Upon
these tive propositions their entire argu.
ments are based"
The Secretary met these .propositious by
claiming, nrst: that the alleged contraction
of money of hnal payment had not taken
Flacs; second: that the proposed remedy
would in reality drive one-half the m oney
now in use out OF circulation and produce a
contraction ruinous in its results.
He aaid 1t " as i'm m terial, so far as the
proposed legislation as concerned, Row the
act of 1873 as passed.
ut would be folly to bring on such dsas.
trous consequences for the sim pie ga tisfaction
ofrepealinS law improperly passed"
INCREASED VALUE OF MONEY.
The act of 1873, he claimed, did not remove
one-half the money of final payment. In
1878 the only silver coin in the Upited States
consisted Hf subsidiary silver amounting to
SIT 100000 which was not good for the
payment CT debts in amounts beyond five
dollars. The coined gold in the United States
then amounted TO only S135, 900, OOo The
| coined gold in the United States, now
| amounts to $67S. $685. 900, while the stand
ard silver dollars amount to $423, 2S9, 900,
and the subsidiary silver to $76,T72. 900.
The total gold and silver, therefore, in
1878 was $152. O0O,O 900. while gold and
| silver now Ia 81. 23S, 900, OOO-eight times
| az much as in 1873. The paper money, ip-
| Guiding bank notes in 1873,wa about equal
| to the amount now in use. The per capita OF
circNlationin 1873 " as between 81 and $19.
| The per capita now is between $23 and $24.
Or compare tbs volume of m oney under the
| present law with the volume at any time
| prior to the act of 1873. Take the year
1850, for example. when the free coinage OF
".
| There " as thsn, specie, $154 00O, 900; bank
| notes. $131, 900. 900; :otaI, $2S5, 900, 900,
| III aking psr capita of $12.02, or only
| about hall as much per capita az Mt present.
| The per capita of silver alone in the United
| States. which is full legal tender. at present
| Ia $9.0S. This is a larger per capita of silver
| than that of any date during the period
VI hen free and unli NIT ed COMA &c of silver vas
| provided for by law.
| ENORMOUS PRODUCTION OF BoTE METALS.
| 1t is more than twice as large IA the per
| capita of silver coinage found in any fee sill.
| yer country, today. Mexico has per capita
| of but Sab; Japan,$ So. IA; and no other free
| silver country has 40 much.
"The claim, therefore, " he said, "that the
money of insl payment has been reduced
| one-half. thereby deprivfng the public OF a
sufficient volume, is simply groundless. We
| still use gold and silver, both. and have ore
| than We ever had prior to the passage OF the
| act of 1873.
"The claim also, that the currency has
| contracted, thereby appyeciatlng the value
| OF gold, is shown to be false by the enor M Gus
| output Of gold. last year; II was the largest
| in the worlds history, and amounted to
| $1S1 100000.
"The " orld's coinage of gold In 1893 rose
| to 1892, 1886 and that of silver to $685..
| 8S9, 900, making the largest yearly coinage
in the W orld's history, with possibly one ex-
| ceEtion.
''The worlds stock in full leg al tender gold
and silver. today is. by the latest statistics,
| $3,965 300, 900 gold, and $3,435, 500, 900,
! silver, and it must not he forgotten that
| even though the gold standard may be In
| force, the silver coined furnishes money Of
| final redemption to relieve the pressure upon
| old, just aA il it had been coined upon a free
| coinage plan.
HAS GOLD APPRECIATED?
''The claim that g old has appreciated, there
| by depreciating the value OF products, i.
| based upon the theory that the decrease in
the value of silver and in the value of pro-
ducts has been contemporaneous. careful
| examination of the facts shows this not to
be true. The average decrease of com m o Gi
| ties since 1878 has been about 20 per cent
The heaviest decline has been in the line Of
| those things W hich the masses OF the peopls
| buy. All these reductions in price are partly
| Attributable to a lessened cost OF production
| and partly to the recent panic. While com
moditfes nave fallen 20 per cent, silver has
| fallen so per cent.
"But TO consider particular articles: In
| 1873 corn sold for Al cents a bushrl; silver
, Yves worth S131 an ounce. In 1895 corn
| sold for So cents, silver was worth 81 cents
| an ounce. Silver had fallen 80 per cent n nd
| corn bad risen % Per cent. In 1873 wheat
| was worth Sill II bushel, silver $131 m
| ounce. In 1878 W heat was 81 IA busbel
| silver $l.15 an ounce. In 1889 W heutws
| 30 cents, silver $1.O4. In 1895, wheat W as
! 80 cents a bushel. silver CT cents a ounce.
| COTTON AND SILVER
Cotton. This ia the production In which
our people are directly interested. The claim
that the value OF cotton depended upon the
rise or fall of silver has been shown to bs
without foundation, this year Cotton in the
last fopr months has risen 30 per cent. sily er
per cent Prior to 1873, the price of cotton
| varied nom four te forty cents Silver never
fell blow 81 20. In 1S45 cotton sold for
| ioui cents. Silver " as then 81. 80 an ounce
The bullion in a silver dollar Is only " ort h
| o. cents; 25.S grains of standard o old are
worth 100 cents. 1t will sell for that all
| over the orld. 1t now constitutes a meas.
| ure OF value In the United States and a. a
| measure OF values W orth, barring the COMA rs
| round mum bsrs, twice as much an tha sil.
yer coined into dollar. Then why do pso.
| PIE exchange products for a silver dollar a,
! readily as for gold dollar? wby do thew
| give hundred cents worth az commoditv
| for silver dollar when tho silver bullion In
| the d"ilaris only worth so cents? 1t /. ba.
| cause the government started STAINING 4,o
IL grsins of silver one dollar, and HAVING