Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-05-16


against either metal, but both shall b.
treated upon terms of exact equality.
JUST why a ratio of Is to should be
maintained between gold and silver,
has never been fully explained by the
advocates of free coinage. unless it il
to hold up the price of silver for the
benefit of producres of that metal. In
Europe the commercial value of silver
is about so cents per ounce. In other
words, Europe could. under free coin
age, seed her bullion to this country
and have it coined into dollars, go in
to our markets and buy two bushels Of
wheat with every so cents worth Of
silver. On the other hand, when we
buy from foreign nations they will de-
mand payment in gold or take our sill.
yer at it's bullion value in foreign mar.
kets. The farmer should consider
this fact we'll before he votes in favor
of the party which advocates free coin.
age. When an International agree.
ment has been reached, silver will
drop into its natural position and will
maintain it's value the world over
P0tOsi Journal.
The above article tersely states
many of the fallacies used by the adj
vocates of the gold standard.
In the first place, the ratio of 16 to
l has existed for several centuries. 1t
depends upon the relative production
and use of the two metals. When this
ratio was fixed by the United States,
taking into the account the above con-
dition, it established an unlimited de-
mand for silver and gold at 16 to 1,
thereby preventing the the two metals
from separating. As the production
of silver has vastly decreased in the
last half century, and, if we are to be-
lieve the gold men, the production of
gold has increased, the restoration of
the old unit-the silver dollar-would
establish the fact that the ratio had
not greatly varied. Since silver has
ceased to be money metal, as meas
ured by gold it has APPARENTLY fallen in
value; but really it has slightly risen
in value, an ounce of silver buying
as much or more now than it ever did.
If Europe should send her silver bull
lion over here to exchange for wheat
and have it coined into dollars. two
things would happen:
First, if the quantity of bullion so
sent was great, money would become
more plentiful, and the farmer would
get very much more than fifty cents
for his wheat, because the quantity of
money Of final payment measures value.
and any increase in its volume increas-
es prices. Instead of fifty cents, he
would receive in the neighborhood of
a dollar. with which he could pay a
dollar of Indebtedness.
On the other hand, when he should
come to buy of foreign nations. they
would gladly take his silver, because
it could be paid back to him.
This infusion of silver into the money
of final payment would increase prices.
not only in this country, but in foreign
countries. People want money sup
ply that cannot be easily cornered and
held out of circulation, in order to de-
preciate property. That gold can be
so cornered our recent bond transac-
tons illustrate. The silver miner
gains very little if anything more by
the use of his commodity for money,
than other people. If he can carry fif-
ty cents worth of silver, as measured
by gold, and have it coined into dol
lar, he gains no more than the farmer
who finds the price of his bushei of
wheat increased to a dollar by the ae-
ton of the miner. In other words, as
all commodities have fallen in price
with silver, 80, when the price of sill
YER rises. they will follow it. 1t thus
follows that the silver miner has no
more TO gain by the restoration OF his
product to it's former place than the
Gotten planter or the lead miner.