Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1895-08-03
DEBATE ENDED.

yer RECOMMENDATION.
CHICAGO, July 3O-The last day of the
.Harvey-horr silver siege opened yes
terday afternoon. The days attacks
were directed at the feasibility of indie
pendent action by the United States
on the reconciliation of silver and its
Tree and unlimited coinage at ratio
of 16 TO 1 with gold regardless of the
action of other nations. Mr.. Harvey
argued for such action, Mr.. Horn
against it.
The discussion was opened by Mr..
Horr with statement that the figures
of prices of corn, referred to by Mr..
Harvey on former day, showed that
the fluctuations for series of years
had been normal ones in view of sup
ply and demand, and showed that sill
yer legislation had nothing to do with
the matter.
Taking up the discussion, Mr.. Harvey
presented a table showing the coinage
of gold and silver from 1899 to 1878. He
did this to show that gold did cot seek
the minis of the first fifty years of the
nation, and that silver did not from
that time till 1876. Mr.. Harvey then
quoted from his book the total amount
of gold and silver in the world for
coinage uses in view of the fact that
the amount diverted from the coinage
| for use in the arts had greatly in
creased within the past ten years.
| Mr.. Horn, coming down to the ques-
ton in hand, declared it was useless
to try to fix the relative value of any
two substances by legislation. Sup
pose congress should try to fix the rel
|
bushel of oats. AS soon as one of them
had large crop, up would go the ratio,
and legislation by the nations of the
whole world would not maintain the
ratio any more than it would make
water run up hill. The law of gravity
would stand in the way; it was SO in
the matter of the ratio between silver
and gold. The law of supply and de-
mand stepped in there, and the history
of the world shows that it is impos'
sible to maintain a fixed ratio between
! the precious metals.
Continuing his line of argument. Mr..
Harvey quoted estimates as to the con-
sumption of gold for a moment in the
arts and otherwise, one for boarding,
to the effect that these uses equaled
if they did not exceed the production.
so that the amount of that metal for
coinage was at standstill or decreas-
ing. Mr. Harvey then took up the ques-
ton as to what is becoming of the sill
yer being produced at present. He
first quoted statements by authorities
that the increase of the use of the met
ais in the arts had grown SO large there
was always ridiculouslv small supply
in Europe, and there was a demand
for practically all of the articles
the United States produced. Proceed
ing, Mr.. Harvey said that gold was
irregularly produced and was boarded
by the few rich. Silver, on the con-
trary, when more valuable than gold,
was boarded by the mass of the people,
thereby comforting a general benefit
It was for this reason that silver had
been more stable metal in the past
than gold.
Mr.. Horn said that Mr.. Harvey had
the unfortunate habit of comparing
things which had no relation. That
was the matter with his cube argument
on gold and silver. The cubic space
which they would occupy had nothing
to do with their value Resuming his
argument and referring to Mr.. Harvey
silver would reduce debts by one
half, Mr.. Horn said that by far the
largest part of the debts in the United
States was less than a year old. The
old time debts were those Of large cor
porations. The short time de BITS were
contracted under the existing gold
basis, and to reduce them one-half
would be to repudiate that one-half.
He declared that cheap money could
not be substituted for good money
without injuring the mass of the peo-
pie. The people who would profit by
such a change would not be the rich,
then proceeded to enumerate the
classes of people who work for their
living, arguing that they would be in
jured by cheap money.
Mr.. Harvey returned TO his cube ar
gument, declaring that it was val
liable object lesson. 1t showed that
the Rothschilds could corner the gold
of the world in their vaults. Resuming
his argument, Mr.. Harvey said the gold
advocates feared that debts contracted
in gold would be paid in silver, and
the man who had stipulated to pay
gold would have to buy it at premi-
UNI. This was fallacious. As soon as
silver was remonetized no man could
stipulate for payment in the gold; the
, demand for gold would decrease at the
same time the demand for silver would
increase, and soon the difference be-
] tween the metals would be wiped out