The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1895-07-25
LIVING TRUTHS REVIEWED.

LIVING TRUTHS REVIEWED.
Too many so-called bimetallists are
throwing off the mask and showing
themselves ss they really are-gold mono
metallists. IF we can't have interna-
tional bimetallism," say they, "then we
prefer gold monometallism." OF such
are the p. 1. and kindred worshippers Of
the loaves and fishes Of party power.
They say in effect, ''if the gold countries
will not do what is sensible and right,
we must continue to do what is foolish
and wrong" We who have the COM
mercial and industrial energy Of England,
France and Germany communicative who
have added to our wealth in thirty years
more than the entire wealth Of England
we who furnish within ourselves the
market for 961s per cent. Of our
own productionsl 1t is well, in
these weakened days, to keep be-
fore our minds some Of the basic ar
ticles Of faith in the Free Coinage Con-
fession of Faith.
We know that 10 to is the ratio OF
quantity. We know also that silver
money is used in thousand transactions
while gold Is used in one; that If we
had to do without one of the precious
metals we could far better spare gold
than silver. The reason for this is that
gold lowing to its greater scarcity and
therefore greater valuel, cannot be diyid-
cd into coins small enough to make the
everyday payments of the people. Sill
yer money is thus Ito put it mildly quite
~ usefu. as gold money. Its monetary
usefulness being at least equal, and its
quantity as Is to l, compared with gold,
its value should surely be in the same
proportion. The same qualities which
make the precious metals desirable as
money make them desirable for use 10
artistic industry. The reason why the
value of silver is not one-sixteenth that
of gold is because that value is measured
in gold-gold has been made the meas
ure Of value, and has been given by Law
privileges and uses as money of which
the same law has deprived silver.
As long as gold and silver had equal
monetary privileges they maintained q
substantial parity of value at about Is n
10 to l. This cannot be truthfully Ge-
MED. The English parliamentary COM
mission, composed largely of strong gold
men, admitted and affirmed it. The va
riations were merely such as could be
accounted for by the slightly varying
ratios established by different countries.
Silver was deprived of its monetary
privileges while gold continued to enjoy
them. Immediately the gold value Of
silver fell, sinking lower as one country
after another joined in its demonetiza-
tion. Coincidently the gold value OF
commodities the world over fell. To
deny this truthfully is impossible. The
English gold commission admitted it the
accepted statistical authorities Of the
world have proved it to demonstration
In other words silver was made to a great
extent commodity, and to that extent
the use of and demand for gold as money
increased. The supply of gold was not
correspondingly increased, and its value,
compared with all commodities, necesss-
rily rose.
The main and beneficent use OF money
10 to exchange commodities and to ex.
press their values with relation to each
other. When money ceases to do this il
fails to perform its great function.
The oddities say, "Sixteen ounces oil
silver are not worth one ounce of gold
1t takes thirty.two ounces OF silver to
buy one ounce OF gold. You want to
make so cents worth Of silver equal to q
dollar. You can't do it," The goldits
when he says this forgets that l6 ounces
Of silver were worth ounce OF gold till
the law deprived silver OF its monetary
privileges. He begs the whole question
with an effrontery which is sublime
The law can and should say, "Sixteer
ounces OF silver in coined money shall
have the same power to pay debts as one
ounce of gold In coined money has
The law thus sets in motion an economic
force which affects and controls the rela
tive value Of gold and silver by most
powerfully influencing the demand fol
both metals. This was what France die
in 1903, and, in the words Of Francis A.
Walker, "the operation OF the prineipl,
was simple, instantaneous, automatic
and Of overwhelming force" Why, o
course It was.
The silver man says give 10th metals
the same privileges as money. The gold
lite says there is 30 much silver produced
that it is impossible to do so. This il
simply not true. There is. at the l6 to
ratio, practically no more silver none,
in existence than there is gold money
The fuctuation OF the silver supply since
1916 has been less than that Of gold
The increase in the worlds silver money
for twenty years since 1872 has beer
neither absolute ly nor proportionately a
great as the increase in the worlds gol.