Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-12-20
THE SILVER QUESTION.
Continued from last week.


The political aspect would seem to in
dictate that the interests of farmers and
miners were more directly affected by
this question than other interests. This
interests of agriculture and mining feel
more quickly the change of money
standard, but we cannot see how in the
end they should be more affected than
those of manufacturers. or men of
business. All producers. whether man
ulacturers or farmers. must depend upon
the prices of their products for their
profits; and all business men must de
pend upon the prosperity of the country
for their success. The lpboring classes
depend almost entirely upon the volume
of business for work. 4 few of them
would be employed by the wealthy.
under any circumstances, but as soon as
a large part are thrown out of employ
ment the wages of those employed must
drop rapidly until they become nearly
nominal. But the prosperity of a
country depends, to very large
extent, upon the abundance of its money.
Staguatiou today strikes the industries
Of our country in every direction, be-
cause of the increased value of money
consequent upon its contraction by the
refusal of the free coinage of silver at
the minis
1t is absolutely impossible to get any
mlneIt relief from this condition until
in some way more money has been added
of the circulation. Any claim of return
ing prosperity is not only untrue.
bur impossible, until this money qun--
ton is settled and settled right. ~
we'll could we expect to raise crops In
zero weather a. to have prosperity
with an inSulliciency of money that from
the increase in the population of the
country, and other causes, is daily grow
Ing greater.
The report of the monetary com
mission of the United States in 1876,
recognized as one of the ablest treatise
upon money ever written, says:
llowsoever great the national resources
Of q country may he. however genial its
climate. fertile its soil. ingenious. enter
priSlng and Industrious its inhabitants.
or free its Institutions. if the volume of
money is shrinking and prices are fall
ing, its merchants will be overwhelmed
with bankruptcy, its industries will be
paralyzed. aud desttution and distress
will prevail"
authority cnph0Si.cS wb0t experience
teochcS.
An respectable authorities agree as TO
the relative effects of an increasing and
decreasing money. Several of them are
presented, the earliest in point of time
being the following, from David llume's
Essay on Money:
It is certain that since the discovery OF the !
mines in America industry has increased i'm |
all the nations OF Europe. We hnd that
in every kingdom into which money begins
TO How IN grchter abundance than formerly, ,
everything takes new tace, labor and in /
dustfY gain HE; the merchant becomes more /
enterpusing the m ,nutucturer more dill /
gent and skillful. and even the farmer FOL I
lows his pillow with greater aacrity AMI at /
tentlen. II is OF no manner ct con. B
sequence with regard to the domestic hap. |
ptness OF II State whether money be i'm "A !
greater or less quantity. The good policy /
~ the mag strGtc consists only In keeping il /
II possible. stu increasing, because by that /
means be keeps alive spirit of industry i'm /
the nation and increases the stock of iabOr in |
which consists MI real power and riches. A /
nation whose money decrea ses is actually at /
that time weaker aud more miserable than /
another nation which possesses no more
money, hut IS on the increasing hand.
Alexander Hamilton, i'm his report
(l79l) on the NM, says;
To annul the use of either OF the metals as
money is to abridge the quantity OF clrcula.
ting medium, and is liable to all the obiec.
tons which arise from comparison OF the
benefits OF full with the evils OF IA scanty
circulation.
Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Mr..
Hamilton February, 1922, says:
concur with you that the unit must stand
on both metals.
William Ill. Crawford, secretary of the
treasury, In a report February II,
1920 to congress, says;
All intelligent writers on currency agree
that when 1t Is decreasing in amount power
~ and misery must prevail.