Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-06-20

gold ana silver or any other two metaIs
as platinum and nickel, or nickel and CON.
per- 1t requires that some adeouats ar.
thority shall declare how the coins em.
ployed shall be made, and that they shall,
be good as legal tender.
Ihere arc two contrasted and antagon-
lstlc principles according to which bi,net-
ailc coinage may be established, the first.
which may be called the strictly scientific.
Is that of making dollar, or ten dollars,
IN a coin, to consist as nearly as possible OF
adollar's worth, or ten dollars worth of the
metal used. We might, for example, when
platinum is worth from &c. 90 to sl2. 90
an ounce, establish the rule of coining one
ounce Of platinum as a ten dollar piece in
legal tender. In the same way, we might
for dollar piece, coin one dollars worth
of silver
10 make. on this principle, strictly sci
entidc money, 1t is necessary to consider
what metal offers itself as continuously
and permanently of a market value easy
| to follow in coinage Russia coined plati-
mum to considerable extent In the peri.
cd from 1928 to 1915, but this metal
serves the purpose of coinage standard
very poorly because It's value may so easily
change under the influence of circumstan-
ces.
The only reason for looking to gold as
first in value and Importance for coinage
Is the fact that tho market value of Civ
en- weight of it is less liable to change fire.
quently and considerably than that Of any
other metal. Silver, for scientific money
is to some extent open to the same objec.
ton as platinum. Its value is liable to
change far more frequently and more con.
siderably than that Of gold. Two methods
may be resorted to for relnedying the
weakness of silver for coinage purposes
one is that of subordinating silver to
gold as the standard, putting as nearly as
possible into coin the amount of silver
which can be exchanged for a gold coin of
the same nominal value, and by law de-
claring the silver coin exchangeable for
the gold A single nation, doing this with
Judgment and care, may make gold and
silver bimetallism success, but any failure
to have the respective coins carry amounts
of the respective metals closely equal in
value will invite, and inevitably secure,
failure, simply because If we offer to sell
dollars worth of gold for little less
than dollars worth of silver, it will
pay anybody from anywhere to bring us
the silver and take away our COLL. Or, If
on the other hand, we offer dollars
worth of silver for q little less than a dol
lars worth of gold, it will in the same
way pay anybody from anywhere to bring
us the gold and take away our silver,
even If the difference in the market value
of the two varieties of coin, gold and sill
vcr is quite small. The law just stated
will;work where great nation coins
very large quantity of the two metals,
hence the extreme difficulty which any
single nation must have in making gold
and silver bimetallism work successfully.
We may think and reason that 1t ought to,
but finance the world over cares nothing
| for reason or for moral considerations, but
will certainly take one hundred cents Of
| fered for ninety live or oven ninety nine,
| IL we give the chance to do It,
Hence the importance of the Other
| method for remedying tho weakness OF sill
yer for coinage purposes, that OF combina-
ton between as many as possible OF the
! great nations of tho earth to establish BIZ
metallism upon foundations as nearly SCI
entilic as possible, that is, with the less
changeable metal as to market value
for the standard and with tho secondary
metal coined to carry rs noarly as posi-
b,e a market value the same as its nomi-
nal value. BY this method OF interna-
,;onal combination no one of the nations
so united can take advantage OF any 9TH
or Every where within the financial field
covered by these nations the one class OF
coins will DO exchangeable for tho other,
which ever may at the moment stand
highest in market value.
The other bime,allic principle sharply
optaoonistic to the scientific, Is that OF bx-
Inc by law legal tender value for one or
both of the two classes OF coin' without
anv exact regard to their market value.
From the fact of tho less fluctuating value
of gold and the more fluctuating value q
silver. which has been already stated
this principle commonly operates to Sc
cure an entirely arbitrary coinage OF Sill
ver lopgside Of fairly scientific coinage
~ Gold That is to say, the gold dollar
or ten dollars, will contain a dollar 8
worth or ten dollars worth OF
; ~ gold. while the silver dollar may per-
hans contain hardly more than halr that
,.,ue at market rates in silver. The re-
-. "a that whatever nation establishes
,,.,, ont his principle, In reality tf