The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1895-03-21
SILVER IS THE MONEY
It Is the Best Continuous
Measure of Values.
JUST TO DEBTOR AND CREDITOR

JUST TO DEBTOR AND CREDIT0E
Gold Shown to BE Four Times as
Subject to What &il.
yer Has Done For Mexico TIC
Metals Compared ON Their Merits
Aoldhug Delusions
Does Justice require that silver be re-
monetized on the old ratio Of IS to 1?
Let us bring this issue to plain test Of
facts right at the start, and to that end
| beg leave to take a case in which I am
personally interested and which is but
a type of many thousands My home is
in town of some 1900 people in the
Wabash valley, in a region singularly
blest by nature ia climate, timber, coal,
rock and water, and with soil fruitful
in all the products of the middle tenn
perate zone. There I own a little real
estate, and every fact herein given is
within my personal knowledge and can
be verified by the records. Several years
ago the county bonded itself heavily to
build Jail and courthouse and for
other purposes, and some of the bonds
are still due, and I as a real estate own
er must pay taxes thereon.
When this debt was contracted, a 81
coo bond would have bought i'll that
town 952 bushels of wheat. Tt will to-
day buy 1876 bushels It would then
have bought /, 700 bushels Of corn. 1t
will today buy 5000 bushels. 1T would
then have bought eight good average
farm horses. It will today buy 20. It
would then have bought o acres Of first
class land within easy sound of the
courthouse bell 1t will today buy 20.
And SO I might go around the list, for
of all farm staples pork is the only one
sold at near the old price, and that, as
everybody knows, is a purely accidental
and temporary matter.
Now, | respectfully submit the ques-
tion to any honest man as yet untainted
by goldbug sophistry, Is not the prac-
tioal result just the same as il the gov
ernment had sent the army there and
compelled those farmers and owners Of
town property to pay So where they had
agreed to pay ST.? And if this be, as we
believe, the result Of legislation, where
in is it morally one whit better than
highway robbery? Nor is this an ex-
treme case. We have the official facts
in the federal census and the authorized
statistics of the nation and states.
Goldbug sophistries.
I anticipate the answers We are all
familiar with them. The first is that
invention has greatly cheapened produc-
tion. This is self evident falsehood.
There is not an implement now in use
on the farms of Indiana that was not
then, save possibly the twine binder,
then invented but not in general use.
The labor cost of farm produce has not
decreased by SO much as per cent. But
suppose it were true. Should the credit
Or have all the gain Of an advancing
civilization? Is not the farmer entitled
to at least one-half Of it? The goldbug
argument on this point is self destruc-
tive They assert that invention and
the consequently increased production
have cheapened commodities 80 per
cent. They next assert that the enor-
nous output of the mines has Oh eapened
silver 80 per cent. Therefore, they say,
silver is not "honest money. If the
premises had smallpox, the conclusion
would never catch it-so far are they
apart We know it to be true that prod
ucts have cheapened 80 per cent In
terms Of gold; if it be also true that ad-
vancing civilization has cheapened sill
yer in the same ratio, is it not conolu-
sive that silver is the best possible con-
tinuous measure of values? Is it not,
our enemies themselves being Judges,
the ideal money for which economists
have sighed so long-the money which
will, through all the changes of years,
buy most nearly the same amount of
commodities? Is it not indeed the only
money which works exact justice, en-
abling the creditor to buy as much as
did the money he lent and compelling
the debtor to pay no more?
l maintain, however, that their con-
tention as 10 silver is false I insist that
Of all products of human labor silver is
the most consistent in value-that is,
it bears in purchasing power the least
relation to other commodities
and that gold is, by natural law. as
shown by geology and metallurgy, at
east four times as subject to fuctua-
ions in value as silver. Of this I will
reat later. Much is said Of overpro-
luction, especially in wheat, but it has
epeatedly been proved that the world
loes not yet produce all the wheat it
wants. Our agricultural department
hows that consumption Of the grain has
decreased in this country, cheaper stuffs
'eing substituted, and in Europe there
re still 100, 10000 people who can
lot afford wheaton bread, but use rye,
ats and potatoes. Are we to suppose
hat they do that for fun? No, the
world s creditors have their grip on the
hroats of the worlds producers, and
he law is on their side. That claim of
heirs we sadly admit
Strong Points For Silver.
We hear much also of the cornnetition