The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1895-06-07
THE MEN OF MONEY.
tContnuod from S,cooi pa7> !

tho Inconvenience and expense attend.
ing risk. You know that to promise Ia
human, TO fullll divine. You know tho
dIiiiculiIos arising from considerations
Of tho promiaer's willingness aud prob.
able ability to meet his obligations when
tlioy mature. You can, therefore. fully
appreciate tho tremendous h%ggravntion
OF these diflicultio, which would result
from tho introduction rs third factor
OF nhccrtainty-of 4 question as to tho
value at tho dnto Of maturity OF that
with which tho obligation IL to DO met.
You can readily realize that, supposing
payment wcro promised Ia whoRt, such
M clement OF gambling would cnter
into tho transaction as would hamper
credit. destroy confidence and threaten
%tostrangIo trade entirely.
Tho folly OF abandoning q currency OF
worldwide a%ccoptability was dwolt on
and tho prediction made that "freo coin
age OF silver at tho ratio OF 10 10 |
would nnnihilato confidence and DO jis.
nstrous to trade.
Such might not be tho immediate
result, but tho NUmcsis OF 80 great q
piece OF idiocy. or knavcry-it Is dbl.
cult 10 determine which name would
better apply TO it-could not be long DO.
fcrrcd.
And for what is all this proposed?
Originally, solely that tho silver pro.
ducors might reap Il harvest by obtain.
Ing twice ~ much for their product o,
1t IL worth.
Would thcy do 80? Nominally, mud
at hrat. yes; ultimately and really. no:
because tho attempt to pass fifty cents
as a dollar would. in tho long run. mere
ly mean that the price OF all commodi-
tics would so advance that what is now
fifty cents would still be fifty cents'
worth, and n dollar worth fifty cents
could buy no moro.
The wage-earncr is told that free
coinage will furnish him with chcap
money wherewith to pay of his indebt-
odness. lilo is not told that he would
DO n party to dishonesty in helping to
bring about such a reputation. lie is
not told that his account in tho savings
bank, his money in building and loan
associations, and his lie or accident in
surance would be corrGspondingly do.
preclated. Still loss is he told that
trade would DO 10 upset BY the change
that mis- days OF enforced idleneIs would
be many, and his remuneration scant.
Least Of all is no informed that this
money would DO so cheap" that his
wages would buy only about half what
they now DO, while they would be the
last thing to DO raised with the advance
IN prices OF such necessities Us clothing,
food and rent
Accused OF dishonesty, in asserting
that free silver means cheap monev,
aud thereby involves violation OF sacred
contracts OF Indebtedness. the dema.
goguc quickly switches and asserts that
1t doesn't mean cheap money at all. be-.
cause the increased demand for silver
would be such as TO raise the intrinsic
value oil the white metal to the ratio at
which it would be coined.
That is fragrant nonsense, which
merely demonstrates that this glib and
shltsy handler OF specious iallacics cares
nothing Tor the conspicuous absence Of
the jewel consistency from his crown.
The wage.earner is told that coinage
does not mean putting the country on q
silver basis, but merely bi-metalism
and the Reinstatement OF silver TO the
righttul place from which some
vaguely defined tyrant deposed 1t.
lie is not told that it is impossible
to have two standards OF money at the
Same time. just as i; is impossible 10
have two standards OF length.
Ills acquaintance with history 10 too
meager TO inform him that England
tried for 500 years TO maintain two such
standards without success. or that
France endeavored TO maintain bi-me.al.
ism from lll3 10 1874, and during that
time changed the uni. price OF gold l46
times. and tho unit price Of silver 995l
times. while tho changes OF ratings be-
tween gold and silver were innumcrable.
at has been the worlds experience
that the standard oil value could not be
acombination OF the two metals, even
when both wero freely miutcd at a fixed
ratio. One OF tho two metals alwaya
proves to be over-valucd in the coinage
at any given time. and for that reason
becomes the measure OF the others
value. Prices arc then fixed only BY tho
quantity OF metal remaining in circnla.
ton; silver disappearing. values would
be measured only in gold. and vice
versa. Tins in the United States under
n legal double standard, from 1872 to
1884 we mad practically silver monono.
taliism, and from 1854 to 1878 We had
practically gold monometallism.
Free coinage, we arc told, is neces-
ssry because the stock OF gold is insult.
cient. As n matter OF fact the worlds
per capita silver circulation is about
equal TO tho gold per capita, and tho
production OF the yellow metal is stead
lily increasing.
Surprising tho gold dollar 10 DO cut
in half and that each half wore chris
tened n dollar BY the government, the
two halves together would still buy as
much as they did before, and no more.
Again, supposing n gold dollar and n
silver dollar each to have 8 per cont Of
thoir metal punched out, they would
both OF them be mutilatod aad neither
would pass current as coins. Blu, there
the similarity ends, for, in attempting
to dispose OF tho dolRced coins, it would
DO found that whilo So cents would DO
obtained for the gold. since its bullion
aud faco value arc identical, only Al
cents would be received for the silver,
since its iaco value is double that OF its
market price.
is it not rational that il silver should
be coined at Il ratio of Is to |, when its
market ratio to gold is 81 to l, it might
rs we'll be coined Mt 10 &c |. or . to |, or
| TO |, aud become fat money pure aud
simple? Have We not had lessons
enough OF the danger Of allowing our
token, or representative silver money
TO multiply SO that ii approached n Gnt
basis and competed with our roal
money. instead OF merely aiding and 10.
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