Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-05-18

treasury. lley are our uudnClI
agents; our financial managers. We
are paying them the princely salary Of
S8,000000 for each six months of their
valuable services. We are in the hands
Of the brokers of Europe. 1t is
in this way: Restore silver; put it in
competition with gold on a legal ratio
of 16 to /, repeal all laws allowing a
discrimination between the two metals;
stop gold notes from being taken. Put
silver in competition with gold as quick
as possible. When our silver advances
the price of all our products advances.
When d great government like the
United States says here is equal
changes, 16 for l, gold for silver the
man in Europe is not going to part with
his silver for gold, unless he gets that
much for it. Our trade with foreign
nations is only per cent, of our bust
ness and our domestic business is SO
per cent of all our business. Which
do you want legislated in the interests
OF, the 90 per cent. or the / per cent?
Ii commercial parity at 16 to l
CANNOT BE MAINTAINED,
then do as our forefathers did, and
make the change in the weight and size
of the gold coins. 1t is question OF
an English policy or an American pol
icy. Which shall it be?'
Prof. Laughlin, replying for the neg
atiye, said:
There is no more essen tial need of
an increased amount of measure with
which to compare goods than there is
or should be a number of yard sticks
equal to the number of yards of cloths
in store.
What is important to the point is
that goods, when expressed in the
terms of a common denominator Of
value, are to-day exchanged in enor-
nous quantities mainly without the
use of any money. The necessity Of
an increasing quantity of money is
growing less important with the devel-
opment of this system of changes.
More so-called redemption money
by the amount of $1,092, 100000 is in eX-
istence to-day as compared with 1875,
and yet prices have fallen and silver
has fallen still more.
Prices Enthusiastically have fallen be-
cause of the cheapened cost Of produc-
ton. Since we undertook the purchase
of silver in 1878 it has fallen about one
half in value, although we have pur-
chased about 600,000,000 dollars.
Free coinage of silver at 16 to l
means the single silver standard of sill
yer mOno-metallism. To-day the mar
ket ratio between gold and silver is
nearly 81 TO l. If we had the free coin
age of silver at 16 TO l, there would be
the premium of about 16 ounces Of sill
yer as a premium on Withdrawing
every ounce of gold coin in circulation.
ITO ADOPT FREE COINAGE
of silver at 16 to l when the market
ratio is about 81 to /, would mean the
instant retirement from circulation of
nearly S600000 600 Of gold circulation.
1t could not change price. therefor,
merely by increasing the amount of
the medium of exchange The way it
would act, however, would be to change
the prices of everything because reck-
Oned in a cheaper medium than that of
gold. For example, a pair of gloves
now worth 100 cents in gold, would ex-
change for about 30 cents in silver.
A dozen of eggs now selling at Is cents
would sell for about 80 cents and ev-
everything we buy would rise in pro-
portion.
"As free coinage Of silver would in
result in a rise of prices, so it
would Immediately result in a fall Of
wages. It's first effect would be to di-
minish the purchasing power of all our
wages. The man who gets $500 or
100000 a year as a fixed rate of wages
or salary, will find he can buy just as
much as now.
Are we willing to sacrifice the inter-
ests Of the laboring class to the de-
mands of certain owners Of silver
mines who are trying to hoodwink the
pepOle with the cry of more money?
Were free coinage of silver to be
passed it would mean that every de-
positor in a savings bank, every in
vestor in a loan association, every
holder of life insurance, every re-
cipient of pension would have his
DUES REDUCED ONE-HALF.
1t is possible that there is something
behind this free coinage scheme not
really discovered
Free coinage would be legalized
fraud. 1t would give the sanction of
the government to cheating.
The Sherman act of July 4, 1890,
unless repealed, would have brought
us to the single silver standard. As
it was the mere suspicion of silver
and the change of
prices and our standard of measure
struck a blow at the solidity Of our
trade brought on the
panic. made prices uncertain and caus-
ed doubt as to future plans in every
factory and shop in the land.
Extraordinary as is the proposal for
free coinage it is in truth only huge
disease. It was born in the private
Offices in the silver kings, nursed at
the hands of spectators, clothed in
economic error, fed on Doodle and as
sure as there is honesty and truth in
the American heart it will die young
and be buried in the same ignominiOus
grave Wherein lies the now forgotten
infant, once famous as the rag baby"
Contrary to expectations the time
after the main addresses was not oc-
cupied fully by Mr.. Harvey. Instead.
it was agreed that he be accorded fiji
teen minutes; then Laughlin reply in
fifteen minutes and Harvey to con-
,lude in five minutes. AS a result the
finish was largely taken up with good
natured chatting Of each other, rather
than serious argument.
ANOTHER BAD FROST.
Snacia1 70 the Pecister
Parkersburg, w. Va, May 17.-This