Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-12-09
VALID OBJECTIONS
TO FREE COINAGE OF SILVER, AS
URGED BY THE SILVERITES.
Free Coinage Would Raise Interest,
Lower Wages, Paralyze Industry,
Tmpoverish the Poor and Enrich
the Rich.

L
Impoverish the Poor and Enrich
| the Rich.
81 am opposed, = says ex-Congress.
man John Dewitt Warner, ssto free
coinage Of silver, as now urged by its
advocates First, because it is only q
cloak, and very thin one at that, for
what they really want-forced cur
rency of deprecated silver.
81 am one of those who believe that
the main function of Government is to
protect each man in his freedom to do
| what he pleases, SO far as consistent
with protecting every other man in
| the same right; and am therefore OBJ
| posed to all arbitrary interference by
| Government with the business con-
Germs of it's citizens, and especially
any intervention by 1t in their con.
tracts which shall assist any man to
break, directly or Indirectly, the con-
tracts he has made.
s'When man buys a coat for ten
dollars. the one who sells it to him
buys ten dollars for coat. I am OBJ
posed to Government interference in
order to induce man to accept DIFF
ferent kind of dollar from that which
he would naturally choose, or to OBJ
struct his getting whatever sort of
dollar he prefers; and when it comes
to proposing to compel him to accept
any kind of dollars for which he has
not contracted, it is no more defensi-
BILE than it would be to compel man
| to accept coat different from that
| which he had bought.
| s.Again, I am opposed to so-called
free coinage is, forced cur
rency-of silver for the very reason
| for which it is pressed by its advo-
Gates, namely, that it would raise,
| and probably would double, the nom
inal price of all kinds of property, es-
pecially the commodities in general
use, prices of which are adjusted from
| day to day. This means that goods or
services, the prices of which are con-
servatives will be for considerable
time at q disadvantage in comparison
with those which are promptly
changed. Generally speaking, whole
sale prices of food and foods fuctuate
daily; retail prices weekly or month
ly; while rates of wages-the price of
the one thing the wage-earner has to
sell-change only at comparatively
long intervals, once or twice year or
once in one or two years.
ssThe result. therefore, of depre-
citation of our currency, which
would put up prices of goods in
general use, would be almost imme-
diatelv to reduce by one-half the
purchasing power of the wages re-
hxy1 ol> Io1
long period of years of agitation and
organization before the rate of wages
would be correspondingly increased.
It is hard to imagine a worse disaster
than one which, to start with, practi-
cally reduces the wages of labor by
one-half and then ensures demorali-
zat1on for years to come in the rela-
tions between capital and labor, pend
ing the reimbursement thus necessitated.
"Another reason why I am opposed.
not merely to the so-called free coin
age of silver, but to the agitation of
it, is its effect upon the development
of our country. Under normal con-
ditions the capital of all civilized
countries is at the disposal of any one
one who wants to develop either of
them, at a rate of interest COM
mensurate with the risk the lend
er assumes that there is of his
sure and adequate repayment. If we
have abundant capital at low interest
enterprising men can afford to improve
real estate, build factories, lay out
new railroads and enter upon every
kind of undertaking which builds up
the country and keeps labor we'll en-
ployed at high wages.
eff the rate of interest is high
and money hard to get fewer
can afford to undertake plans
which involve the borrowing of
money, and the result is stagnation
of enterprise, paralysis in the de-
velopment of the country, and unen-
ployed labor, with its pitiful and dam
gerous consequences. In proportion
as any one who has money to lend
money than that which he pays out,
he will be conservative in lending it,
and will either charge very high in
terest or else will keep it idle in banks
and trust companies SO that he can
transfer it instanter in advance of any
considerable depreciation.
cit is the fear of depreciation that
keeps so much money idle in the coun-
try, and it is one of the main causes for
the very high rate of interest charged
by those who lend money at all in that
part of the country where people be-
ieve that there is real probability
of our coming to silver basis One
year of the prosperity that would
come to us all were the canitAiists Of
this country and of the world at large
absolutely certain that our currency
would never be deprecated would be
worth ten-fold more to our people
than all the benefits which even in
their dreams the free silver advocates
imagine.