The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1895-07-04
THE MONEY QUESTION
Senator Jones Says Something Of
lnfereSt 10 Importers.
How We Enflict Injustice ON the
Many for the Benefit OF the Few.
The London Times Quoted on
the Silver and Il old standard
Observation-Disclosures Debts,

It is supposed to be decisive of the
question to inquire how, if we have not
the gold standard, we can pay our debts
to foreigners. Let us examine this point.
An American importer buys goods in
Great Britain Or Germany to bo sold
here for his profit, and his alone. The
query is, How is he to get the gold to
pay his bill? I reply to the question by
asking another, By what means does he
pay bills in his own country? How does
any merchant obtain money? By sales
of merchandise. Very we'll.
Let, then, the American importer sell
merchandise for gold with which to pay
his gold Indebtedness. He bought in
gold standard countries the goods which
require to be paid for in gold. Let him
sell i'll those countries for gold the goods
from sales of which to pay his bill.
Gold is to be bought for commodities in
every gold standard country of the
world. Ii the range Of prices in those
countries is such that he cannot make q
profit on the transaction, that is his
misfortune and is not one for which the
American people at large are responsible
or by reason Of which they should be
in sums infinitely larger than
any possible premium that could be i'll
volved in the transactions of a few i'm
porters.
ALI the internal commerce of this
country, which is so times greater in
amount than our foreign trade, should
not be disjointed by reason of the neces-
sity which exists for a few men to pay
their debts abroad. Is it {, greater act Of
justice to facilitate the payment Of an
$ foreign bill at the expense of
all the people Of the United States than
to maintain equity and justice in the
Of all debts and the payments
for all commodities and services inter
changed among the 100000 people
OF QUE country? Must we forever con-
t1nue to inflIct wrong and injustice upon
all QUIZ producing classes--upon ninety
nine one-hundredths of our people-sim-
ply to save an occasional importer or
foreign business house some inconven-
lence? for i'll any case it could be moth
ing more than all Inconvenience It
could under no circumstances result in
loss to any importer to have to pay a
premium
Suppose a failure of the crops to occur
III Europe and All abundant harvest in
this country. There will be consequent
boom here. Numbers of contracts will
be made on a high range of prices. Then
this country becomes a poor country to
buy in, because prices are high, but for
the same reason it becomes good coun-
try to sell in. Other countries at such O
time will be poor countries to sell in
because prices there are low, and they
will for the same reason be good coun-
tries to buy in.
On such occasions our importers strain
every nerve to buy to the utmost. Hay
ng therefore large payments to make to
foreign countries, they find that owing
% the low prices prevailing abroad they
ire unable to send out our wheat or cot
;on to advantage. Hence they gather up
;he money of the country and send it
away.
Making the Many Suffer For the Few.
Instead OF assuming the responsibility
or the exercise of bad Judgment or over
veening cupidity on their part in maxi
ng more purchases than the country
makes sales, they make everybody in the
country suffer-those who have not had
whatever to do with foreign
goods as we'll as those whose business it
S to deal in such goods. AS everybody
nows, the number Of persons who deal
Il foreign goods is utterly insignificant
with the enormous number
Who deal in domestic articles.
The premium which in any event the
Importers would pay is a bagatelle in
with the unseen and unob-
erved premium which for many years
las been paid by the toiling millions
Money is bought by every man with the
PRODUCTS Of his labor. The masses of the
'eople are not digging gold out of the
mines. The gold they dig is the amount
hat can be bought by their labor exert
d in fields Of wheat and cotton, in
cams Of iron and coal and in the city
hops, foundries and factories The
of money which the products of
uch labor will command is therefore
he measure Of the value of gold.
With the present system all the peo-
lie OF this country are made to pay a
remium on gold in order that a few
may be saved some imaginary
in the payment of bal
noes.
An adverse balance of trade whereby /
100, 100000 Of the money Of the coun-
~ might be shipped out would SO re-
uce the debt paying power of the peo-
le and the prices Of the commodities
nth which in the last analysis they
lust pay the debt as to make it ca
amity Of great proportions in compari-
on with any inconvenience to which i'm
orters might be subjected in paying
1elr foreign balances.
In order that such transaction may
esult in great loss to the masses of our
eople it is not necessary for panic to
ccur. The loss could be gradual, but
reat.
Inconvenience ONLY.