The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1895-07-06
Col. Boatner Replies TO a Letter
from Judge s. T. Baird.

which entertain l0r Jon pere0ualiy.a
and the respect which 1 accord 10 the
opinions Of those vino differ with me,
requires that should reply at some
length 10 your recent letter inquiring
why j. oppose the free and Unlimited
coinage of silver at The ratio OF 8 10 l
Your letter seems TO take il for grant
| ed tha, have changed my position on
this important; question; You have
fallen into this error by confoupding
advocacy Of bimetallism With support
Of unlimited coinage, now favor ana
have always earnestly advocated the
| former, for some time doubted, aid
| for two years at least have opposed
| the latter.
Bimeiallism, as ! understand it., is
the concurrent circulation of gold and
silver at party, each one being legal
tender money of final redemption
| When the bullion coined into the gold
dollar is the equivalent in value of the
bullion coined into the silver dollar,
the two will freely circulate on terms
of equality, aud the unlimited coinage
Of both will be attended with no diff
Guilty. This, however, cannot occur
except when the coinage ratio CORE
| spends with the commercial ratio be-
tween the two metals. When there il
any considerable disparity between
the commercial and the coinage ratio,
tho unbroken history OF the past
proyes that the cheaper money will
displace the more valuable, unless the
coinage of the cheaper metal be limi-
ted so as to give ii an artificial value.
[, was contended by the advocates
of the gold standard in 1878, when the
Bland Allison net was under consider
alton. that the coinage and issuance
| by the United States of q dollar in
| trinsically worth only 80 cents (the
then value of the silver in dollar)
would inevitably drive every other
form of money out of circulation. and
they predicted the direst consequences
to the country as the result of what
they were pleased to call dishonest
piece of legislation. The fallacy OF
their argument consisted not in the
falsiiy Of the principle that cheap
money always displaces the more
valuable, but in failing TO take into
account that. owing 10 the provisions
of the proposed law the money TO be
issued would not be cheap money be-
cause there could not be issued under
the provisions of that act for many
years, more silver dollars than the
United States would practically re.
deem annually by accepting them in
payment Of public dues, the current
revenues being far in excess of any
possible issue For this reason, and
this alone, all their predictions fell 10
the ground.
There were issued under this act
some three hundred and ninety mil
lions of dollars. and they have re-
NAMED at parity with gold to this
day. although their intrinsic value has
been constantly declining aud they are
now worth only abont SO cents on the
dollar. This last fact, j. e., that our
silver circulation has remained at par
With gold. has led many 10 believe
/ iha, we could by the effect of the same
force maintain at par any amount
which we might issue. The error in
this deduction consists, think, 10
falling TO appreciate the nature of this
force aud the manner of its operation
So long as the silver circulation of the
United States is limited TO four hun.
dred and twenty-five millions of dol
lars, or any sum which can be absorb
ed in payments of taxes aud debts, SO
long will the silver dollar be equal 10
the gold or any other dollar in pnr-
chasing power, because the govern
ment furnishes use 10 which it eau
be put every year on an equality with
any other money in circulation; but
when the minis shall be opened 10 the
coinage of all the silver bullion which
may be presented. BY which piece OF
metal now worth in the markets of The
world only SO cents may be transform
ed into a coin worth nominaliy 10C
cents, IL is manifest TO my mind that
the artificial value now attached to
our silver dollar will instantly vanish
This has been The result in other ma
lions whose minis are open to the un-
limited coinage Of silver, aud l can see
no reason why the same result should
not follow here. One dollar of our
silver is worth two of theirs; theirs is
legal tender for all debts, public and
private, and is money of final redemp.
ton for all domestic debts, yet il is
worth its weight in bullion and no
more.
This pregnant fact is met by the as
sertion on the part of the advocates OF
the unlimited coinage of silver that the
/ United States is so much more power
fnl commercially than all the countries
combined which are on a silver basic,
that no such result would follow here,
| by which is meant, that we could
absorb in our circulation at par SO
large q portion of the silver OF The
world as TO raise the price OF all of 1t
to one dollar aud twenty-nine cents ali
ounce. There is, however, nothing to
sustain this assertion except the opin-
ion of those who utter il, aud l, for
one, not only do not believe it, but am
convinced that it is entirely ground-