The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-07-26
THE RATIO.
The Chicago Debsters Discuss BimetallIsu
and Silver nemnnefizntinn

ana SILVER Demonstration
CHICAGO, July 23.-In the financial
debate between Messrs- Horr and Har-
vey yesterday Mr.. Horr opened the
dispute with a written argument touch
ing the impossibility of maintaining a
fixed ratio between gold and silver.
As the result of experience all the civ
ilized nations of the globe had dis
carded silver as a standard money. 1t
was useless 20 exploit long tables of
ratios to show whether double stand
ard could be maintained. The world
had pronounced against silver
Mr.. Harvey defined scientific bimet-
allism to be the free coinage of both
gold and silver at an assumed ratio;
change in the size of the gold dollar
whenever the parity between gold
and silver coins should require; the
option to both individuals and the gov
ernment to pay in the cheaper metal.
He held that under these circum-
stances silver would not depreciate, be-
cause there would be an unlimited de-
mand at the ratio fixed by law, and
no man would sell his bullion below
the price at which he could
have it coined. Mr.. Harvey submitted
a table to show that from 1857 up to
1873 the commercial ratio had re-
mained remarkably close to the legal
ratio. notwithstanding the demonetiza-
tion of silver by England and other of
the great nations of the old world.
Mr.. Horr said this matter of ratio has
little or nothing to do with the ques-
tiOn. The fact was that all of the civil
lized nations of the world refused to
recognize silver except at its bullion
value. For us to attempt free coinage
alone was another matter. Mr.. Horr
then took up the proposition of Mr..
Harvey's book that making the dollar
of one-half present value would double
the value of everything in the United
States except debts. Mr.. Horr pro-
nounced this absurd saying we might
as well say that if we cut our yard
sticks in two it wound double the
amount of cloth in the country. He
said Mr.. Harvey seemed to be stuck
on" sweet "16 to l." In his book he
proposed to keep metal values at a
parity by reducing the amount of gold
gitimate results, the ratio would be-
come l6 to Z or 80 to l.
Mr.. Harvey proceeded to argue that
both gold and silver were the measure
of value until 1873. Referring to the
cutting of the yardstick in two, Mr.
Harvey said that the gold men had
doubled the yardstick in 1898.
Mr.. Horr, in reply to the charge that
the demonetization of silver cut the
value of products in two, said that
if that were trne prices would have
at once dropped 80 per cent. The
fact was that they did not If the
destruction of half the wheat crop
would raise prices four-fold, the de-
monetization ofsilver did not destroy
it. Returning to the attack, Mr.. Horr
said that Mr.. Harvey did not care for
ratio. What he wanted was a cheap
dollar. and the cheapening of the
emoluments of labor. That was the
most prosperous country in which its
wOrkingmen were best paid.
Mr.. Horr said it was in 1875 that we
resumed specie payment, and the only
money of final redemption was gold. |
He asked: WAS distress abroad ia the |
land from that on?" The fact is the |
years from 1879 to 1892 found our peo.
pie better employed and at better |
wages than in any other same number |
of years since this government was
formed
Mr.. Harvey: "As to the prosperity |
of this country between 1879 and 1892. /
you could not break down a great |
nation like this in one year. II has /
taken a short period to bring us to the /
bitter cup of disappointment and
Distress" Continuing, Mr.. Harvey l
asked Mr.. HOrr not to refer
to the prosperity" of the
tramp was coined in 1873, and the
United States census shows that de-
preston has been increasing at a dis
ratio. So has the num-
ber of penitentiary convicts, persons
confined in aims houses. insane asylums
and of suicides. The prosperity that
has built up millionaires and multi
and strewn this country
with millions of tramps and paupers
thl ilACh WIZ uOu hnOW liON buCI dTC
going to provide for their families in
.he coming year. A change in relative
production had no effect as long as the
nints were open to the two metals"
Mr.. Horr: Il have never said that
.he cheap price of silver was not on ac-
count of its over production. Silver
has become cheap in this world just
precisely the same as wheat, and iron,
md zine, and lead, and other articles
nave been cheapened, just precisely for
he same reason. All of these articles,
Is well as gold, have been cheapened
oy the natural laws which govern the
production of every substance known
% the producers of the world"
This ended the debate for the day.
KILLED WITHOUT WARNING.