Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-05-17
A pOu8la SAD RD.
REPUBLICAN, SENATOR rELLER's VIEWS.
CHICAGO, H.. April %.

CHICAGO, Ill, April u.
To the Editor:-rhe monpmctallists
tell Us that double standard j., unscien-
tilic, impossible and absurd; that we
might as well have two yarl~ticks of
different lengths. This appeal to the
yardstick is very common and is sup
posed to afford conclusive argument
against bimetalism But the lllustra-
ton is unfortunate in that it reveals an
utter ignorance of the first principles of
the subject under discussion. Money is
not measure of values in any sense so
as to make such II comparison possible
A yardstick is measure of fixed. I'M
changing length. Value is not Il thing
it implies a relation. The value of any
thing is value in some other commodity.
1t cannot be spoken of without involving
a relation, a eference TO something else
Value, therefore. is not measured. but
expressed or stated; and money IS not a
measure of values, but common de-
nOminator. in terms of which values
may be expressed. The value of money
and this power varies from time to time.
which is but another way of stating that
general prices change. As the value of
money is not, and cannot be, fixed and
nvarable, the comparison with a yard
stick can have no force, and is NEGLECT
ual in a discussion of monetary stand
ards. The real question is which stand.
ard, the single or the double, will render
the value of money the more stable.
The bimetallsts maintain that the two
metals together are more stable in value
than either of them used alone. True,
the variations of the two may be more
frequent than of one. but it must be re-
mcmbered that such variations tend to
offset or balance one another. With
possibly more frequent changes, the
fluctuations are less wide in their range,
and the average value is fairly stable
In case one of the metals deprcciates in
value. it will be exported until the sup
ply is reduced to the proper level and
the price rises; and, on the other hand
the other metal, being above the proper
price level, will be imported the quantity
increased and the price reduced.
Thus the equilibrium will be restored
according to the unvarying laws of
trade, and no great change either way
will re possible. And this is not mere
theory. 1T has been proved by expert
euce At the beginning of the present
century France had the double standard
at the ratio of lob to |. The annual pro-
ducton of silver was three times that Of
gold. and continued largely in excess of
gold for many years. Says Professor
Walker: "When the California discOv-
cries took place the stock of silver in
existence was at least one and half
greater in value than that of gold
Within twenty years these conditions
were to be reversed" At the time gold
was discovered in California the annual
production of silver was about S per
cent greater than that of gold. Four
years later the annual production of
gold was more than three times that of
silver. The world will probably never
again see so great a change in relative
productions of the two metals; vet the
ratio was maintained and neither changed
greatly in price. From $500 to 1873 the
price Of silver was never higher than
CT 5-Sd per ounce, or lower than sd.
Said Walter Bagehot, the distinguished
English economist, speaking of the BIZ
metallic countries: "Whenever the val
ues of the two metals altered. these
countries acted as an equalizing ma
chine. They took the metal which fell ;
they sold the metal which rose, and thus
the relative value of the two was kept
at its old point" Professor JevOns.
himself an advocate of the gold standard.
admitted that bimetallsm operated as
above set forth; and upon this feature
of the case economists are now substan-
TALLY agreed. Said Balfour, the emf
nent English statesman, in May, 1891,
speaking of the double standard "'There
is practically now a consensus of the
whole economic scientific opinion, which
has devoted itself to the calculation of
this problem, and any man who in the
face of that opinion now quotes any of
the old tags about demand and supply
making it impossible to fix a ratio be-
tween the two metals, any man who now
relies upon arguments of that kind to
show that the double standard is an i'm
possible eXpedient, does nothing else
than write himself down as ignorant of
the latest scientific development of po-
litical economy"
But the double standard involves a
ratio between gold and silver to be fixed
by law, and this, we are told, cannot be
done. So eminent man as Senator
Sherman asserts that it never has been
done. Yet the English Royal commits
sion of 1888, composed of twelve men