Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-07-24
A TRUE PICTURE
OF SOME OF THE EVILS CT FREE
COINAGE
Secretary Carlisle States Plainly Why
Debtors Would Not be Benefited
and Why Everybody Else Would
be Injured by Free Coinage.

MNEULUL1 ~ OAA4 wv -
and Why Everybody Else Would
be Injured by Free Coinage.
Mr.. Chairman, no man can foretell
with certainty all the consequences
that would follow a sudden change in
our standard Of value from goldto de-
preciated silver, but in my opinion
thew would be most disastrous to the
material interests of people. OF
course, the obligation of all contracts
existing at the time the change is made
would be seriously impaired; credit,
which constitutes the very foundation
Of all industrial and commercial activ-
ity and prosperity, would be destroyed
for a long time at least our domestic
trade would be paralyzed until values
could be readjusted so as to conform TO
the altered monetary system the funds
of wldowsand orphansa and others IN the
hands of guardians, executorsandot other
fduciaries would be at once dimin-
ished about one-half, and the estates
Of the intended benefciaries would be
divided about equally between them
and their trustees. Just as soon as it
became reasonably certain that a free
coinage law would be enacted, every
man whose obligation had matured
would be compelled to pay it, or
have his property sacrificed at forced
sale under Judicial process; for | as
sumo no sensible creditor would stand
quietly by and wait for the passage OF
a law conhscating about one-halt OF
his claim. Debtors who think that
they are to be benefited by this policy
will be most egregiously mistaken,
unless their obligations have many
years TO run before maturing. Banks
could not make any loans to the peo-
pie, because every man who had a de-
posit in them would rush at once
for his money, for fear he might
be paid in a deprecated currency, and
therefore the banks, instead of grant
ing new loans, would be compelled by
the demands upon them to insist upon
the immediate payment OF all their
discounts then outstanding. The con-
traction Of the currency by the expul-
sion of S631, 600, 900 in gold would
diminish the ability of the debtor to
pay his obligation at the very time
when payment was most urgently de-
handed. In this general collapse Of
credit and destruction Of business,
those who would be most injured are
the very people to whom most has
been promised by the free coinage ad-
vocate-the great producers Of the
country, the farmers and the laborers
in our mechanical and agricultural In
dustries.
It is unquestionably true that no
part of our people Is so vitality inter
ested in the preservation Of a sound
and stable currency as the men and
women who work for wages (applausel,
and in the term wages / include
salaries and compensation In every
form paid for personal services In all
the occupations of life. The evils OF
a deprecated and fuctuating currency
must always fall most heavily upon
the poor, who do not produce for
themselves but for others, andwho are,
therefore, compelled to purchase with
their wages everything they eat,
drink and wear. Their wages will re-
main stationary, or at best they will
rise slowly and at long intervals, while
the prices of the necessaries Of life are
liable to rise suddenly from day to
day as the value Of the currency
changes, and, consequently, what may
to be a fair rate of compensa-
ton at the time a labor contract is
made may prove to be grossly made
quate long before the labor Is per
formed. The labOrer cannot protect
himself against fluctuations in the
prices Of commodities, for he cannot
purchase at Wholesale when prices are
low, and keep out Of the markets when
prices are high; he must buy day by
day, and he must pay out Of his earn
ings, whether their purchasing power
be great or small. The employer can
not afford to promise higher wages in
advance, because with a ~depreeiating
and Auctuating currency be cannot
possibly foretell what the prices Of his
products will be at any time in the
future. Thus the laborer is the VIC
tim Of two influences neither of which
can he successfully resist. He must
whatever wages are offered by
employers or go without work, and he
must pay whatever prices are de-
handed In the markets or so without
food.-Hon. John G. Carlisle, at
Louisville, Ky.