Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-07-23


upon any ratio. Silver today has no free
coinage in any country where gold is the
standard, and only in such countries as
are using silver as the unit and measure
OF value. 1t matters little how such a
state OF affairs has been established since
1t is the existing fact. Silver is cheap.
We both agree to that.
NO coins which are of less value than
the market values Of the metals in the m
would indicate are fever treated as the
measure Of ultimate redemption, nor
ever passed current at their face value,
except they are rcdeemable in money
which is worth as much coined as un-
coined. Now Coin in his Financial
School really admits that the ratio be.
tween the two metals must always be
determined by the actual value of the
metals in the markets of the world. and
ignores the doctrine of the ratio of Is to l
being possible at the present day. On
page Ill Coin says: We express val
ues in dollars. the unit of our monetary
system. That unit is the gold dollar Of
23.2 grains Of pure gold, or 2sS grains Of
standard gold. II we were to cut this
amount in two, and make D6 grains
q unit or q dollar We would there
by double the value Of all the property
Al Vic Cuitel States except uSDtS.
is hot that statement wisdom foc you
in chunksf What a head that boy must
have. Precisely such another proposition
would be: We measure cloth in this coun.
try, legally, with a yard stick thirty-six
inches long. If we We're to cut the yard
stick in two and declare by law that
eighteen inches shall hereafter DO a yard
we would thereby double the amount OF
cloth in the United States. Holy Moses |!
What q philosopher We have here. Then
cut it in two again and the cloth would
be quadrupled. II the boy had said that
by cutting the gold dollar into two pieces
and then changing our unit or dollar SO
that 1t should be only half as valuable as
1t is now we would double the nominal
value Of all the property in the world. but
would not affect its actual value in the
least. he would have told the truth.
Before MIR. Harvey finishes his book
he discloses what he really meant by bi.
mctallism. We have it here in his own
language, and it is in this book that
find the principles which am called upon
in this debate to combat. The author
says: The objection to independent BIZ
metallism is that the parity between the
two metals cannot be maintained at our
ratio OF Ii to !, that is, the COLDS
grains-in the gold dollar will be worth
more than the silvcr-3"lL grains-in
the silver dollar; We have twice changed
the quantity OF gold in the gold dollar,
each time making 1t less. II the CONNER
cial value Of % grains OF gold is worth
moro than the commercial value Of S7lI4
grains Of pure silver then reduc, to =.
grains, 81, ~ grains of less, If necessary,
t. put the two at a ratio where the prac.
teal effect of free coinage, when once Set
to working again, will demonstrate that
the ratio is at its natural point and parity
easily obtained
And then again on page 1i3 he says:
with silver rcmonetiZ ID and q just and
equitable standard of values we can, il
necessary by nc: of congress, reduce the
number of grains in a gold dollar till it
Is OF the same value rs the silver dollar.
We can legsiate the premium out of
gold Now then, what becomes of his
ratio Of Is to 1:''
Harvey's reply was as follows: "Mr.
Horr alludes to something that l have
said before and then adds, Cut the
yard stick half in two and it will make
twice as many yards Of cloth In the
world Now, Mr.. Horr, let me tell you
what you people did in 1878. You
doubled the length of the yard stick
For instance, let me illustrate it. Sup
pose one-haif OF the gold in the world
were destroyed today beyond recovery,
would not the gold dollars that were left
be twice as valuable as they were before?
Mr.. Horr Is not bad pupil and shakes
his head. Let me illustrate it in another
way that every farmer in this country
will understand. Suppose that one-half
of the wheat in the world today were de.
stroyed beyond recovery. Mr.. Horr,
would not wheat on the Chicago market
tomorrow DO about double in value what
it is todayf You cannot escape that
proposition, and it does not require q
man to be a farmer to understa nd the il.
lustration and any man who Is q business
man will understand tho gold illustra-
ton.
80 that when you destroyed onc-half the
redemption money in 1879 you doubled
the value Of the money that was left
You doubled the yard stick. You can
see no harm In destroying tho price OF q
mans property, cutting the price of his
property half in two; you shut your eyes
to that. But your eyes are wide open
when any man proposes to even up with
you In your cutting-in.half process by
to cut the gold dollar half in
two We don't wish to do either. We
wish to put back in the coinage system
the money that you demonetized in 1878"
Then referring to tho table Of ratios
from 1857 to 1894 he said the whole Of the
variation of said ratio when "the world
practically had hAmetnllism" was made
by the cost of exchange.
1t is possible" said Horn, in reply,
that my friend Harvey believes it when
he says the act of 1873 cut the price of the
property OF tho world in two, and that
prices Immediately, as they must have
done IL their statement is true, dropped
fifty per cent. You destroy one-half the
wheat in the world and the chances are
that you will increase the value Of wheat
probably four times-such is the estimate
OF pc litical economists; but wheat is an
article that people eat to live, 1t Is all con.
sumed from year to year, or after q short
time. Gold has been accommodating for
ages, and il you should destroy the pri-
mary money quality OF half the gold in
the world you would not change the price
OF the metal one.half. AS soon as the
price would 60 up there is an enormo.s
store laid away all over the entire world
that is not being used for money purposes,
that would at once seek the channels and
be coined into money and take Tho nlaca