Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-07-23
RATIOS DISCUSSED.
Principal Subject Of the Fifth
Ho r.Harvey Talk.
"coIN" STATES HIS CASE EXACTLY

1
What in Ills View Is the Operation nj the
| Double-standard System Horr Holds
Labor To He the Ise.t Standard Of Value
| and Measures Gold That Way, Showing
n Depreciation Of OF the Yellow Meal, ~
He Views the Case.
Copyright 1897, b.; Azel F. Hatch
The fifth day OF the Harvey Horr Dc
p.tc began with the chairman, Judge
Miller, on the MOOR. He simply requested
the audience to respect the rights Of tho
debaters, there having been on the part
of u portion OF the audience an inclina-
ton to interrupt occasionally. Horr then
began the debate by declaring that all
attempts to fix the ratio between silver
and gold had been failures. a difference
| between the legal and commercial ratios
of Il OF per cent had been sufficient to
| drive the dearer metal out of any civilized
! country. 1t had been SO in this country.
Gold was the dearer money up to 1874
and it left US; silver was the dearer after
1884 and it lett US, SO that in 1913 congress
had to pass q law making the smaller
silver coins much less weight In silver.
Coin" had said in his book that France
| had bid for our silver by establishing a
higher ratio therefor, but France had
| made that ratio-l5l2 to lin 1873 when
our ratio was Is to J and she got no silver
from US up to 1881. He gave a review Of
| the history OF the ratio Of France, and
said that gold had been made the stand
ard OF the whole civilized world because
it was believed to be more stable in valu
than silver and for other less Important
| reasons.
| Harvey said that when he replied to the
above his answer would be complete. but
he desired to talk further about the de-
monetization act. He quoted the Nor
rill letter read by Horr mt the previous
debate. In Haiv.y's quotation Morrill,
says: None silver dollarsl having
been coined for forty years. AMI Harvey
referred to the mint report showing that
Morrill, was mistaken, there having been
several millions OF silver dollars coined in
the forty years piior to 1873. Harvey inn
puted falschood to Morrill, because hc;was
u bank stakeholder and the truth would
not have served Morrill's interests.
Horr explained that Morrill, was not
writing an essay on the number Of silver
dollars coined In that time, but denying
the talk of fraui in the passage OF this
decentralization act; there had been only
5000 900 Of them coined while the amount
| Of gold was several hundred millions
said Horc: Senator Morrill, simply used
| the expression There We're none coined
| and Mr.. Harvey draws the conclusion
that because that Is not accurately true,
he cannot tell the truth about anything
else
He then went on: Doctor Lnderman
| gives the value OF the silver dollar each
year from 1854 to lss6 in the Census Re.
port. According to that table, at no
time was the silver dollar between 1854
and 1875 worth less than l0O.2 cents, tho
highest was in 1859 when in was worth
lD5.2!. This Coin calls u slight varia-
ton"
Harvey thea began the discussion of BIZ
mctallism and said: Scientific bimetal-
Ism is this: ~. Free and unlimited coin
age of both gold and silver; these two
metals to constitute the primary or rc.
dcmption money OF the government.
- That silver dollars Of 31l1 grains OK
pure silver with us) to be the unit Of
value, and gold to be coined into money
at Il ratio to be oh hanged II necessary from
tine to time il the commercial parity to
the legal ratio shall be affected by tho &C.
ton Of foreign countries.
So The money coined from both metals
to be legal tender in the payment of all
debts.
II. The option rs to which of the two
moneys is to be paid in the liquidation of
the debt to rest with the debtor, and tho
government also to exercise that option
when desirable in paying out redemption
money.
'.All of these conditions are necessary.
Like any useful mechanical construction
all the parts are necessary. First, as to
unlimited coinage: When the minis are
20 Al y,l ~ h.a xvn
metals an unlimited demand is created
for them. The quantity is limited. When
these two metals seek u market they find
demand for their use in the arts and
manufactures, which is limited. The
surplus fads an unlimited market at the
minis to be coined into money, the OBJ
ject for which all other products seek the
market. They thus have an unlimited
market, as the minis are open to all that
comes. 1t is question Of supply and de-
mand.
With a limited supply and unlimited
demand, what stops their value risingI
1t is this: The law says, We coin
371L grains pure silver and 23.S
grains pure gold, respec lively. into
dollars, and confer upon these coins
fur clions which make for them .
permanent and equal demand When
this Is the law people Will nov take less
for thei- silver and gold, the quantities
above named, than a dollar in current
| IL oney. for they have the right to have it
Coined into dollars.
This unlimited demand for the two
metals existed in all the world at ratios
one to the other up to 1915, when Eng
land closed her minis to silver. The de-
mand thus made fixed the commercial
value OF the two metals ct the ratio fixed
by law. England closing her mints had
practically no effect. IL was designed to
do SO and was the beginning of the move
ment intended to limit the quantity Of
primary money to one Of the metals and
correspondingly decrease the value Of the
other metal.
Il now make part Of my remarks an
official table taken from page 10S Of
compiled laws and coinage statistics an
official document from Washington,
showing the commercial ratio Of the two
metals for go years, to which have add.
ed the commercial ratio for 1894 From
this table it will be seen that under the
effect of unlimited coinage up to 1878 q
parity between the two metals was main
; eaip ni at no ao,l