Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-04-30

at a premium. o,, an
The ninth question again supposes an
unlimited supply OF silver when does NOT
exist. and the question calls Tor no a"'
swc-. 49,,
cold al once go to a premium; be usef,
#, fact only to buy silver at IT'S market
price. 10 be coined into dollars. ana u
drain the government? Would not inc
unoiv Of silver convertible into dollars
ba greatly stimulated and increased. ana
necessarily debase the peoples money
q, and lessen it's purchasing power;
Answer. We can only Judge Of the M
ture by the past. During the hundred
years Of the free coinage Of SILVER ths
coin Of that metal was at a premium a.
often, If not oftener. than the com OF
gold. hence there Is no foundatoh ioF
the fear that gold would so 70 a prehli-
ufn. At the time Of the discovery o. ths
eold-felds of California il was predicted
that cold would become so plentiful a.
n render IT worthless as money metal.
But that prediction, Ike that or Mr.
Villiams's as TO silver, lacks verlilca'
ton.
II Surprising our currency to be Only
silver. and the supply of IL unlimited,
what would be the effect on prices?
Answer. As an unlimited supply OF SILL
YER does not exist, and as there IS no
party in the country, so far as ] am III
formed. proposing 10 make silver our
only currency, this question seems 10 DC
Irrelevant.
The three following questions assums
a state Of affairs that does not exist
1 o. that there IS an unlimited supply
Of silver. and that those who favor Tree
coinage propose to make silver our onl.'
currency, hence they. too. are irrelevant
H. viii free coinage put dollars In the
pocket Of a man who has nothing 10 give
for them? :.
Answer. No; and II the fact that 1t
will not is the foundation or MI WI
liams's objection to free coinage ne
ought to object % the coinage o. so'u
for the same reason.
iG VIII a man who gets two prices Tor
his products and pays two prices Tor ali
he buvs be any better off for abundant
currency?
Answer. To answer categoricaliy, we
would say. as a rule no; but II man
kind generally IS not affected inJuriousIy
or benelcially by an expansion OF the
currency. Ism, II fair 70 presume that
Mr.. Williams believes that the class 10
which he belongs. who are engaged III
lending money. would be BENEFITED py
= contraction OF the currency: and the
mower and the value or their loans
Political economists and the most cistin-
o,tished statisticlans OF the world are
agreed that gold is constantly increasing
in its purchasing power, and that. CON
seouently, all commodities are losing In
value; so that while we have gold
standard only We can calculate win
certainty that Il will require more OF the
commodities Of the world to pay thou
he
thousand dollars Is worth today. And
here Is the benefit that those engaged IN
lending money receive from the single
| gold standard. II Is this fact, too, which
has slenced so many OF the great indus
| tries OF the country, because they are. as
| a rule. built upon credit, and men are
afraid TO incur obligation to pay money
| in the future, which Is month after
month becoming dearer and dearer. IL
| has converted honest laborng men into
tramps, and has done as much to deYas-
| tate the country as a small-slzed war,
and the end is not yet
There are several other questions. such
az .'Wnl lands be made more produc-
| tiye?" "Wnl demoralIzei currency help
| trader "Can any progress be made. or
any structure built. on a quicksandY
Would business or gambling be the re-
| suit OF a demoralized currency?' which
| I know Mr.. Williams will excuse me for
passing over. But, he asks, rs not I'M
| certainty fatal to progress" and l an
swer "Yes"; and this Is one or the cher
reasons for the opposition TO the gold
standard. Adam Smith believed that
| gold was changeable In value. Profes-
| sor Jevons says: I'VE are accustomed
| fixed datum line in commerce. but In
| reality II is a very variable thing" Ri
| cado says "if We diminish the quantity
| of currency we give an additional value
| to IT," Professor Walker OF the Massa-
| chusetts Institute OF Technology,
| saws: Gold and silver undergo
| great changes of values. and become, In
| a high degree. deceptive as a measure
| Of the obligation Of the debtor; OF the
| claim OF the creditor. Thus. PROFESSOR
| Jevons estimates that the value OF gold
| fell between 1879 and $50 S per cent.
| and from 1900 to 1919 1t rose AS per
| cent, while in twenty years after lsi9
| IL fell again at least 20 per cent" MIR.
| Giffen. the well-known chief OF the sta
| tIstical department. OF the London Board
| of Trade, and a most incorporating
| champion OF monometallism. declares.
| with marked emphasis, that gold has
| gone up in purchasing power; that the
| increase is continuing, and Is likely to
| continue. and that this increase In the
| purcha sing-power Of gold gives the true
| explanation of the fall In the price OF
| commodities generally.
| Mr. Balfour, Of the English Parliament,
| declared in a recent speech that gold had
| gone up in value 80 or IS per cent. in
| fifteen years and that IL Is still steadily.
| continuously, and indefinitely increasing
| In value. SO that no man living can pro-
| phesy the limits to which the increase
| may not extend" The Right Hon. G..
| J. Goschen, member Of Parliament, wrote
20 the same effect. and so did Mr.. Saur-
| beck.
| Professor George Tucker. Of the Uni
versity Of Virginia, In his work on
| Money and Banks" devotes a whole
chopter TO an argument to prove that IT
| would be better for this country to adopt
silver a single standard, because Of
the fuctuating character Of gold.
| might add other witnesses to the list.
| but their evidence would be merely cumu-
lstive. The point 20 which they testify
| has come tn be recognized as a fact by
hnsnciers. political economists. and sta
| tisticians. 30 that Mr.. Williams will
| hardly venture to assert that these wit
nesses are all wrong and he alone right
| In conclusion I would like to ask Mr..
| Williams II the uncertainty In the value
| Of gold to which all of these witnesses
testify Is not the sort OF uncertainty that
Is fatal to progress, would also Ike
| 20 ask him how he can make and repeat
| the assertion that there IL an unlimited
| supply" Of silver in the world. In face
| OF the fact that there Is less silver In
the world to-day, as compared with gold.
than there was TWENTY-FIVE years ago