Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-05-03
SILVER AND GOLD.


[Contnued from First Page.
p thus went abroad, that prices OF all
, kinds of property would remain the
same. OF course wheat and cotton
and various kinds OF American mcr-
chandise would command better prices
= in England than they could command
r if the quantity OF gold in Grea. Britain
had not been increased by an outflow
of the yellow metal from the United
States. As England could not import
: wheat and cotton from India, and va
rious articles OF merchandise from
silvcr-using countries, as proiitahlv
when silver is FULLY remonetized in the
United States as she can now do, the
export trade OF the United States would
he greatly increased. The gold would
flow 20 our country.
But let it here be supposed that the
United States government reopencd
its minis To the unrestricted COMA e
of silver AMI that every gold dollar IN
the United States went to Europe and
that for every dollar that went silver
dollar took its place. As far as the
internal trade Of the United States is
concerned, which is some fifty or more
times greater than is their foreign
commerce, silver money, and bills rep
resenting silver, would be not only az
efficient, but more So, than is gold, as
| the value OF the white metal is at
present more stable than is that of the
yellow metal. Under the bimetallic
?
try would continue to be alike open to
silver and to gold at the ratio of not
less than Ii TO |. There would be the |
| irresistible force at work inherent in
the bimetallic coinage system equaliz-
| ing the monetary value of the two
metals. 1t would make no difference
in the price of all kinds OF property
whether silver or gold money was paid
to the people OF our country by for
eigners owing them money. Ii the
silver money OF the United States, for !
any reason, was especially desired in !
Europe, it would liberate gold money
for our country-every dollar OF which
could be said to practically represent
in the United States silver dollar
as was the case for many years prior
to the year 1873, and as it is contended |
in this paper would probably again be
the case unless the government of the |
United States changes its ratio to the
European ratio of 15t Of silver to of
gold. Practically silver and gold dol
lars would be but one kind of money.
| The unit of value would be the silver |
and the gold dollar. The metallic !
| dollar, whether of silver or of gold, |
would he money of ultimate payment. !!
The silver dollar and the gold dollar
under the bimetallic coinage system |
were never necessarily interconvertible |
at the United States Treasury, the one
with the other, but they were in the |
eyes of the law of our country of equal
value in the payment OF debts. OF |
course, under that system which !
brought great prosperity to our coun-
try during period of over eighty |
years, the prices of all kinds OF prop
erty in our country were measured by |
the quantity of legal-tender money in
the United States.
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION UNNECEs- |
sARY.
The people of the United States do
not need to make any entangling ALI
ance with any European power in re-
spect to their coinage system. 1t was
no part of the policy of the great
statesmen who founded this Republic
to make such alliances. Should the
government of the United States be
betrayed by bad American statesman
ship into binding itself by Nm interna-
tional agreement-an exceedingly I'M
wise alliance, it might be called-with
few European nations in which
Great Britain was not included, TO
coin silver at IL or l5t to of gold,
the people of great Britain would very
likely, in order to underbid the people
of the United States for the trade of
the vast silver-using countries, practi-
cally readopt their old ratio of Is of
silver to of gold. This they could
the more easily do in a manner that
might not at once attract the observa.
ton of the people of the United States
inasmuch as the minis Of India, whose
doings are enveloped in part by Sc
crecy, could and would coin a very |
large amount of che white metal at
that ratio. The needs of the United |
States alone for metallic money are
vast-not to dwell upon the monetary
needs OF some thirteen or fourteen |
hundred million of people whose me-
dunn OF exchange is silver. Too few
people realize the greatness of the
United States. Our country covers an
area about as great as that OF the en- |
tire Continent of Europe, and it has
grand possibilities before it that Eu-
rope can never have. As far back as
the year 1884 the United States
were calculated to be two and one
| fifth times as rich as the great German |
Empire. The wealth of the United
States was at about the same time |
estimated to be some ten thousand
millions OF dollars vaster than that OF
wealthy Great Britain.
The truth is that If the United |
States government fully remonetized
silver it would not be long alone in |
such sagacious course inasmuch as
all the gold-using countries of the
world would be compelled to do like
wise or to see the people OF the United
States commanding the trade of the
silver-using world and enjoying a
glorious prosperity, while monometal-
lie nations would 60 on suffering ever
greater and greater poverty and
wretchedness until they followed the
example set them by the great Repub-
lie of the Western Hemisphere
DISASTROUS esterday, |
horse attached to carriage in which
Mrs. Ragless, OF Tenino, and Mrs.
Rogers, of Shelton, were driving on
Main street, took fright at passing
car, and ran away. Mrs. Ragiess was
thrown out of the vehicle near the
| residence Of Mr. HOke bruisinq her