Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-06-27
PER CAPITA FOOLIsHNEss.
Attempts at Regulating the Cur
rency by the Census Returns.

Attempts at Regulating the Cur
rency by the Census Returns.
Secretary Carlisle, in his great
speech at Memphis on May %, knocked
the pins from under the per capita
quacks by quoting a few statistics or
the subject.
81 attach very little Importance
he said, "to the per capita argument,
because the amount of currency re-
CURED IN q country depends mainly
upon the volume Of business to be-
transacted and the customs of the
people in conducting their exchanges,
and not at all upon the number or
men, women and children residing in
1T, but, as there are a great many who
believe that the circulation should be
regulated by the census returns, it
may be worth while to state that the
production of gold alone in 1S90-and
it is much larger now-was nearly
two aud a half times greater than the
average annual production of gold and
silver both during the decade which
closed with the year 1900. In 1900
the population of all the countries in
Europe and America was 1877, sos, 895,
and the production of both gold and
silver amounted to S24.4 40 for every
hundred inhabitants, while in 1890 the
population of the same countries wac
466, 78o, 34l, and the production of
gold alone was S118, $40, 900, which
amounted to $50. 46 for every hundred
inhabitants, or ninety-five cents more
for each hundred people than was fur
nished by both metals during each
year in the former decade. In 1891
the population of these countries a
4S5, 100, Si1, and the production of
gold alone was Sl57, 22S, 600, being
$50. Al for each hundred inhabitants,
or 1892 more for each hundred people
than the total of both metals during
the last decade of the last century. Ii.
therefore, the people of Europe and
America had used as money all the
gold and oil the silver annually PRO-
duced in the world one hundred years
ago, they would not have received as
large a per capita addition to their
stock of money as they would receive
now by adding the gold alone. In
view of these facts, / submit that the
silver legislation of 1871. 1873 aud
1876 has not diminished the worlds
supply OF metallic money rs compared
with former times and prevented the
single gold-standard countries from
making as great an annual addition to
their stock of metallic currency.
"Oficial monetary statistics show
that in the old.standard countries OF
the world the stocks of money are
much larger per capita than in the
silver-standard countries. Taxing the
large gold-standard countries and the
large silver standard countries, it APP
pears that in 1894 the stock OF money
in the United States was over S25 per
capita, in the United Kingdom nearly
$40, and in Germany nearly SO, while
in Mexico the per capita was SA.7l. in
Russia and Finland 1882, and In
China SO. 26. The gold-standard coun-
tries use large amounts of silver as
money, but the silver-standard coun-
tries use no gold as money, and cannot
do so for the reasons / AVE already
endeavored to explain. But, gentle
men, for the reasons already stated.
the commercial Nations OF the world
do not now require the same proper
ton OF metallic money in the transac-
ton OF their business that they re-
quifei q few centuries ago, or even
one century ago. Credit has been
vastly extended and the use
OF paper in the form of notes,
checks and bills has almost entirely
displaced metallic money in the daily
business OF the people, and as long as
these forms of credit are kept equal in
value to the metallic standard, the eff
feet upon the prices OF commodities Is
precisely the same as if the whole vol
ume Of circulation consisted of stand
ard coin, for. as long as equality in
their value can be maintained, the
paper representatives of the dollar
perform exactly the same Office in the
exchange of commodities that gold
dollars themselves would perform;
but if this equality is destroyed, the
paper IS d~iscreditci, its purchasing
power is diminished, and the people
have no longer a stable measure Of
value"