Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-02-22

DOSeu SO 10 uO tACtpb VIII ltlt al u VI
Great Britain. So, | repeat, the low
prices, not of this country alone, but of
the world, are the result of the demOnc-
tizatOn of silver. first by Germany. then
by us, aud lastly by the Latin union.
MIR. Teller. stated before what
thought about that. When | talked |
about the depreciation of silver, meant !
the divergence between gold and silver,
and that is all there was of it. 1t is not
that silver fell. The purchasing power
of silver Is the same today as it was, but
the purchasing power of gold is double
what it was. Gold has gone up.
y 4
Mr.. Teller. Going back to the ques-
ton of the senator from Delaware,
whether legislation has not affected the
value of silver, if the senator means by
that value MS compared with cOmmOdi-
ties | answer no, but If he means the
value as compared with gold, then ans
SWer yes, because, rs | have stated be-
| fore, and repeat it now-the senator
can verify it: he need not take my word
for it-an ounce of silver bullion, that is,
the gold you can get for an ounce of ell
yer bullion. will buy more wheat today
than it would in 1873, when silver bull
lion was selling here for Sl.33 an ounce;
| it will buy more cotton. There are
some things, perhaps. of which it Will
not: there is occasionally an article
where it may not. but of the great mass
of products silver bullion will buy just
as much. In every country which has
maintained the silver standard there has
been absolute stability of money, or
stability of prices, which Is the same
thing.
In India, as stated by the senator from
Nevada moment ago. the purchasing
power of the rupee has been maintained
Notwithstanding the bullion in it would
bring only about one-half of what it
would twenty years ago. The japanese
yen will purchase Just rs much now as 1t
would twenty years ago in Japan, eX-
cepting always, of course, gold; it will
not purchase as much gold. The
Chinese use silver, not as money, but ia
bulk, by weight, and yet you can buy
lust as much of anything in China with
Silver today. cutting off piece from a
bar and weighing it in scale, as you
could buy twenty years ago, whether it
be labor or property. SO it is in every
country. You can do it here, because
/, here gold has appreciated and property
has gone down. That is simply saying
, that when one end of the balance went
= up the other went down. That is all
/ there is of it. Whenever money appre-
ciates commodities go down, and when
ever commodities go down, it may be
attributed to the appreciation of gold,
unless IN exceptional cases, where an
unusual demand or an unusual supply of
} some article makes the difference.
D.. 4 +
What was The result of the demoneti-
{ cation of silver? There might one of
two things happen; that is, silver might
4 be deprecated as compared with cOmmo-
e dites. That did not happen. The
A senator will not claim that. If he does
f he will run counter to the experience OF
1 the last twenty-three years, and he VIII
o run counter to every writer on the sub
iect, whether monometallist or any
c thing else. will cite Mr.. Clifford, the
t great monometallist writer of Grea
d Britain, who declares that the trouble
V has not been the fall of silver but the ap
II probation of gold, and not because &"
Z the increase of production or anything
?. of that kind. An extraordinary demand
v for an article increases its price. Tn
IL supply remaining the same, a lack q
II demand-whlch the senator seems t.
n have overooked-has Il contrary effect
$ If there was lack of demand it nigh
o have been. as | say. that silver disap
Il peared from the money system of III
e country and prices remained stable; bu
lie that could not have happened unles
p there was something to take its place
If The gold was not sufficient, but the in
creased demand for gold, under the Law
the senator had LAID down, would appre
Is ciate gold for, after all, gold Is just a
much commodity as silver, and tn
e law of demand and supply applies t
ID money as we'll us it does to commodities
"a The learned commission of Grea
e Britain, of which the senator from Ne
Up vada has spoken, declared that it wa
id not the increased production of silve
&c which made the divergence between gol
IN and silver. They declared it was not tn
he increased production OF commoditie
lie which put down prices, but they declare
lie it was the appreciation of gold cause
Ill by the great demand which was pu
IN upon gold by law and the limited SUI
Sc ply to meet that demand. in that vie,
lr the twelve men constituting the con
We mission all agree and there is IA genera
Id consensus of opinion that that is tn
OF fact.
lr Mr.. Teller. There are other cause
y, coming III and affecting 1t to some de
I'd gree, hut not to great degree. mea
of to say today that the world is suilerin
u, from CONDITION OF prices winch are nc
IT, remuneratve to the producer, and | d
not care what branch of business ma
H. is engaged in, the statement is true {
mt all and of everything, whether it be o
Ill the farm, in the factory, or anywheI
Of else. The prices of products today al
or below profitable production and | sa
he that condition has been brought abol
he by the appreciation of gold and by ii
l6 narrowing Of the metallic basis.
lis Mr.. President, | have been led I'M
in saying a good many things did nj
to mean to say, and | shall probably |
We cut short in making other remarks
re wish to make. However, desire
ut make a few more observations with re
We erence to the financial question. 1t h,
90 been said repeatedly that we who adv,
We cate the use of silver and gold (for v
D. never advocate the use of one Withol
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