The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-05-21

| the ratio of 16 to / would be to contract
the currency to the extent of about $685.
100000. by the withdrawal of that amount
of gold from circulation and from use as
the basis Of notes and other forms Of
credit, prices would not even nominally
advance. On the contrary, for the time
being at least. this contraction would
greatly reduce prices because 1t would
alarm thei country, destroy credit, and un-
doubtedly produce the most serious fnan-
clal disturbance this country has ever wit
messed Every depOstor In the savings
and other banks, fearing that he would
ultimately be paid in deprecated silver.
would Immediately demand the return Of
his money and this would compel the
banks to call at once for the payment Of
all the notes and other securities they had
discounted for their customers, and the
contraction OF the currency would cause
| an increased demand for currency at the
very time when 1t could not be obtained.
and thus the difficulty of the situation
would be Increased by both causes The
| banks would be compelled to either sus-
pend payments themselves or drive their
| customers, who are generally business
men-the men who give employment to
labor In every community-into bank
ruptcy at once. Who would profit by this
condition of affairs? Nobody except the
| ioiucIS VI SOiu anu tHe OWueTS OF silver
mines. the holders Of silver bullion and the
brokers and spectators In the stocks Of
silver mining companies. The people who
owe debts and are unable to pay them
would be the ones to suffer most, while
the people who owe no debts and have
money on hand would be the ones to profit
most. Every man In debt would be called
upon to pay II promptly when due; there
would be no more extensions Of old debts
or any new credits given, because no man
| could fOretell what the money would be
worth at any time in the future. In this
crash the laborer would be thrown out OF
employment by the failure or suspension
OF his employer, the farmer would receive
less real money for his products, property
would be sold at low rates under judicial
proceedings all over the country, credit
would be destroyed. and all Industrial and
! commercial enterprises would stand STILL
awaiting the result of the new experiment
with the monetary system. OF course a
| great country like this, rich In natural re-
sources, would ultimately recover In some
measure from even such q disaster but
how long a time would be required to do
so no man can predict. All the mnts CT
the United States, If devoted entirely to
the coinage of silver dollars, could pro-
duce only about forty million dollars per
age 1t would require more than fifteen
years to put silver dollars in the place of
the gold we now have and give back to
the country the same amount of metallic
money now existing. But in the mean
time, we would have deprecated stand
ard or value with nominally higher prices
after the first collapse was over--on ac-
count Of the reduced purchasing power of
the dollar, and at the same time we would
have for long time fewer dollars to pay
with. Common prudence would dictate
that, when any considerable change Is TO
be made in our monetary system, some
provision should be made in advance of
the actual change for a gradual transit
ton from the old to the new order Of
| things: transition period should be pro-
vided for so as to avoid, as far as possible,
sudden disturbance of business and con-
traction of the currency; but the advo-
Gates of free coinage have no such pur-
pose. They propose to make sudden and
revolutionary change In the standard
| upon which all existing contracts Of the
people are based and by which all values
are measured, and let the consequences
take care Of themselves.
Other Effects Of Free Coinage.
But, suppose the change is made, and
| that the business affairs of the country
have been finally adjusted to the new
standard, what will be the effect on our
domestic trade? The prices of all things
will be nominally increased-that is to say,
1t will require a greater number of dol
lars to purchase given amount Of any
commodity than 1t required before. There
appears to be a singular deus;on In the
! minds OF some upon this subject. Many
good people appear to think that in some
| Nycff rtf
attempted to explain, the government, by
legislation or otherwise, can increase the
prices of the things they have to sell with
out increasing the prices of the things
they have to buy. II there is any finan-
cial necromancy by which this one-sided
Increase of prices can be accomplished,
our free-coinage friends ought to explain
1t to the people. The plain, every y-day,
common-sense view of this subject is the
only correct one. If prices are increased
solely on account of an increase In the
volume Of circulation, or on account of a
depreciation of the currency without any
| change in the relation between the supply
and demand of the commodities to be
exchanged, the increase in prices will nec-
essarily affect all things alike. If, there
fore. the farmer or planter receives
greater number of dollars for his crop Of
pay correspondlngly greater number of
dollars for his agricultural implements,
for his groceries, for his clothing, and, In
short, for everything he purchases. Con-
sequently, his profit, II he has any, will
bear about the same relation to his expen-
ditures that 1t bears now-that Is to say, IL
he now makes a profit Of 10 per cent. he
will make a profit of no more than 10 per
cent. then. Now 1t Is out of the clear
profits of his business that he must pay
his debts, and II therefore remains to be
seen how much benefit he would ultimate
ly derive from a nominal increase in the
prices of commodities. He cannot con-
troll the prices of the commodities pro-
duced by him to the same extent that
other producers can control the prices Of
theirs, and 1t may be that the prices of the
things he is compelled to buy will be in
creased in much greater proportion than
the prices Of the things he has to sell, and
IL so, he will be a loser instead of gamer
by the change.
Silver and Prices.
1t Is contended, however. that prices Of
commodities have fallen since 1873, and
that this reduction Of prices has made 1t
more difficult to pay debts now than It
was then. 1t Is true that the prices of
some things have fallen, but 1t Is equally
true that the prices of some things have
Increased. 1t is not true, however, that
our people owe any debts contracted as far
back as 1873 but 1t may be that some of
our great corporations which issued bonds
before that date still owe them, but they
have all been refunded at low rate OF
Interest. so that our free-coinage friends
need not be disturbed on their account.
The fundamental proposition Of the nd
vocates Of free coinage Is that all values
are measured and all prices are fixed and
regulated by the amount of redemption
money in the country, and that the
amount of paper currency, or credit
money, as 1t Ii sometimes called, such as
bank notes, government notes, and other
circulating media, exert no Influence on
the values or prices Of commodities. Hav-