Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-12-20
THE VALUE OF SILVER
UNDER FREE COINAGE 1T WOULD
BE lint RINSIC" AS GOLD.
The CphoIders of the British Single
Gold standard Know This and Avoid
the Essential Point-A Very Wise
Editor In the Financial Jungles.

champion SlOutlg uS4licS tlldI uhNCl iiNN
coinage by the United States, silver
would rise in value.
Ridiculous as the denial is, there is
nevertheless method in ii. The average
gold-bug advocate may not possess a
very thorough knowledge Of the sub
ject over which he wakes so eloquent,
but he has sense enough to know that
the moment he admits rise in silver
10 follow free coinage, he practically
surrenders his case and admits him
self out of court"
The very essence of the argument in
favor of the gold standard is that the
value of gold is intrinsic and the in
fallible proof of its value is that the
coin may be melted down or hammered
into a shapeless mass and its value re-
main unchanged. From this they argue
that the value OF gold is wholly indie
pendent of coinage laws. The fact that
the shapeless mass of gold is only equal
in value to a coin of the same weight
because the government stands ready to
recon it without charge, is cunningly
kept concealed in the background.
These people know that the moment
they admit that free coinage will raise
the value of silver, by necessary impli-
cation, they concede that free coinage
is factor in keeping up the value OF
gold, and also that the closing of the
mint to silver was an element in de-
pressing its value SO by the eXigencies
RI "A Y
directly into the teeth of the law OF
supply and demand and insist that the
value of both gold and silver is alto
gether Independent of coinage law
The Portland Oregonlan has always
been an extreme devotee OF the gold
standard. but in recent issue it made
an awful blynder. Replying TO cores
pendent who had taken the position
that the free coinage of silver would in
crease the demand for ii and conse-
quently raise its value, that paper said:
IF the United States should enact free
coinage of silver, it would create there
by a strong demand for silver, not an
unlimited demand: and this demand
would, of course. cause some rise in the
price-how much, it is impossible TO
tell. The supposition that by law the
United States could establish definite
price greatly in advance of that new
ruling" is absurd. Ii is unquestiOnable
that so great a demand by so powerful
a nation would cause an advance in sill
yer, and the violent fluctuations of
speculative and unnatural market
might be expected. 1t is equally GER
tain. too. that substitution of the silver
standard for the present gold standard
would instantly follow; nay, would an
ticipate the passage OF the act. just SO
soon as it was understood that ii would
pass, attended by a chaos in money af-
fairs that would produce general ruin.
The world would gradually settle on
new value for silver, or rather some
new approximation TO value, about
which prices would fluctuate. We
should part with our gold, put silver in
its place, and our money would rest on
the silver basis. The dollar would
probably be worth something more than
fifty cents, but would fall far short of
one hundred cents. We should not have
bimetallism but simply silver mono
metallism. Otherwise we must suppose
we could double the value of all the sill
yer in the world by an act of congress.
That admission effectually disposes
of the "50-cent dollar" cry. for the Ore
gonian cautiously acknowledges that
it would be worth something more"
by the United States will create "a
strong demand" for silver and the bull
lion value Of the silver dollar is already
worth more than fifty cents, may it not
easily come TO pass that the silver dol
lar will be worth great deal more than
fifty cents? If free coinage will raise
the value of silver at all, why should it
stop far short of 100 cents as the
OregoDian puts it?
With the American mint open what
should prevent silver bullion from at
once springing to $1.29 (the mint rate,
which would make the dollar worth 100
cents in gold? Just one thing an eX-
cessive quantity, quantity beyond the
absorbing capacity of the United States.
Will the Oregonian kindly tell us how
much silver bullion there is now in the
worlds markets? VIII it then vouch-
safe the information how much of that
would be likely to find its way to the
American mint? Does it imagine that
in order to sustain silver at our mint
rate all the silver in the world must be
coined into American dollars? Does II
think that the moment our mint is
opened. all the rest Of the world is going
TO stop using silver? Does ii not know
that when we improve the status of the
metal by restoring it to its former po-
sition in our monetary system, other
countries will use more of it?
Is it possible that the Oregonian does
not know that with our mint open to
silver at the rate of S1.29 an ounce,
every other nation and every other in
dividual must pay the same, thus help
ing to sustain our rate2
1t is to be feared that the Oregonian
is in blank ignorance on all these
points: but having discovered that the
opening Of the American mint would
-.