The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1895-09-07
FACTS ABOUT FREE COINAGE.
What the Effects of Unlimited Coinage OF
Silver Would BE.

what the Effects of Unlimited Coinage Of
Silver Would BE.
II n important TO understand clearly |
and exactly what the free coinage of
silver under present conditions means
It NAV be defined as the right OF any
one to deposit silver of any kind at q
mint of the United States. and have
every 37l4 grains of pure silver (now
worth in its uncoined state about SO
cents stamped, free of charge, 'One
| Dollar" which dollar shall be null
legal tender at its face value in the
payment of debts and obligations OF
| ali kinds, public and private, In the
| United States.
| Such an act at this time would SAVIOR
of national dishonesty. At the present
value of silver one of our legal tender
dollars will purchase 7l6 grains OF pure
| silver. nearly double the amount con-
tanned in a silver dollar From the
foundation of the government the eff
| fort of our fathers has been to estab-
lished coinage ratio approximating
as nearly as possible the commercial
value of the precious metals. The hrst
coinage act Q792) authorized the mint
age of gold and silver coins at the pro-
portion of l of gold to Is of silver,
which was believed to be about the
commercial value of the metals at that
period. Gold being undervalued slight
ly, gold coins did not enter into cir
culation, and silver constituted the
currency of the country. To remedy
this in 1s34-37 the ratio was fixed at
about ! to IS (exactly to 1899. which
was believed to correspond more near
lv to the commercial value Of the two
metals. The effort was always to ap-
proximate the commercial value OF the
two metals.
Hamilton, in his justly celebrated re-
port on The Establishment of Mint,
saws: There can hardly be better
rule in any country for the legal than
the market proportion"
jefferson said: Just principles will
lead us to disregard legal proportions
altogether; to inquire into the market
price of gold in the several countries
with which we shall principally be
connected in commerce and to take an
average from them. The proportion
between the values of gold and silver
is mercantile problem altogether"
After the first shock. the effects OF
which no man can fully foresee, when
values had adjusted themselves to ex-
listing conditions, silver basis means
that the paying power of our money
in foreign exchanges would be de-
preciated to the commercial value OF
the silver In our dollars, whatever that
may be. We have a perfect illustra'
ton close at hand in our near neigh
Dor, Mexico, of a country on settled
silver basis, with unrestricted gold and
silver coinage. The Mexican dollar,
although it contains more silver than
our dollar, has a purchasing power in
foreign exchanges equal only to its
commercial value as bullion. The
same is true of the currency of every
country which is on silver basis
There is no country in the world to
day where silver is minted into legal
z tender coins where gold circulates al
money. The commercial relations be
tween European countries and oul
own are more intimate to-day thar
were the relations between the states
|
Europe has practically the gold stand
. ard, and all international exchanges
4 whether with gold standard or silvel
: standard countries, ase settled on I
gold basis. The great bulk OF thu
!, foreign commerce of the Unitet
States is with countries having tn
. gold standard. During the last fisca
Il year we exported to Europe merchan
= disc of the value OF $500, OOO, 900, while
we imported from the same countrie
merchandise of the value of SOS, 1000,
> 600. Between countries which use tn
:, same metal as money there is par o
- exchange which varies only within
, we'll defined limits, regulated by tn
- balance of trade. Between countrie
- which use different metals as
" measure of value there is at present n
natural par because of the fuctuation
:. in the commercial value of silver
- Stability in the rates of exchange is Q
:, the very essence of commercial trans
= actions, especially commercial tran!
actions based ON credit Without thi
= there is necessarily an uncertaint
- which it is impossible to eliminate
=, and which complexities and deter
:. business transactions. In this lies tn
permanent evil of silver basis for on
- money-the uncertainty and fluctu'
~ tions in the value of our currency 8
- measured by the worlds standard
:. gold. What the purchasing power I
"A our currency in domestic transaction
~ would be would depend upon cond
tions which no one can foresee or AZ
=. curately forecast.
aa' at is said that the decline In pric'
" which has occurred during the la
twenty years has been occasioned /
the disuse of silver as money, and tn;
- if this country should resume the Vi
of silver the value of all produc
r would be increased and our produce
- benefited. The decline in the prices