Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-07-30
LONG TALK ENDED.
Last Words Said in the Great
Silver Discussion.
RESULTS TO FOLLOW FREE COINAGE

-
the Two Disputanis-Rsd Raia - De-
picted by Horr; Permanent Prosperity
- the Author Of sCoin' 11aintains-Com.
msnts on the Use and Production Of the
Two Precious Metals.
CHICAGO, July 3o.-The last day Of the
Harvey -Horr silver siege was directed at
the question of the feasibility Of indie
pendent action by the United States for
the reconciliation of silver, and its free
and unlimited coinage at the ratio Of
sixteen to one with gold, Harvey argu-
ing for such action, Horr against it. Har.
vey presented tables showing the coinage
of gold and silver from 1922 to 1873. He
did did this to show that the statement
that gold did not seek the mints for the
first fifty years of the nation, and that
silver did not from that time till 1873
was untrue. Harvey then quoted fro m
his book the total amount Of gold and
silver in the world and 1.-THE cubic spaces
they would respectively occupy. He went
on arguing that there was not enough
gold in the world for coinage uses in view
of the fact that the amount diverted from
creased in the past few years.
Ratios Cannot he Maintained.
Horr declared that it was useless to try
to fix the relative value of any two SUBJ
stances by legislation. Suppose congress
should try to tx the relative value Of q
bushel wheat and o bushel Of oats. As
soon as one Of them had q large crop up
tha nd lafi h,f 1,o
nations of the whole world would not
maintain the ratio any moro than it
would make water run up hill. In tho
matter of the ratio between silver and
gold it was the same. The law of supply
and demand stepped in there, and the
history of the worlds legislation showed
that it was impossible to maintain fixed
ratio between the precious metals. -
Silver the More Stable Metal.
Harvey took up the question az to what
Is becoming of the silver being produced
at present. He first quoted statements
by authorities that tho increase of the use
of metals in the arts had grown SO large
that there was always q ridiculously
small supply in Europe, and there was a
demand for practically all the output Of
the United STATES. Gold was irregularly
produced and boarded by the few rich.
Silver, on the contrary, when more valu-
able than gold was boarded by the mass
Of tho people, thereby comforting gen.
eral benefit. 1t was for this reason that
silver had been q more stable metal in
the past than gold.
Eject Of Reconciliation on Debt.
Horr took up the effect Of remonetiza.
ton on debt, and said that by far the
largest part of the debts of the United
States were less thnn a year old. These
short-t time debts were contracted under
the existing gold basis, and to reduce
them one-half would be to repudiate that
one-half. Harvey's proposition would
simply result in silver monometallism.
Harvey said that the gold advocates
feared that the debts contracted in gold
would be paid in silver This was falla.
cious. What was nominated in the bond
would have to be paid. He declared it
was not the stamp on coin which gave 1t
value, but making new use and new de.
mand for It.
He insisted that II a silver romonetiza-
ton net was passed silver would at once
begin to appreciate and gold to deprsci-
ate, and they would be at a parity before
congress adj ourned.
Free silver and Wage Earners.
Horn then enumerated the classes of
people who, he declared, would be ruined
by the cheapening of the measure Of
value. They included day laborers,
clerks, stenographers, railway employees,
domestic servants. skilled labor of all
sorts, miners, profes sional men, and the
like. in the aggregate q, 73o. 66l in mum.
Der. In addition to these he spoke Of the
pensioners Of the government.