The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-05-21
JOHN c. GOES HOME
Continued From First Page)

conclusion that the demonetizat ton q
silver reduced prices is founded upor
| the assumption of a fact that canno
be established. They have wholly fail
ed TO allege, much less to prove. tina
silver actually constituted any part o.
the redemption money in use or in ex
| lslehce IN TINS country before or at the
lime OF that legislation. If il did not
] then II Is clear that the legal demone.
t;Zation did not and could not in fact
| reduce the amount of such money in
! TINS country, and therefore cannot have
| reduced prices. 1t is we'll known Der.
| sonally to every gentleman in this au.
| dlence VINO was old enough to know
| what was transpiring in 1873 that there
| was nor dollar of silver in circulation
! at that date. The ASSUMPTION unon
| winch the argument is based is diamet-
flcally opposed TO the historical and
| official fact The only metallic or re-
demptlon money in use here at that time
was gold, which amounted to only s135.-
| 100000, including what the government
was using, whereas we now have about
| S625, coo, 600 in gold. and $780,. So. S73 in
fuil legal tender silver. besides about
*lrVo0,e 100 in subsidiary silver coin. If.
therefore, prices have fallen since 1872.
the decline has taken place in spite of
the fact that our full legal tender me-
talilc money has been increased until
II now amounts to more than seven
times as much as ii did at that date.
and consequently the alleged decline
IN prices must be attributed to some
other cause than the decentralization
OF silver. These facts prove not only
that the demonetiZat ton of silver did
not reduce the amount of redemption
money in this country, but they also
prove that the fundamental proposition
OF the advocates of free coinage is
erroneous and that prices are not fixed
or regulated by the amount of redemp-
tion money alone, for, If so. prices
should have increased since 1879
substantially, the whole argument
for free coinage, so far as it is address
ed to the honest people of the country.
Is based upon this fiimsy foundation,
upon an erroneous principle and a false
assumption of facts. That the amount
OF money in circulation, or available
Tor circulation, has more or less in
fuence upon the price of commodities
Is not disputed by anybody, but it is
rot the amount of metallic or redemp-
ton money alone that eXertS this in
huence. If all other conditions remain
the same, if the relate between sup
ply and demand are unchanged, if the
cost OF production, of tranSportat ton,
and financial exchanges are stable, an
increase or decrease of the currency in
ton, or availa BILE for circula ton,
VIII, to certain extent, increase or de-
crease prices, as the case may be: but
by the terms money" and currency"
in this connection, l mean every ele-
ment that enters into and is utilized in
the complicated process of buying and
selling IN the markets for products and
IN the mercantile exchanges, whether it |
be bank notes, gold, silver. United !
states notes, checks. bills, or other |
forms of credit written or unwritten. |
Credit or confidence is an element Of |
tar greater Importance in fixing or up /
holding prices than the mere amount /
Of actual money in use, or available |
tor use; and, in fact, about % per cent /
lf the entire business of the country
IS transacted without the actual use of :
money, or it's paper represent
-atiVes; and as to metallic money itself,
whether in gold or silver, it is not used
o the extent of more than 1 per cent
z our business transactions. In view
If these facts, which are as well estab-
lshed as any other facts relating to
'ur commercial and financial opera
ions, how absurd it is to contend that
,riceS are fixed by the amount of that
kind of currency which does
ot constitute more than one hundredth
art of the whole. In the broadest and
1ost comprehensive sense the business
apacity and personal integrity of each
ldividual constitute a part of the eff
ecuVe currency of the community in
Which he lives, because these charac-
eristicS enable him to become pur-
haser of the commodities it has to sell.
Though, at the time, he may have
either money nor property. Credit is
purchasing power and the man who
csses it completes in the markets with
he men who possess actual money,
nd contributes as much as they TO
he maintenance of prices. To assert
hat prices are fixed by the amount of
money alone is equivalent
D the assertion that if all the silver dol
irS, subsidiary silver coin, silver GER
ficates, United States notes, treasury
otes, national bank notes, and every
Their form of credit were destroyed,
,aving nothing but the gold, prices ;
-Ould remain the same as they now are 5
"a proposition SO prepoSterouS upon
s face that | presume no man with ;
ny regard for his reputation would I
enture to make ii except in a disguised
)rm.
The great majority of our people rem =
ar service for wages IN one form or ]
mother and they are compelled to pur
lase in the markets everything they
II, drink or wear, and in most cases
ley are compelled to pay rent for the ;
Sc of a home for themselves and their !
Lmilies. Like the farmers, they have !
)t silver bullion to carry to the minis {
be coined at the public expenses; they !
ave nothing to dispose of but their I
Dor and their skill, and as a general |
lie all, or substantially all, the wages I
ley receive must be used in procuring L
for the personal use of |
emSelVeS and those dependent upon !
lem. They cannot eat, drink or wear :,
e money paid to them for their labor
Id il is valuable TO them only because
ey can exchange il for the necessaries
Id comforts of life; and there never /
as time in the history of the world "
hen the workingman's dollar would I,
" as much of the necessaries of life as Ii
VIII buy now, and there never was a +
ne in the hosiery of the world when +
{ wOrkingmen received more good dol a
RS for the same amount Of labor than 2
receives now in this country. Any L
licy which reduces the value of this +
liar on the day il is earned or on the y
y it is expended. by diminishing its d
power in the markets, has q
ccisely the same effect upon the holder
If the amount paid for his labor !,
ere reduced. If. therefore, the favor :,
argument of the advocates of free -
inage-that the free coinage if silver -
the ratio of 16 10 l would double the
ices OF all productS-is correct. the
So VI NhS LdpD- MS man Ntui1 Put-
aSe under that system only one-half
nat they purchase now. This would
doubtedly be the case unless wages
ould also he doubled. which. accord
: to the uniform experience Of the ,
st, Is most improbable thing. For
1re than a quarter of a century the
)rhing people of the United States ,
We struggled earnestly and persist
tly, through their labor orSauiza-
ms and otherwise. 10 increase their
iges to a point which would enable
EN- 10 live decently and comfortably
eXpending their earnings for COM
'dities az their present prices. and
W long do YOU think they would have
struggle in the future 10 raise their