Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-05-22
". ". y. GALLAHEB. Edtfo,
AS TO GOLD AND SILVER.
The Decline la the Prices Of SiIver Ac-
counted For.

The Decline Ia the Prices Of SiIuer Ac-
counted For
Can money be cheap aud dear at the
same time both scarce and superabund-
ant? Can there be millions Of idle capital
lying in the great financial repositories
Of the world aud yet a general contrac-
ton of prices because there is not money
enough to effect commercial exchanges
wiihal If the advocates of The free coin
age Of silver are right, there is no absur-
dity in answering these questions in the
affirmative. In other words. assertions
may be made about the place and func-
ton Of money that if made about any
other subject Of human concern would
seriously compromise the reputation Of
their authors for sanity. And yet there
is nothing particularly occult in the rela-
ton which the precious metals bear to the
business transactions of the world. They
are used for pocket money aud for the
adjustment Of the balances Of internalion-
al trade. BY the consent of the civilized
world one of them has been reduced to
the humble but necessary function Of
making change. With equal unanimity
the other has been selected as the meas
ure by which the relative value of COM
modilies, services and property is comput-
ed. This is the grievance of the silver
men-tbe selection of ore metal to be
lbe measure of commercial value-and
out of it has grown, according to them,
woes unnumbered to large proportion Of
the human race.
First among these is the general fall in
prices in the last twenty two years. To
say that this has been a direct result Of
the demonelizalion Of silver proves too
much or too little. II prices are low be
cause the value of money has appreciated
by reason of the exclusion of one metal
=
from its former place as legal tender for
the payment Of debts, how comes it that
the rates paid for the use of money have
kept pace with the downward prices OF
the chief commodities of commerce? II
the available stock of gold in the world
offers too slender a foundation for the
system of banking credit, how does ii
happen that the great banks Of the
world are issuing much smaller vol
= ume of notes than their gold reserve will
bear If the prices Of most commodities
have goue down, why not all, and that in
an equal proportion ? If supply and de
maud, the periecting Of mechanical pro-
cesses, the cheapeuing Of production aud
transportation, the opening Of new sources
Of supply and other familiar influences at
work in the last twenty-five years have
!, had nothing 10 do with the downward
course of prices, why has wheat declined
more than pork, and sugar and tea
than coffee? Why, in short should not
the decline in silver from Sl.:9 to 90 CTS
! an ounce, be represented with approxi'
mate accuracy in all the commodtie;
which money can buy? And why, above
all, since money pays for everything
|, should the rate of wages aud the value o.
all personal services have gone up, while
the general course of prices has beer
/ downward A bushel of wheat in Chica
! 90 is worth less than half the price i
$ brought in 1873, but the average price O
Chicago real estate has gone quite th'
+ other way. If the decentralization of sill
|, yer and the fail in prices stand in the re
7 lalion of cause and effect, then the fal
D. should be universal, without any excep
!. tious wbaievet
T. 1t may be Il eless TO argue against the
:, silver delusion by pointing nut how rela'
lively insignificant are the proportions o
}, the worlds stock Of either or both of th'
: metals called precious to the volume o
the transactions of the worlds trade
For # the significance of that point were
understood there would he no delusioD.-
But it may be worth while 10 insist on lh'
truth of the somewhat trite statement tha
trade, in its most advanced firm, has no
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