St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-17
QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
Some Of our Minnesota contem-
poraries, which have been examining
the financial articles of the G l o b e,
have several questions to ask which
We are pleased to answer. Nothing
will conduce more to a right settle
ment of the money question than a
moval of uncertainties and perplex-
tiles that still exist in the public
mind. The LIE Sueur Sentinel is first
in the list, with it's statement that
the remedy for the worst feature
Of the situation prescribed by the
G l o b e, namely, the retirement of
the greenbacks, is not sufficient. Its
reason is that there are still the
silver certificates, and under the
present rule they can be used to
withdraw gold" The Sentinel says
that it does not believe that sit is
y
silver certificates in gold, but the
G O b has all along claimed that
such a course was necessary" 1t is
entirely mistaken. Probably it is
thinking Of the treasury notes issued
under the Sherman act. These have
been paid in gold on demand, as they
must be to maintain the parity of
the metals. The silver certificates
call for nothing but silver dollars,
and when they alone are to be re-
deemed it is in no way necessary to
pay out gold for them. If the green
backs and Sherman notes were out
of the way, the question would not
arise. The silver certificate, on the
face of it, promises simply that the
United States government will pay
to bearer the number of silver dol
lars specified. Nobody wishes the
treasury to do more than redeem
that promise. But as long as legal
tenders and treasury notes exist, for
which silver certificates and other
forms of money can be exchanged,
and while these greenbacks must be
redeemed in gold and Immediately
reissued, to be redeemed over and
over again, no gold reserves can ever
be kept secure from a run. In con-
cluSion, we have to remind the Senti-
mel once more that while there is
such thing as bimetallic cur
rency, or a money system in which
two money metals are used, there is
not, never has been and never can
be, any such thing as a double stand
ard; any more than there can be a
soft hardness, or a luminous dark
ness, or any other contradiction in
terms.
The Chatfield Democrat comes for
ward with a few questions regarding
the possibility of international free
coinage at given ratio. Most Of
it's inquiries are to be answered in
the negative. 1t asks if, under such
a system, gold would not be pre-
ferred in all such transactions and
silver rejected. We think not. We
imagine that with the credit of the
whole world pledged to redeem either
metal in the other, their parity could
be maintained at ratio not too far
divergent from the market ratio.
Its inquiry whether the price of a
bushel of wheat might not be fixed
in the same way is irrelevant. The
case is not at all parallel. Metals are
not consumed for food as wheat is,
nor is there any such possibility of
violent fluctuations in the annual
product. Further, the Democrat
made by nearly every writer who
antagonizes bimetallism It instances
| the abortive attempt of England to
| fix the price of labor, and of France
to fix the price of food. These have
no bearing, as the G b was care
full to state in the first place, on the
| question at issue. In addition to the
point just mentioned, that the an
alogy between the price of an article
of food and the price of a money
metal is imperfect, it must not be
forgotten that while the legislature
of a single country, such as England
or France, has attempted without
success in the past to fix prices, no
such attempt was ever made in the
history of the world by the COM
bined efforts of all the leading ma
lions. The Glob stated in the
hrst instance, and repeats it here,
that no one can predict absolutely
the result of such an experiment
should it be made What we insis,
upon others remembering is that the
question is at least untried. The
combined credit Of nations is greater