Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-06-02

EhGuah not iatflHaseaiiy NoEth more ta~A oo eeras each. The 95 RHO grains of standard gold contained h a gold dollar Is worth loo cents or hs equivalent of 100 cents. all 1 over the V orld in silver standard eounsIies 1 aH ell as In gold standard countries ana se Is worth just much before il is coined as | afterv ards; but rhe 412 1-2 grains of stand. ard silver contained In q silver dollar IS not orth anywhere in the world more than l about 50 cents. Or, to put the statement h different form. pounds of silver cannot bo exchanged for one pound of gold any 1 where in the world, but 1t requires about | thirty-two pounds of silver to procure one pound of gold every W here.
 | But some one may say that this is not q 1 fair statement, because it measures the val~ So of silver by gold. The answer to this oo- | lection is that the abatement does not at tempt to measure the valus Ot either of the metals but simply 70 compare them, one with ths other and that for the purpose of n Aking the comparison the value Of gold is determined by It's purchasing power tn the markets of the world, snd the value of silver Is determined in the same way. Sixteen pounds of silver bullion will purchase only about one-haif the quantity of commodities any whore that 0ne pound of gold 5ullton will purchase, and this purchasing power Is the true test ot their actual and relative values.
 HOW WE'VE UPHELD THE PARITY.
 ..In the United States sixteen ponnds of sll- yer, coined into dollars, will DOW purchase as much aa one pound of gold coins but this would not be the case under a system of free and unHmited coinage on individual account. The coinage Of aiIver dollars here has hean limited ny law foF the purpose of preventing excessive issue and they have been coined hy the government on ttS own 1 account and paid out for public purposes as | dollars of full value. and consequently the government is bound by every consideration Of good faifh, to say nothing of tho positive l declarations contained in tho stetutee. to keep them good gold. or. in other words, to maintain the parity of tbe two metais and this it has done and will coz. tinue to do as long es the present system ex' ! fats. But if the present system is to be Rbols tsheds so that priyate individuals and cor poretlons can have their own bullion coined ! ct the public expense and have the coins de- l liVeFed t0 them for their private use, the government would De under no obligation whatever, legal or equitable to keep them as good as gold. and, In fact, it would be Impossible for it do so, because the coinage would be inhibited and the volume Of g4ivsr in circulation would become go great ia proportion to the gold the government could procure that the attempt " oaid ne. cessaEiiy fail
 "The m ost extreme advocates offrea coinage have not Yst ventured to suggest that the government would be under any obligation to guarantee or maintain the yalue ot sIlver dol lars coined without chafgs for private par ttess and without aueh guarantee it ts ear the dollar would he worth no more | than the commercial yaIa0 of the bullion con- tained in it, jusc, as the Mexican dollar is now admit that If the United states could eoin without charge to the owners all the silver In the world available Tor coinage pur- posea. 412 Ia grains of standard silver, in bullion. would be worth as much in this country as q silver dollar; but the real qaes. tion is, what would the silver dollar itself be worth?
 THE DOLLAR WOULD BE DEPRECATED.
 That will not be equal 10 our present unit and standard ofvalua Is not only admit ted but openly urged as one of tho chief ar auments in favor of it's free coinage Every. where the people being told that under free coinage it will require twice as many dollaTs to procure any given quantity ol commodities as are required now, and this means, of course, that the m oney will he only one-han az valuable as it is now.
 Those Of us who oppose the free coinage of silver at the ratio of G to are propos- ing no change in the measure or standard of value noR existing. nor arc VIC proposing to discontinue the use of silver monoy. have never been, and am not now, uRfriend. l " 10 bliFff lA LILO sense 0f desiring 10 Nee kt Sxcladed from the monetary system of ths United states. or of any other country but know that it cannot be kept in circulation along with gold by means of any ratio the law of aHy one country IT. Hy attempt 10 es- tablish between the two metals md th0t the only way 10 securO tho of both at the same time is 10 make one of them the stand ard of value and so limit the coinage of tho other that the government which igHues them and receives them for public dues may be able at all times to maintain their ex- ehangeNbility, either directly indirectly through tho operation of it's fscaI systom.
 FAyoRs THE EXISTING STANDARD.
 "E am, therefore, in favor of the proserva- iton of the eyistine standard of value with such use Of full lega tender silver coins and papeF convertible into coin on demand, as can be mRintafned without impairina or endangerina <he credit of the oveFnmeht or diminishing the purchaaiDg or deht paying power of the money in the bands of tho peo. pie. This is whnt mean by tbeterms sound mOney,' and, In my opinion. it is what is meant by an overwhelming ma iolity of the opponents of free coinage al the ratio of i 6 50 l.
 "This is neither Roid lnonometaIiism nor silver monomctalsm but it msans that enc standard or measure of value shall be maintained, and that all forms Of standard etins in use snall he kept equal to that standard in the purchase of comln oditiea and in the payment oi debts Any policy which would discontinue the use of silver as money. hy direct legal enact. meBt or ny uDder-va aluing it relatively to gold IT. the coinage laws would certainly result in practical gold monometallism and on the other hand. it is eqUeity clear that anT policy which would dtecontinue the use of gold as mo money, by legal enactment CT by underFAluinR that metal relatively to silver tn the coinage laws, would result in praeti. cat silver nonometalsm. Free and uniinl- tied coinage at the ratio of 16 to 1 would at once establish silver monometalIism. purc and simple, for. ss already shown, the coins of the oyer-vaued metal will ulti. natoly drive the coins of tho other out of circulation and out of tho country even when the legal ratio varies but small traction from the commercial ratiu but the expulsion of the under-valued coin from cir. culation would be Instantaneous when It's value s really double the value of the other.
 OUR COLD WOULD GO.
 lon dn 4ho