The herald., 1895-05-16
PERKINS ON FREE COINAGE

II spent year IN Japan and China,
said Eli Perkins. in the New York sun.
and made careful study of the free
coinage OF silver. During my travels
found that the 100. 900, 900 of barbarian or
tenn. 80 to THAT is, any man ca, coin a
dollar or a tael piece. | found that the
remaining 100000. 900 of the civilized
population of the earth have the gold dol
lar under the silver dollars that they have
coined 16 to 1.
II went into the banks of Hong Kong
and Shangai.and, taking Mexican dollar
from my pocket, coined in China, asked
the value of it, l was informed IL was
worth so cents. | then exhibited an
American silver dollar and was told it
was worth 100 cents in gold. | also
learned that the wealth of the people OF
these countries had deprecated 80 per
cent under the free silver standard.
Property at one time worth $1,000 was
worth only $500. l returned to America,
and. stopping at San Francisco, l found
that no American citizen mad lost cent.
for. good government put a, gold
dollar under every coined silver dollar,
making ii worth 100 cents in gold.
Il went down into Mexico and found
that they have the same debased money
that they have in China, Japan. South
America and all Africa and India. |
found that every Mexican mad lost half
his wealth.
The Mexicans wanted free coinage"
continued Mr.. Perkins. 'but they wanted
it in the United States. When asked
them what good free coinage in the
United States would do them, they said
why. it would double the value of all
the silver in Mexico and in all the world.
We would take our 50-cent silver to your
sv,t .raf ,n1 ell "
100 cents to the dollar in gold. Then
we would get the old and bring it back to
Mexico.
Would not every nation do it?' l
asked. fas
" Why. OF course. With free coinage
your 10, 900, 600 Americans would have to
put up gold under all the commercial sill
yer in the world
THE Mexican was right, continued
Eli. There are. according to our mint
reports, 49, sol. .57l. "a worth of silver i'll
the world: S5. 104. 96l. 900 worth OF silver
has been dug ont of the mines since 1892.
Even governments like Japan, which
has 10. 900, 600 silver yens (dollars) with
no gold under them, and each yen worth
Al cents, would send shipload OF melted
yens to our mint and get our dollars
worth 100 cents and take back $75, 000, 900
in gold in their treasury going INTO free
coinage-putting gold under every de-
DuSeu SllNpI OOlluT Vi 1. -bb,bODtuuO ltOliCs
1t would double the value of all the un-
coined silver of South America, Mexico.
Asia, Europe and Aflrca. But it is pre-
posterous. We could never do it.
The farmer in China is selling his
rice, salt and tea for Al cent silver. Wages
there have not changed but the laborer
there once getting cents is now getting
81 cents. He has lost half of his wealth.
who has lost in America? Why, the
miner will lose if he keeps on mining.
but the wheat raiser and cotton raiser are
selling their wheat and cotton for silver
worth as much as gold. They are on a
gold basis. Double the value of silver and
the mine would grow rich, but the far-
mer would stand still.
But" continued Eli, I'VE are talking
about impossibllities. This country if it
went into free coinage would 90 into
bankruptcy in week. The whole world
would unload on us. They would get our
little $75, 900, 600 in Il week. and we'd be
the laughing stock of civilization
by free coinage" continued Mr.. Per-
kins. ''the silver miners wealth would
be doubled at the expense or wreck OF our
nation; but the wealth of the cotton and
wheat raiser would stand still. Free
coinage, if successful, would lift silver up
to gold but gold. which the laborer has
been paid for his wages, and the farmer
| for his produce, would stand still. When
| asked Sibley and Weaver and the Den
| yer bankers if free coinage would raise
the price OF meat or cotton or gold they
all said:
| " No, no of course not. but it will
! double the price OF commercial silver. 1t
will not even change the purchasing price
of our coined silver, which is now equal
to gold
80" continued Eli. ''of course the
silve- states-California, Nevada, New
Mexico, Arizona. Wyoming: Utah and
Colorado-wll go pell nell for free coin
age. | would 60 for it ii were a silver
miner myself. but the 60, O00,000 people
in the corn. wheat and cotton states. on
second thought, will not be made cats
paws in trying to double the wealth OF
1000 600 miners. They will not try an
| impossiblity which would bankrupt the
republic and make us the laughing stock
of civilization"