The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-05-24

Professor Francis A. Walker, one of the
most distinguished bimetallists In the
United States or In the world, In IA care
fully prepared paper recently published.
says:
But one thing more remains to be said
| in this connection; that IL, In reply to the
allegation of the monOmetalllst writers
that the course of events In France which
has been recited did not constitute II
genuine case of b!metallism. If these
writer's may be permitted To impose thoir
own definition upon us. their contention
can, to considerable extent. be made
good, What they say Is. that France from
1903 to 1873 ala not enjoy the concurrent
circulation of the two metals, but only an
alternate circulation, now of one and now
of the other; and this. they declare, Is not
bimetalllsm at all, Therefore, according
! to their view, there Is no great historical
instance OF the success OF bimetallsm.
'If. ON the other hand we may be per-
mitted for ourselves to say what we mean
and propose by blmetallihn, the criticism
in question does not touch our case at all.
| We fatty deny that blmetallism necessar-
| lily involves the concurrent circulation of
| the two metals. There Is some reason to
believe that the French statesmen of 1903
really expected that concurrent circula-
ton would result; but no bimetalst nova
days makes the concurrent circulation of
the two metals in the same country II
necessity of that system. II 1t results
| only in establishing an alternating cir
culation. the chief results OF bimetallism
will be achieved. as they We're by the
action of France"
This Is intelligiblc, for we can all under
stand how 1t is possible to have an alter
mating standard and circulation, some
! times gold and sometimes silver. and the
monetary history of the world proves that
this Is just what happens whenever the
two metals are freely coined in any coun-
try and made full legal tender. Values
VIII always be measured by the kiud of
money in actual circulation, no matter
what the law may declare, and, there
fore, If the free and unlimited coinage of
silver at the ratio of l6 to / should drive
out gold and substitute silver and paper
| redeemable In silver in its place, we should
have single silver standard and actual
| silver monometallism. Instead of using
! both gold and silver as we do now IN
| larger amounts than ever before i'm our
history, we should instantly expel the
| more valuable metal from the country and
make the other the sole basis of our cur
rency. We have now practical bmetal-
lism-the use of both metals as money;
we should have then practical monometal-
lism-the use Of only one metal as money
| This Is neither speculation nor prophecy,
but conclusion based on facts estab-
lished by the experience of all nations in all
ages.
The Problem Plainly Stated.
In order to eliminate all irrelevant mat
ter and simplify the argument allow me
| to state exactly what the proposition now
pending before the people is: 1t is pro-
posed that the United States, without the
cooperation or assistance of any other
| government, shall provide by law that
all the silver bullion, or foreign silver
coins, that may be presented at the mints
by individuals or corporations, foreign or
/ domestic, shall be coined, at the public
expense, into silver dollars, at the ratio of
16 to l with gold-that is, that sixteen
pounds of silver shall be considered equal
in value to one pound of gold, and the
weights of the coins shall be adjusted ac-
! cordingly-and that the coins so made at
the public expense shall be delivered to
4 the owners of the bullion, or foreign silver
coins, as the case may be, and all the
people of the United States, but nobody
else, shall be compelled by law to receive
them as dollars of full value, in the pay
ment of debts due to them from their own
fellow-citizens and from the citizens or
subjects of other countries. 1t is not pro-
other countries with whom our people
trade, shall be compelled to receive these
silver dollars in their transactions with
us, because that can be done only by in
ternationai agreement, and our impatient
free-coinage friends declare their deter
mination to proceed at once Independently
of all other governments. All who are
indebted to us, therefore, to have the priv
ilege of paying in silver, while all to
whom we shall become indebted are to
have the privilege of requiring us to pay
in gold.
Measured by their purchasing power in
the markets of the world, which is the
only real test, the relative value of silver
bullion to gold bullion is about 80 to : !:
that Is, 1t requires in all countries, silver
standard countries as well as gold-stand-
ard countries, about 81 pounds of silver
bullion to procure the same quantity of
commodities that one pound of gold bull
lion will procure, and, therefore, the
proposition to authorize the free and un-
limited coinage of silver into full legal
tender money at the ratio of 16 to l, means
under existing conditions, that the intrinsic
value of the silver dollar shall only be
half or about half, the intrinsic value of
the gold dollar. My own opinion is that
after we had passed a certain limit the
more silver dollars we coined the less they
uo,Id be worth because the imitation
itself would still further diminish their
purchasing power. Such legislation by
the United States alone would not reduce
the value of the gold dollar to any extent
,hatoyo, hecnuse as already stated. the
Lie or ,b,t metal In commercial trans
aot,ons ali over tbe world Is estimated
aocord,,g to its weight and fneness. and
,,,,i, continue to be so estimated and con-
sa,,,,ont,,, Tho only way in which This conn
,a,i oia,o could dimir,,sb tbe value of iia
*, ao,,ar would be to red,,ce tho ,veight
90 ,, ,,,,ra ,notol contained In II
,rh a,tar,nt IA coin the two metals with
-, A., ,,,a,,,, t,, s,,I ,.nI