The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-10
SAFETY IN GOLD.
CContinued from Eighth -

Ter Of speculation and conjecture This.
however. We do know, that the free coin
age Of gold. as We ind It, does not affect
its present value as a commodity. 1t only
has the effect TO guarantee 70 the world
that coin which carries the genuine
stamp OF the government contains a GER
tain quantity of gold. and the commercial
world accepts this as true. However. the
purchasing power Of the coin does not de-
pend on the stamp, but on the quantity
Of gold contained in it, Our gold dollar
contains 23.Z2 grains OF pure gold. and its
purchasing power equals the value or the
purchasing power OF that number Of
grains; no more and no less. If the
government should reduce the number Of
grains One-half, the dollar would have
only half the purchasing power Of the pres
ent dollar; or, If II should double the num-
Der Of grains, then the dollar would have
twice the purchasing power.
Gold is the standard IN the United States
and silver the standard in Mexico. and
what I have just said about gold in this
country applies with equal force 10 silver In
that. The purchasing power Of the stan
dard dollar in Mexico is measured precise
ly by the commercial value of the silver
St contains, just as our standard dollar is
measured by the commercial value of the
gold 1t contains. Compared with our
money the Mexican dollar is worth fifty
three cents. while our gold dollar is worth
one hundred cents. Melt our gold dollar
and the bullion is worth one hundred cents,
and melt the Mexican dollar, and the Dul-
lion is worth fifty-three cents Of our mon
ey. the value of our standard gold dollar
being exactly equal TO the commercial
value Of the number of grains of gold 1t
contains, and the purchasing power OF the
Mexican silver dollar being exactly equal
10 the commercial value OF the number Of
grains Of silver it contains. Not so with
III H.
silver than the Mexican dollar 1t has the
purchasing power Of a standard gold dollar
not on account of its own merits but be-
cause we hold il on a parity with gold.
The contention of those who differ from
me is 10 establish a silver standard Of
value and to maintain it along with the
gold standard. They propose what IS
known as the double standard" of gold
and silver, but which is more properly
termed the "bimetallic standard Their
contention Is that this country should at
once pass a law for the free, unlimited
and independent coinage Of silver, at the
ratio Of 16 to !.
We now have a law for the free, unlim-
tied and independent coinage of gold at
the ratio of 1922 grains OF pur or 25.s
grains Of standard gold to the dollar and
they propose to enact the law which eX-
listed prior to 1873 for the free, unlimited
and Independent coinage of standard sill
yer dollars at the rate of 3uh grains
of pure or 1929 grains OF standard silver
10 the dollar This would result in the es-
tablishment at the minis, of the coinage
ratio of l6 TO 1 because a piece of silver
containing STA grains weighs sixteen
times as much as a piece of gold weighing
1922 grains. They contend that such a
law would result in the establishment OF
the bimetalllc standard and under it's
operations, standard gold and silver money
would remain in concurrent circulation
This / deny. ! say il would result in
driving gold out of circulation, and the
substitution of the silver for the gold
standard
I repeat, that money must necessarily
be thing of value. The substance of
which it is composed must be of value
equal to the purchasing power of the stan
dard money, into which it is coined
Wherever standard money Is coined, with
out charge for mintage, whether it be
gold or silver, or in whatever country,
there is, practically, no difference be-
tween the bullion value of the standard
money and its purchasing power. This
being true, it follows that whenever a
country coins gold and silver into standard
money, that one or the other will retire |
from circulation unless the bullion value |
of each dollar is equal to the bullion value
of the other.
If the government takes one substance
tender dollar, and another substance
worth 100 cents, and coins that into a legal |
tender dollar, it follows that the first win |
be used in the payment Of debts, to the
exclusion of the other.
If this country should adopt coinage ra-
ito of 60 to l, it would result in the gold
standard, because no man would have his
silver coined into a dollar when he could
take the bullion and exchange it for two
standard gold dollars. If silver should be
coined under such law, is It not perfectly
clear that the silver dollars would cease
10 perform the functions of money. because
they would be twice as valuable as bullion?
If this country should establish the ratio
of Is to !, is it not equally clear that 1t
would result in the silver standard, be-
cause no man would coin gold into dol
lar, when he could take the bullion and
exchange ii for two silver standard
dollars, of the same debt paying powers
Should gold be coined under such law,
IS it not certain that it would retire from
circulation, because the bullion in each
dollar would be worth twice as much as the
dollar itself2
This simple, economic truth was perfect
ly understood by the fathers of the re-
public. After the revolutionary war the
Spanish miled dollar was the basis of our
circulation. 1t was by law the standard
money of the country. During Washing
TONS first administration the question of
coinage was considered, and Hamilton and
Jefferson, as is shown by the history of
those times, accepted the economic truth
for which l am eontending, and fully real
ized that the bimetallic standard could not
be maintained, unless they could adopt
legal ratio at which standard gold and sill
yer should be coined, which would CORE
spond with the commercial ratio Hamil-
toms researches convinced him that the
commercial ratio had been in the neigh
borhood of 10 to l for more than one hun
dred years, and it was then in the mar
kets of the world, exactly fifteen 10 one.
Hamilton, therefore, prepared and con-
gress passed the act of 1892 for the free,
unlimited and independent coinage of stan
dard gold and silver money at that ratio,
and the minis were thrown open to both
metals.
It may be observed that this act was
passed practically without opposition. 1t
was accepted by the people and their rep
resentatives as an effort to establish the
bimetallic standard under the most fav-
orable conditions, ana under the guidance
of statemen of great sagacity. The lesson,
therefore, which 1t teaches cannot be
over-estimated. In less than two years
after the passage of the act silver de-
clined in the open market to such a point