The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1895-11-30
MONEY AND PRICES
Secretary Carlisle Driven Into . Corner
by ''Silver Dollar" Bland.

Mr. Carlisle III his speeches has laid
down the broad proposition that the free
coinage Of silver would give us Il dollar
worth only so cents, and in the very
same breath insists that the restoration
of silver would cause a contraction of
currency and fall III prices, If there
should be a fall in prices below what
they now are, it would mean that the
dollar would buy more than the dollar
now buys. If he would explain how a
80 cent dollar can buy more thar a 100
cent dollar, he would make himself bet
ter understood.
The idea Of cheap money and falling
prices are antagonistic. The two cannot
~coexist, and no mar understands this
better than Mr.. Carlisle himself. A
cheap dollar means that it will buy less
Of property. He argues that the effect
of free coinage would cause the export
Of our gold to foreign countries. Taking
this argument as true, it would not hap
pen until there had been a sufficient sup.
ply Of otheE money to take the place of
the gold SO exported, for the simple rea-
sou that gold would be worth more here
than abroad until we had supplied its
place with other money to keep up the
prices here as compared to prices abroad.
But what would be the effect of send
ing our gold abroad: 1t would go into
the gold standard countries-England,
Germany and France. 1t would swell
the volume of money in those countries
to the amount Of gold exported, and if
that amount vas 600, 000, 900 it would
add 600, 600, 900 to the volume of money
of these countries where We sell our sur
plus products. The wheat growers, the
cotton growers, the producers of food
and textiles export their surplus to these
countries, and if 600, 900, 900 of gold
was added to the volume Of money Of
these countries it would proportionately
raise prices in those countries, and es.
pecially the prices Of those things we ex-
port and sell to them for gold.
In that event the farmer, the manu-
facturer and those who produce articles
for export would get possibly 25 or 80
per cent more gold for their commodi-
ties than they receive now. And mas
much as Mr.. Carlisle himself admits
that the prices Of u export products in
foreign countries tend - steady the
prices here we can at oHice see that if
the price Of these commodities was
raised 25 OF 80 per cent or SO per cent
in foreign countries to which we export
them they would necessarily go up to
that figure at home.
As long as our policy is to drain these
countries Of their gold we must look for
low prices in this country and in the
countries to which we export our prod
ucts, and the more gold we drain from
England, Germany and France the more
We lower their prices, and the conse-
quence is the lower will be the prices Of
q export commodities to these coun
tries, and il the prices fixed in these
countries fix our prices here we readily
understand why it is that prices are
constantly on q decline, for this fact ]
assert to be the case, and the stats
ticians above referred to establish the
truth Of this beyond controversy, and
take issue with Mr.. Carlisle on that
point when he insists that prices, as a
consequence Of silver characterization,
have not fallen.
Will he or any gold advocate contend
that had there been no demonstration
Of silver, and we had continued the
free coinage Of silver, prices would have
fallen as they have? Or will he contend
that the characterization Of silver ha.
not had the effect to cause a fall il
prices, which mean an appreciation Of
money? If he does. will he explain, il
he can, how the restoration of silver viii
have any effect upon prices or the value
Of money?-R. P. Bland at Sedalia, Mo