Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-12-09
PER CAPITA FOOLIsHNEss.
Attempts at Regulating the Cur
rency by the Census Returns.

1
| Secretary Carlisle, in his great
speech at Memphis on May %, knocked
the pins from under the per capita
quacks by quotinga few statistics on
the subject.
'I attach very little Importance,
he said, "to the per capita argument,
because the amount of currency re-
quired In country depends mainly
upon the volume of business to DO
transacted and the customs of tho
people in conducting their exchanges,
and not at all upon the number OF
men, women and children residing in
it, but, as there are a great many who
believe that the circulation should DO
regulated by the census returns, it
may be worth while to state that the
production OF gold alone in lS9O-and
it is much larger now-was nearly
two and half times greater than the
average annual production of gold and
silver both during the decade which
closed with the year 1900. In 1900
the population of all the countries in
Europe and America was 1877, sos, S95.
and the production of both gold and
silver amounted to $24. 40 for every
hundred Inhabitants, while in 1890 the
population of the same countries was
466, 799, 341, and the production OF
gold alone was S11S, $40, 900. which
amounted to $50. 46 for every hundred
Inhabitants, or ninety-iive cents more
for each hundred people than was fur
nished by both metals during each
year in the former decade. In 1894
the population of these countries was
49,, 100, Sal, and the production of
gold alone was $l57, 22S, 900, being
$50. Al for each hundred inhabitants,
or 81. 80 more for each hundred people
than the total of both metals during
the last decade of the last century. IL,
therefore, the people of Europe and
America had used as money all tho
gold and all the silver annually pro-
duced in the world one hundred years
ago, they would not have received as
large per capita addition TO their
stock of money as they would receive
now by adding the gold alone. In
view OF these facts, / submit that the
silver legislation of 1871. 1873 aud
1876 has not diminished the worlds
supply of metallic money as compared
with former times and prevented the
single gold-standard countries from
making as great m annual addition to
their stock of metallic currency.
"Ohicial monetary statistics show
that in the gold-standard countries of
the world the stocks of money are
much larger per capita than in the
silver-standard countries. Taking tho
large gold-standard countries and the
large silver standard countries, IL APP
pears that in 1894 the stock Of money
in the United States was over $25 per
capita, in the United Kingdom nearly
$40, and in Germany nearly $40, while
in Mexico the per capita was SAT-, in
Russia and Finland 1892, and in
China 80. 26. The gold-standard coun-
tries use large amounts of silver as
money, but the silver-standard coun-
tries use no gold as money, and cannot
do so for the reasons i have already
endeavored to explain. But, gentle
men, for the reasons already stated.
the commercial Nations of the world
do not now require the same proper
ton of metallic money in the transac-
ton of their business that they re-
one century ago. Credit has been
vastly e4teuuou huu bhe use
of paper in the form OF notes,
checks and bills has almost entirely
displaced metallic money in the daily
business OF the people, and as long as
these forms OF credit are kept equal in
value TO the metallic standard, the eff
feet upon the prices OF commodities is
precisely the same as il the whole vol
ume Of circulation consisted OF stand
ari coin, for, as long as equality in
their value can be maintained, tho
paper representatives OF the dollar
perform exactly the same Office in the
exchange of commodities that gold
dollars themselves would perform
but if this equality is destroyed. the
paper is discredited, it's purchasing
power is diminished, and the people
have no longer stable measure Of
value"