The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1895-08-15

which W as putting silver on the COVE nment
no fast. Now we have the quantity mend
TONED. hut have stopped buying more bul7
lion and are gradually coming tho bullion
we have already bought, buying no more
bullion except for subsidiary silver.
FREE COINAGE IS MoNoMETTALIsM.
"The proposition is to axe off all limit as
to coinage: to withdraw the government
support OF silver; to let any nan W no has
silver bullion worth fifty cents have it
stamped "A hundred cents. Without gov.
eminent support 412 IL grains OF silve. and
the new silver dollar W ould be of the same
interchangea bile slue. The question therefore
Is What effect W ould free coinage have on
silver bullion? Would 412 1.2 grains of sill
YER become worth as M ucn as 1873 grains OF
| gold? Would free coinage give It an ex.
| chaneeable value equal to our present dollar
| In the IN arkets of the world? If the value of
silver Is not doubled by free coinage then the
exchanged BILE value of our new silver dollar
| must drop to the actual value OF the silver
put into It, We would not have bimetaIlsm.
but gold dollar woIthtwice ax much as the
silver dollar, and the silver dollar W ouId
| become the standard measure of value.
driving the gold dollar out ofcirculation. We
would reduce our standard one-half.
GOLD STANDARD SINCE '34.
| j
and Hamilton both determined to make the
new gold and silver dollars equal in value to
the then standard of measurement which
was dollar equal tic "a "A grains of gold.
They reeo2ni the fact tn "a It the exchange Bile
value OF a coined dollar must he controlled
| by the commercial value OF the bullion put
| into it. Therefore, they undertook to find
how many grains of silver, uncoined, were
| CONF ercially equal in value to "a 3D. grains
n o anjd lid hak 4
| times ms many, and multiplying 81 81 by
| 10 placed B71 Ia grains OF silver in dollar
| This undeIyalued gold. For the first few
| years. owing largely to the lack Of quick in
| ternatlonal mmuuication it circulated to
| a limited extent. and then, long before 1884
| went entirely out of circulation and we were
| on the silver standard. In 1884, jackson
| sought to restore bimet allism but he was
| unwilling to change tho standard upon
W hich the business as then heng done. He
recognized ths danger to commerce OF chang
| ing the standard. He therefore reduced the
| amount OF gold put into dollar, so that un.
| der the new coinage the bullion value Of both
| dollars would he just equal to the dollar hon
| in use. and at his instance a new ratio of Is
to was passed. 1t was soon found that
! this new ratio underavIued silver and short.
| ~ after 1894 this country went TO the gold
standard-25.S grains OF gold to the dollar
| and has been on 1t ever since, 18th the excep-
| ton CT the time incident to the war.
MORE AS BULLION THAN MONEY.
Onder the new ratio after 1884, even irac.
| tional currency az worth moro W hen melt.
| ed. than Its coinage value, and theT efore in
| 1858 1t becamu necessary to provide frac-
| tional currency containing a reduced nun.
Der of grains to the dollar, and their leg a.
tender was limited to five dollars
The Spanish milled dollar was
In ~ Halt h1,k ..,,I,a
amount OF foreign silver by the estimates o.
the Treasury Department. in circulation, a,
any time, was $50, 100000
! SIN 1860, the old circulation S214,
| 100000, and subsidiary silver S21 900, 900
While 100000 of silver dollars had been
coined, they had oil gone out OF circulation
being worth more when melted as bar silver
than their face value. These facts prove that
free and unlimited coinage OF both metals, by
the United States, did not substantially
| affect the bullion value of either metal: th0t
the cheaper metal became the standard OF
| value, and the other " ent out OF circulation
LEGISLATION AND ITS EFFECT.
Many years of experience with free and
| unlimited coinage of both metals show ed
| that by free and unlimited coinage W we're
unable to sefieet; frst, the value of silver, to
make it equal TO gold at tie ratio OF ) to
1; or second, the value OF gold to m ake 1t
equal to silver at IS to when the difference
In their bullion values W as only per cent.
| L. 1t not preposterons to claim that free and
unlimited coinage now, will NO increase the
value OF silver, when the discrepancy Is so
per cent.
1t cannot be claimed that the leeislation
by the United States in 1873 seriously
affected the commercial alue of silver for
since that time we have furnished market
for $500, 00o,o 900 OF silver, very much more
! In proportion to our increasing commerce
than went through our minis during tbs
days of free and unlimited coinage of silver
The fall in rice OF silver can easily be &C.
counted for. In 1873 the W orids product
of silver al coinage value was SS1 900, 900;
In 1892, 1t was $196, 450, 600; in 1898,
5000, les. 900. and in 1894. $214 .4S1 ,0CO
| This enormou increase in the product OF sl
yer took place despite the fact that silver
! had fallen in value 80 per cent.
, FORMER l.EGIsLATIoN on SILVER.
By ,leaisla ton passed in 1872. Norway
and Sweden and Germany suspended the
coinage OF silver in 1S73-4. Germany de
monetized silver and put 5000, 10000 o.
bullion upon the m arkets OF Europe Den
mark Holland, Russia, Austria, Hungary
each suspended tho coinage or demonetized
silver.
The Latin Union, composed OF France, Bel
GUM. Switzerland, Italy and Greece, wa'
forced to suspend the coinage OF silver be
cause It was found impossible, by fee coin
age, to sustain the value OF silver bullion
This was done by suspension for twelve
IN onths at time from ] STA to 1878, wher
the suspension was m de without limita
tion az to the time OF continuance. Since
then India, Brazil, Argentine Republic and
Chils have suspended free cona2s.
The value of silver bullion has fallen since
1874. on account OF the lessrnsd cost OF pro
ductior; ON account of the enormous increase
In pr oduction, and en- ccount OF the de
! creased demand. All Of these slsmeats en-
tered into and helped cause the reduction o
the value OF silver.
To restore the price ofsilver to its value IL
1878 you must remove all the causes which
have reduced its value Concede tor the K,
of argument that the action OF the Unitec
States ives onr of those causes, 1t il illogica
to claim that the removal of this one is t.
remove the effect of all the Others.
IT MEANS A SILVER STANDARD.
"But it is urged that the United States
should try the experiment, and II It failed
then abandon 1t change the ratio. TIT
facts stated show conclusvely in advanc;
that it must fail. To lift the value OF 412 l:
grains of silver in the United States from
ffty to one hundred cents 1t would be neces
sary to lift the value OF all silver in the
world to the same extent less the cost o