Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1895-09-19
FACTS ABOUT SILVER
FREE COINAGE AT rs TO I MEANS
MONOMETkLLISM.

MONOMETkLLISM.
Purchasing Power the True Test Of Actual
AID Relatiye values-Duty Of the Gov
eminent In Maintaining . Parity Of
Gold and Silver.
Secretary Of the Treasury Carlisle, in
his Covington speech On May 20, stated
plainly and concisely the exact meaning
Of Bryan Bland Harvey free coinage
he said:
Free and unlimited coinage Of full le-
gal tender silver dollars at the ratio Of
is to / means that our law shall be so
changed that any owner Of silver bull
lion may send it TO the minis and have
i. coined, a, the public expense, into
dollars each containing 41214 grains Of
standard silver, the dollars when coined
70 be delivered to the owner Of the bull
lion, and all the people Of the United
States 70 be compelled BY law TO receive
them as dollars in the payment Of debts,
although not intrinsically worth more
than so cents each The 25 $40 grains
Of standard gold contained in gold dol
Lar is worth 100 cents, or the equivalent
Of 100 cents, all over the world, in sill
yer standard countries as well as in gold
standard countries, and it is worth just
as much before it is coined as afterward,
but the 412I1 grains Of standard silver
contained in a silver dollar are not
worth anywhere in the world more than
about so cents. On, to put the statement
in different form, 10 pounds Of silver
cannot be exchanged for pound Of gold
anywhere in the world, but 1t requires
about 90 pounds Of silver to procure
pound Of gold everywhere. But some
one may say that this is not fair state.
ment, because it measures the value Of
silver by gold. The answer to this OBJ
lection Is that the statement does not at
tempt to measure the value Of either Of
the metals, but simply to compare them,
one with the other, and that for the pur-
pose Of making the comparison the value
Of gold is determined by It's purchasing
power in the markets Of the world, and
the value Of silver is determined in the
same way. Sixteen pounds Of silver bull.
lion will purchase only about one-hah
the quantity Of commodities anywhere
that one pound Of gold bullion will pur.
chase, and this purchasing power is the
true test Of their actual and relative
values.
In the United States 10 pounds Of sill
yer, coined into dollars, will now pur-
chase as much a. q pound Of gold coins,
but this would not be the case under a
system Of free and unlimited coinage On
individual account. The coinage Of sill
yer dollars here has been limited by law
for the purpose Of preventing an excess
i've issue, and they have been coined by
the government on its own account and
paid out for public purposes as dollars
Of full value, and consequently the gov
eminent is bound by every consideration
Of good faith, to say nothing Of the posi-
tive declarations contained in the
statutes, to keep them as good az gold,
or, in other words, to maintain the par
ity Of the two metals, and this it has
done and will continue to do as long as
the present system exists. But II the
present system is to be abolished, and q
new ono established, 80 that private in
dividuals and corporations can have their
own bullion coined at the public expense
and have the coins delivered TO them for
their private use, the government would
be under no obligation whatever, legal
or equitable, To keep them az good az
gold, and, in fact, it would be impoesi-
BILE for it TO do 80, because tho coinage
would be unlimited, and the volume Of
silver in circulation would become 10
great in proportion TO the gold the gov
eminent could procure that the attempt
would necessarily fail Tho most OK
treme advocates of free coinage have not
yet ventured to suggest that the govern
ment would be under any obligation to
guarantee or maintain the value Of sill
yer dollars coined without charge for
private parties, and without such guar
antee it is clear the dollar would be
worth no more than the commercial val
no Of tho bullion contained in 1t, just az
the Mexican dollar is now. admit that
II the United States could coin without
charge to the owners all the silver in
the world available for coinage purposes,
412X grains Of standard silver, in bull
lion, would be worth az much in this
country az silver dollar, but the real
question is, What would the silver dol
Lar itself be worth? That it will not be
equal TO our present unit and standard
Of value Is not only admitted, but open
ly urged a. one Of tho chief arguments
In favor Of its free coinage.
Everywhere tho people are being told
that under free coinage it will require
twice a. many dollars to procure any
given quantity Of commodities Us are re-
quired now, and this means, Of course,
that the money will be only one-haH az
valuable as it is now When the public
Judgment Is finally passed upon this
subject, think 1t will BIO found that
the people Of tho United States arc de-
termined not to have deprecated dol
lar, whether 1t be gold, silver or paper.
They are undoubtedly entitled to have
for use In their business just as good
money M any other people in the world
have. and no political party that at
tempts TO deprive them Of it will ever
enjoy their confidence or receive their
suffragcs.
Metal Has No "Rights."
Tho rights Of silver" I'VE demand
tho riRht' 70 have our silver coined into