The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-10-06

Some Of the stock arguments against
free coinage Of silver are that:
Such course would benefit no
body but the millionaire silver mine
owner
And:
Under free coinage the gold money
OF the country, amounting to about
$60oO00. 900, would be supplanted by
cheap silver money and thus the cur
rency would be contracted to that ex-
tent
Let it be assumed that Senator
Stewart is one Of the millionaire
mine owners" Under existing condi-
tlons the output of his mine is sent
TO the market just as that much lead,
iron, copper or other commodity would
be under free coinage; his output
would be elevated from the position of
commodity to that of a measure of
the value of all commodities Now in
stead OF being a competitor with ether
commodity sellers Mr. Stewart be-
comes a competitor with other COM
modify buyers.
Suppose the product of one of his
mines is sufficient in one year TO coin
one hundred thousand silver dollars
and he carries the output to the mint
and receives for it that amount of
money. Is he the only man benefited
by the transaction? If so, how is he
benefited? What good are the hundred
thousand dollars to him?
Under the economic conditions
which exist the world over and which
specifically apply to money, the hun
dred thousand dollars which the mint
director would hand to Mr. Stewart
would be, just as that many gold dol
lars would, utterly valueless intrinsic
ally and could afford him no pleasure
or enjoyment until after they had left
his hands. Metal may be intrinsically
valuable but money cannot be- Money
is a creature of law. Metal is a pro-
duct of nature. Law may transfer but
it cannot create value and the thing
that happened when Mr. Stewart had
his bullion coined was the transfer of
the value Of the silver as metal for
its value as money Now having his
hundred thousand dollars instead of
his former silver ore what will he do
with them? Until he meets somebody
in possession of a demand" for dol
lars his money will do him no earthly
good but will remain in his hands
simply as so much dead matter. The
minute that he comes across such q
person that minute he finds one whose
wants he can supply and who can re-
ciprocally benefit him by employing
his money to advantage
Is it not plain then that instead of
free coinage benef1ting no one but the
millionaire mine owner, it not only
benefits others but it can not benefit
the mine owner until it does benefit
others. The common mistake of those
who argue differently is in the fact
that they consider money an end in
stead of means to an end. 1t is not
money that people want it is what
money, under the law, will buy that
everybody wants. If Mr.. Stewart didn't
know this he would not have his bull
lion coined into money, because as
money it would be without value, 9TH
erwise, while as bullion it would be
Stewards hundred thousand dollars
would be worthless to him until he put
them into circulation, and then they
would benefit others as much as that
amount of gold dollars, or diamond
dollars, if there was such thing
would, and the chance of others get
ting dollars in exchange for their pro-
ducts would be increased to the extent
to which they increased the amount of
money in circulation
Now consider the other point, that
about free coinage contracting the cur
rency through the displacement of
gold by silver money.
Let it be granted that the metal in
the gold money will be SO much more
valuable than the money in the silver
metal that gold money will not circu
late alongside of the silver money, the
question is what will become of it?
over what route will it disappear"
These are plain, practical questions
and they deserve plain, practical en-
swer.
Suppose John Smith is a banker in
one of our interior towns, or sea-coast
towns for that matter, who happens
to have among his assets gold money
to the value of $4,000. Mr. Smith, be-
ing a banker, knows what money is
and how to employ it to get other
money. He likewise knows the differ
ence between money and comm odities
and is we'll posted, as a rule, in the