The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-10-07
FREE COINAGE.
Fallacy of the l6 to Doctrine Point
ed Out by Correspondent.


In recent conversation with an
Ohio farmer it was remarked that the
free coinage of silver would be very
likely to advance the prices of commo-
dities, but that the advance would be
deceptive and only nominal. This
brought out the question: But if sell
bushel of wheat for a silver dollar.
why is it that the dollar would be
worth only forty-nine or fifty cents?
The question was answered, but it is
one which is puzzling many other per-
sons besides the Ohio farmer. Every
commercial or civilized nation has n
monetary unit or measure of value call
ed by one name in one country and by
some other name in another country /;
and very few of these measures or units
of value, when brought together for
comparison, are found of the same pre-
else value and when it comes to ex-
changing for commodities of any sort
some will be found that will procure
for the holder thereof more of desired
article than will Others of these units
of value. This is because they do not
possess the same intrinsic value. There
fore people of different countries who
may have business transactions with
each other are under the necessity of
comparing there several measures of
value and of calculating the difference
in their actual or intrinsic value.
Here in the United States the none
tary unit or measure of value is called
a dollar But this term is only a name;
il is in reality something intangible, a
or touched, and this mark (S) is its
written symbol.
The pieces of metal, gold, and silver,
that are stamped as dollars are only
tokens of this measure or unit of value
that we may see and handle. BY act
of congress 23I grains of pure gold shall
represent this unit of value which is
called the dollar. This existing stand
ard can not be said 10 be anything else
than a gold standard. The act of
stamping or coming gold and silver at
the mint is simply a certification on
the part of the government, through
its mint, that the prices of metal so
stamped are Of "a certain weight and
fineness or purity; that is all. While
the government does say that these
coins shall be and must be receivable
for all debts, public and private,
Though in the pas, it has sometimes
made exceptions), it has never assum-
ed to say how many of them shall be
given for any particular commodity
tie holder or owner may desire to ex-
change them for; that is an affair of
the parties making the exchange.
While the standard is gold, it need
not necessarily follow that all of the
coinage must be of gold, if any other
metal can be found whose commercial
value is equally stable and permanent
with that of gold. The one thing then
to do is to find what the ratio is to each
other of the different metals il Is pro-
posed to Use as coinage metals, and
then give to each of kind coin its requir-
ed weight as deduced from the relative
value of the different metals 50 used.
II would seem to be waste of words to
argue that, if different kinds Of metal
are alike to stand for the symbol of the
unit of value and to pass current alike,
that their intrinsic or commercial val
ue must be precisely the samei that the
coin made from the metal that is less
precious than the one taken rs the
standard must make up by increased
weight whatever it so lacks otherwise
it would not be of equal value and could
not circulate side by side. For these
reasons the advocates of honest money
claim that if there is to he free coinage
for gold and silver alike that the silver
dollar must he given weight sufficient
to make it worth rs much as piece
of metal as Is the metal contained
In the gold dollar; that only
on these conditions can they be
of equal value if otherwise, then the
one of least value will drive the one of
greater intrinsic value out of circula-
ton for it is not reasonable to suppose
that men having commodities for sale
or exchange for money will give 50
much or many of them for the one as
for the other. No act of congress can
make a man do this against his will in
a spot cash transaction.
Both gold and silver in an uneoined
state have value as q commodity and
i'm such case are known as gold or sill
yer bullion, and such are bought and
sold by weight just the same as are
iron, lead or copper or any other metal
or minerals. OF the two, gold has a
value so fixed and stable all over the
civilized world that it may well be said
to be permanent; while ON the other
hand silver has for many years fiuctu-
ated more or less in value when sold as
a metal or commodity. For many
years II has fallen in price until at the
present time 1t Is worth less than one
half of what il was worth sixty years
ago for then it was worth l29 29-l00
per ounce, while on the 18th of Sep
tember of the present year it was sold
at So cents per fine ounce. The silver
dollar we now have in circulation con-
tains S7ll grains of pure silver. Its
value, we mean its value as a metal,
was therefore but small fraction over
5Ol cents on that date.
With this as the selling price of sill
yer, the silver dollar, to be equal in in
trinsic value to the gold dollar, as we
now have it, would have to weigh 73l
grains in pure silver or almost twice
the weight of the present silver dollar,
or S7lt grains of pure silver, Should
the market value of silver advance in
price, then the weight of the dollar
minted from it would have to be less
ened. But fthere were a still further
fall in price, the weight would have to
be still further increased. And this
will ever be the case with any metal
that fiucruates In value so much rs sill
yer has been doing. The only reason
for this fall in the commercial price of
silver that is entitled to any serious
consideration is that Of over produc-