Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1896-10-08
PRODUCTION OF
MONEY METALS.
Its Increase a Boon to
Mankind.
Why There IS No Fear of
Initiation.
Inscriptions Attempt to
Destroy Silver.
Real Enemies of the Public
Welfare.


much to say of the increased produc-
tion Of silver, taking the mint statistics
of given years as evidences Of the fact
They say nothing Of the increased pro-
duction of gold, but the fact is that the
gold production during the last ten
years exceeds that Of silver. But neither
fact is Of any consequence in the discus
sion. The supply Of the precious metals
differs from the supply Of farm prod
ucts and manufactured goods. Wheat
and corn are consumed, cotton and
woolen goods are made into clothing
and worn out. Every commodity is per-
ishable but the precious metals These
have been accommodating during all the
ages Of the world 's> >history, and they
are not consumed or destroyed. The in
crease or decrease of the production Of
either has therefore no such effect upon
the supply as does a short crop or an
overproduction Of the things which we
consume from year to year. The worlds
total supply of the two metals is not in
creasing as rapidly as the demand for
it, based upon the increase Of popula-
ton and business of the civilized ma
tions.
The money power is always strug-
Cling to make money dear by decreas-
ing the quantity. In the fifties it want
ed to demonetize gold because Of the
increased production in California and
Australia. But England, not given to
change, adhered to the gold standard,
believing that gold production would
not be permanently increased. For near
ly 80 years this same power has strug-
gled to abolish the use of silver as mon
ey and uses the same arguments that
were formerly used for the demonetiza-
tion Of gold.
All the great authorities on the sci
ence Of money have maintained that the
two metals together give more stable
measure of value than either one Of
them alone. When one falls short, the
other usually increases. The world s
experience is that when any single great
nation keeps its mints open to the free
and unlimited coinage of both metals
on equal terms at given ratio neither
the action of other nations nor the varl-
ations between the relative productions
Of the two metals will seriously affect
that ratio. France maintained the pari-
ty between silver and gold at ratio Of
l61f to / for 20 years-from 1903 until
1878. This was not affected by the
adoption Of the silver standard in all
the German states and in Austria in
1857, nor by the adhesion by Great
Britain to the gold standard, adopted
by her in 1916. The silver coinage in
the United States during all that period
was very limited, because Of the incon-
siderable production Of silver, and
therefore had but little effect upon the
question.
Gold and silver have always been
preferred over all other materials for
money, because the amount Of them is
limited to natures yield. Neither Of
these metals can be manufactured. They
are produced in varying quantities, and
the variance is unimportant relatively
to the accumulations of the ages. There
is no more danger of imitation from the
overproduction Of gold and silver than
there is of the overflow of Lake Superb
or from heavy falls of rain.
1t requires vast amount OF both
metals to supply the demand for the
arts and manufactures. 1t was the ex-
pressed opinion few years ago Of Mr.
Giffen, the statistician of the British
board of trade-himself an uncompro-
missing gold monometallist-that the
supply of gold was being entirely con-
sumed in the arts and that none of it as
being added to the worlds supply Of
coin.
The struggle Of the gold monometal-
lists to destroy silver has produced un-
paralleled distress throughout the world,
although their battle is but partially
won. To what lower deep mankind
would be doomed by their final success
will never be known if our nation, the
strongest, richest and most populous i'll
the world. shall turn the tiae Of battle
in the present presidential campaign.
The increased production Of either of
the precious metals has always proved
q boon 10 mankind ard has been follow
cd by an uplifting Of civilization. But
money lenuers nave always seen III 1t