The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-05-22
4 SOUND MONEY ARGU MENT.
CHAs. BOWLUS.

In very ancient history we find the
human family engaged in trade. using
very dissimilar substances to serve
as money. The Jews made use of
cattle and jewels. The Romans and
Britains used tin coins. The early
American colonists used tobacco,
coon skins, musket balls, and almost
everything not too difficult to handle.
But mankind has finally agreed
upon gold and silver as a medium of
exchange, and if these metals do not
bear q fixed ratio to each other they
cannot both be a correct measure of
value, and one will be chosen as a
standard. and the value of the other
will be reckoued as SO many units or
parts of the standard.
The question which now confronts
us is: (which shall be chosen as the
standa-d?n Two international con-
ferences have been held at Paris to
consider the question. The confer
ences are and will be useless, because
they cannot persuade the commercial
world to do what its interests are op-
posed to, or to desist from doing what
its interests favor. That its interests
do favor the single gold standard is
sufficiently proved by the fact that
the single gold standard has come to
pass. 1t is only in academic discus
sions; on the lecture platform and III
Paris conferences that you learn that
silver is as good for trade as gold.
Elsewhere perfect unanimity exists
that gold is better for trade than sill
yer, and better than gold and silver
together. 1t would take more time
than we have at our disposal to go
over the heads of the dispute between
the bimetallists and their opponents.
But it is worth remarking that none
of the evils prophesied to flow from
the general adoption of the gold
standard in the commercial world
have come to pass. 1t was said that
the United States could not possibly.
resume specie payments OH the single
gold standard; but if we could do
such a wonderful thing, they said
that it would put such strain on the
gold resources of the world that prices
would be greatly and permanently
lowered and severe distress would be
United States did resume specie pay
ments, on the gold standard, and
general prices have not declined, but
on the contrary have been rising
since 1878.
when our forefathers established this
government they adopted a financial
system which to them meant bimet-
allism-thst is, it meant the coming
of all the silver and gold that came to
the minis, free OF charge, both to be
legal tender in the payment of any
and all debts. And further, they
claim that our forefathers fixed the
ratio between the two metals at Is
to THAT is to say, the pure silver in
the silver dollar was to be fifteen
times the weight of the gold in the
gold dollar. Thus the minis were to
be thrown open to the coinage Of all
the silver and gold that might apply, |
and the republic was to rely upon |
these two metals exclusively for its |
primary use. Silver would answer |
the purposes of the many; would be- |
come the medium of exchange of the |
middle and lower classes. Gold |
would be the money of the rich, and |
would De used in the larger transac-
tions of business.
Our forefathers intended to estab-
lish no unit whatever; they took |
things as they found them, gold and |
silver coins in circulation. They ac-
cepted as such unit the coin which |
was then in most universal use about |
them, by commercial sanction alone, !
by putting into them the proper /
amount of silver. 1t is true that sill |
yer is the money Of the poor; that is,
that their transactions are largely |
such as involve amounts too small to |