Omaha daily bee., 1896-05-03
HARvEr's HALLUolNA ArroYs-nL

HARVEY'S HALLUClN4T TTONS-TTL
The fourth and fifth interrogatories
propoundcd to William II. Harvey were
aS follows:
II the bullion price Of silver we're equal TO
ts coinage value, would there be any more
silver in actual circulation among the people
than there Is now, when the silver dollar is
equal in purchasing and debt-paying power to
the gold dollar?
II the restoration Of the bullion price Of sill
yer by a free coinage act did not increase
the aggregate money circulation, what would
the merchant the farmer and the mechanic
not Immediately concerned in silver mining
gain?
TO these questions Harvey files the
following characteristic answer:
To admit that there would not be would be
to say that the people would not accept more
money than they have now, II they could get
1t. Do you know Of anybody here in Omaha
OF that kind? With free coinage, silver
would seek the mint and we would have all
the silver produced. not consumed by the
arts, in circulation as money, and to say
that the people would not exchange their
property for good money is to say that they
do not want more money. which is not
true.
Now, Harvey has already admitted
that there would be no silver bullion
taken for coinage to the mint so long as
there was n market for it at S1.20 an
ounce. That is tantamount to admit
ting that so long as the bullion in the
silver dollar would be equal to its face
value there would be no coinage of sill
yer dollars except rs the mint should
from time to time be called on by the
government to supply silver coins for
general circulation. 1t follows, there
fore that the free and unlimited coin
age of silver would cause no material
increase in the volume of metallic
money so long as the bullion price of
silver were equal to it's coinage value,
which, however, never will happen
again at the existing ratio.
But assume that raising the price of
silver bullion to 81. 30 an ounce and
maintaining it at that price were pos
sible; how would people who have no
silver to Sell get any more money than
thSS ho" huNt ullSSS thty cal III ~ loI
labor or exchange some product of Ia
Dor for it? Would the farmer, mer-
chant or mechanic in Nebraska. Iowa.
Kansas or Illinois get any more money
by doubling the price Of silver than
they would by doubling the price of cop
per or nickel, lead or iron? Nobody
contends that the people would not eX
change their property for good money
but nobody, not even Harvey, will dare
to assert that the money we now have
is not good money. The question is,
what assurance have we that the Deo-
pie who want to exchange their prop
erty for good money will get any more
buyers or higher prices in good money
with free silver at 1G to 1 than they
do now?
Harvey insists that with free coinage
silver would seek the mint, but we only
have his word for it. We had free coin
age for over seventy years, but silver
never did seek the mint in any ap-
preciable quantity, so long as the bull
lion price remained equal to the coin
age price. During all these years we
were not exempt from commercial dis
tress, panics, low prices and mortgage
foreclosures. How was it in 1887 to
1911, from 1857 to 1860, 1873 to 1877?