The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-07-11

thing else has gone up In proportion
where will be u gain? How long do
you wagc-carncrs think II will be be-
fore you get twice as many7 Wages are
the first TO fall and the last 10 rise. They
do not go up like rockets. but they do
come down like n stick. You do not
believe thnt the government will stamp
your TO cents worth OF labor n dollars
worth while Il Is stamping the silver
producers 50 cents worth OF silver zone
dollar?"
Gold and tho paper money based on
gold will be driven u OF circulation,
for nobody will pay out 100 cents when
he can pay out 20 cents. Instead OF
there being more money In the country
there will he about half ns much as
there Is now. Prices Of products may
seem TO go up. but the. fact will be that
the money OF the country has gone
down. We shall talk OF the premium
on gold. but the fact Will be a discount
on silver. When the premium on gold
reached Its highest point In our war
time n gold dollar was quoted Mt 25S.
This meant that 1t took 25S centSin paper
money to get Il gold dollar or 10 buy as
much rs a gold dollar would buy. 4
paper dollar was worth 80 cents, and It
would not buy more than 70 cents worth
OF anything. Sharp money traders. by
watching things closely and having
capital. turned u pretty penny out OF
be very plentiful then. but that was
another delus!on.
Where Money was Cheap.
About the same time money seemed to
be very plentiful among our Confede--
ate friends. y good friend OF mine In
this city who was on that side tells me
that he paid $500 In Confederate money
for n horse worth about SIS in lOo-cent
dollars. That Is TO say. his Confederate
money was worth n cent or the dollar.
Still, It may make n 4 feel good 10 be
able 10 pay s.. 800 fora horse. even fora ST5
horse. Some on my friends side did not
have n few thousand dollars 10 pay for q
pair OF shoes and had to 20 without. Il
does not at all follow that the ability 20
buy keeps pace with the fall In the buy
ing power OF money. W~aEe-earner;,
for example, get money by working To-.
II. There Is rarely much work 10 be had
while things are going to smash. Those
are times when people who have money
hold on TO 1t. That does not make
work. 1t does not set two jobs - look
ing for one lLan. 1t Is moro likely TO set
1 hundred men scrlmbling for one job.
Where the Debtor will Stand.
1t cannot be denied that II dollars are
easier TO get the man who has them will
find It easier TO pay his debts. Whatever
4 man has that is legal tendsr-some-
thing that must be acccptcd-thac he
can pay his debts with. But the man
N.l, untsNsl E.T,Enr Hh1tnrg tthhn FhaNs
were both 100 cents each will gain moth
Ing in free silver times by paying in
those dollars. The man who gains will
be the man who gets the silver dollars
for less than 100 cents each. II he pro-
| ducCS silver he will be all right. II he
does not produce silver he will have TO
| get his silver dollars directly or !ndI-
rectly from those who do produce 1t.
II the silver dollars are then worth 100
| cents the debtor will have 10 give 100
cents worth Of something for every one
he wants.
An easy way TO get rid OF n debt Is TO
not pay 1t all. Another way Is 10 ask
fCongreSS to declare that every 800
debt shall be paid with $50. larger ones
In proportion. This will ease n kind OF
conscience that would revolt at the
thought OF stealing pigs. However men
might come out with their old debts in
free silver times. their new debts would
have 10 be made on n gold basis. The
renewal OF an old debt Is n new debt,
and the debtor would have 10 promise
to pay In gold or he would be forced
to the wall. 1t would be the same
whether the amount was 800 or 81, 0e0,-
I 900. Gold would be nominated In the
bond. and 1t would take two silver dol
lars TO get n gold dollar. For fear OF
what may happen n large part OF the
Indebtedness OF the country to-day
Is payable in gold. When the knights
Of Fythlas in this city came 10 build
their castle recently they desired to
borrow money. They Issued bonds on
the real estate. and those bonds are
payable In gold. y degraded dollar
will not help the knights OF PythiaS
any. They wNl have to pay q hundred
cents for every dollar they owe.
"Thc Money OF the Poor"
1t Is true. In n sense. that silver Is
the money OF the poor. Nowhere else
on earth Is poverty so helpless. SO hope
less and 30 desperate rs In silver stand
arb countries. There the many Inhcrl,
! their poverty rs the few do their
wealth. Tls.rc poverty IS the family
tradition. No generation expects "a
rise above any that has zone before,
Human life. like brute life, Is on the
low dead level OF mere existence. So II
comes TINT q corrupt and weak govern
ment can hold down 800 million Chi
nme1
True II IS, in this sense, that Silver
Is the money OF the poor" but silver Is
too valuable to stand the minute III.
viding and subdlvIding necessary e
bring II down to common currency In
so representative n silver country as
China. So there must be some sort OF
token TO measure labor and products Ms
Cinnamon find It necessary to measure
them. This China has IN the cash
the current coin OF the country. 1t Is
made OF copper, iron and tin. So thai
the cash" may not be too small fol
handling and yet not too valuable tc
serve Its purpose, Il square hole Is
punched In the circular piece. SIxtcer
hundred OF these coins are equal 10 ono
Chinese "tncl." which Is worth sey.
cnty-two TO e%ighty-OnG cents In AnerI.
cAn money, Its value varying with 10.
Cnlfty.N AT this rate twenty Of the It'll,
punched coins OF China are equal to on,
cent In American money. The figuring
Is too small for the American mind h
follow. The common use OF such {
coin In any country tells It's own story
Are the people OF China better or thar
the people Of the United States? Mob!
may beat and Kill them, legislation may
raise barriers against them 10 keel
them out OF this country, and still
through every lOopholc comes n crawl
Ing Chinunan. lie deserts the land o