Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1896-08-17
The Republican Party stands
for honest money and the chance
to earn it by honest toll.
WILLIAM MCKINLEY.
The cheap-Money Movement.

From Harper's Weekly
If silver is added again to the money
of the country, it must inevitably be-
come the only money. There is now
in the country about s2,224, 000 600 in
money and it's representatives, of which
about 5000, 100000 is in gold and $685.
900, 900 is in silver. The gold will leave
the country, for men will not pay their
debts in 100 cent gold dollars when
they can pay them in 5S-cent silver dol
lars So, for time at least this effort
of the silver men to provide more money
will result in less money. After many
years they might be able to coin enough
silver dollars to take the place of the
gold that will be expelled from. the
country by the triumph of free silver,
but for long time there will be con-
traction of the currency. Mr.. Bryan's
effort is not the first one to remedy
hard times by means of cheap money,
nor is free coinage of silver unknown
to the country. Free coinage of silver
was authorized by the coinage laws of
the United States from 1899 to 1878, but
gold was underyalued when the ratio
between it and silver was fixed at Is to
one, which was the first ratio adopted
in this country. An ounce of gold was
then worth more than Is ounces of
silver it was worth 1917 ounces.
Therefore gold did not circulate, while
the circulation of silver was so limited
that its coinage was suspended from
106 to 1886. During the first fifty years
of its existence the government did all
in its power to make the money of the
country cheap and abundant 1t even
permitted the circulation of certain
foreign coins that were so cheap that
they drove our own coins out of the
country. Finally we had the wildcat
bank-notes and the disaster and ruin
that always wait upon such financial
experiments as that into which Mr..
Bryan is endeavoring to tempt the peo-
pie OF this country. Having thus tried
free coinage of silver and cheap money
of all kinds, having seen clipped and
MI ooSA uTlVe our own
gold and silver into retirement, having
seen wildcat bank-notes and then
green backs take the place of coin, hav-
ing suffered all the troubles that result
from imitation, we do not believe that
the people of the United States will
again make trial of a worn-out device.
Before closing we will state, for the
benefit of those who are confused by
the expression, the meaning of free
coinage at the ratio of 16 toll In some
parts of the country it is thought that
this means that the government will
give sixteen silver dollars to every
holder of gold dollar. Elsewhere it
is thought to mean that the govern
mcnt will present each citiznn with
sixteen silver dollars. These are more
tempting propositions to some minds
than the proposition of the silverites,
which is that the people of this coun-
try, for all the governments money
comes from the people, be, compelled to
pay one dollar for every fifty-three
cents worth of silver, and to coin it
into money; in other words, when one
ounce of gold is worth thirty ounces of
silver, that the government shall treat
it as worth only sixteen ounces.