The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1896-10-22
RRYAN'S EGG MARKET.
gov ORATORS METHOD OF FIX
ING THE PRICES.
,.rrxard Argument on the Free silver
,.,e-PIain scheme for tho Repudi-
,,ion of Honest Debts.

Mr. BRYAN recently said, in one of his
e,.e coinage speeches in Kentucky, that
troe coinage of silver "would establish
,Lo market price of that metal at $1.o9
,or ouuce. and nobody would sell it for
= cent less" TO prove his assertion, he
.+oted that eff any man in this com
unity would offer to buy all the eggs
nrodnccd at % cents n dozen. and was
apiln to make good the offer, nobody
vnuld sell eggs for less. no matter what
the cost of production, whether one cent
or FIVE cents Il Dozen" Then some peo-
ssLrirkel and the locomotive whistle
tootn1. and everybody felt good.
Mr.. Bryan's comparison is very weak,
in that neither he nor anybody else pro-
noses that the government shall buy sill
,rnr ut $1.29 per ounce. All that free
,oiuacc proposes is that the government
shall nut its stamp upon the silver
hrought to it. and shall make that silver
ineal tender for debts. public and
p%riyatc. 1t will take just as much
,oincl silver as it would take bullion
meat. clothing or anything else, except
labor. unless the United States proposes
"a exchange gold for silver. at the coin
ace rate; and the United States has not
cold enough to do so longer than a day
VI two.
Mr.. Bryan. therefore, should put his
case in another form. If a storekeeper
or anybody else in the community should
offer to take eggs at % cents, paying in
return eggs at % cents, per dozen. his
offer wOnld have not the slightest effect
upon the market price of eggs. They
would %n for just what they could
command in actual cash, so that if the
highest price to be obtained elsewhere
would be 20 cents. the man who offered
20 cents would get the eggs, while the
man who offered % cents. to be paid in
the shape of twelve eggs, would not find
q single patron, unless somebody owed
him - cents and made him take the
eggs in payment.
This brings the frec-silver issue OK
actly to where it belongs: that is. in
the class of schemes for the Reputation
Of honest debts. The m the Unit
"a States goes on a silver basis, and re-
deems its obligations in silver. as the
flco-sIlVer advocates propose. that mo-
mcnt the entire amount of money in cir
|culation other than gold would lose half
its value, while gold itself would nat
mrally and inevitably be retired from cir
c%ula,ion. The effect of such n tremen-
deus change in the currency of the Unit
I'd States would be ruinOus to many
branches of business. 1t is hard to find
a single experienced business man in the
United States, ont of all the hundreds
Of thousands in the country, who does
hot know that n frce-silver victory in
November would bring about a panic.
Reputation has never been popular
with the American people. The average
American may be shrewd in business,
eager to make money, and kecnly alive
10 the Importance Of business success.
but he has never shown himself in favor
Of national dishonesty. Mr.. Bryan's Of
Ter of reputation of 80 cents on every
dollar Of debt has not been well received
in this section Of the country. We do
not believe that it will be well received
IN the West when the true character of
the iSsne is made plain. The farmers
Of Vermont and the working people of
Maine as well as the planters of Ar
kansas have given their verdict. and in
every case the significant Republican
gain is evidence that the American peo-
pie do not want a dishonest dollar, eth
CT for payments to themselves or for
Their payments to others.-BostOn
(MaSS.) Advertiser,