The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-10-16

f1e silver II the world, IN whatever form
E. What Is ne present market value
Sixty-eight and t~hree-quarter cents per
9 What ratio between the two metals
yes mat price correspond to? A About
9 What would the silver dollar be
Wpr1n under free coinage, as compared
W1lhxIne gold dollar? A. About 50 cents.
coinage at 1s to / on the prices Of com
moqities2 A. The prices Of All Imported
and exported commodities would imme-
Thai is, every such article which can now
pc obtained for So cents would cost 81
Ctnef articles would rise eventually in
eue sMames proportion. but more slowly.
e. f1rst effect would be great CON
Lusioh, because all business would be dis
arranged. Many employers would fail
Jop ~ consequence, Since wages do not
rise spontaneously, the w~orkingmen would
az llfst lose &C per cent. of their pay.
Ihat Is, they would nomina1ly receive
worth only IS cents on the dollar in the
purchase of commodities.
Y Aow could they recoup themselves?
untary concessions of their employers.
What MONEY OUGHT 70 Be.
= What is the Indispensable quality
t[40<cttC VI laOlRl r. A. mai II
should be universally acceptable.
z Is there any kin of money uufver-
sa.y acceptable but gold2 A. There is
g. Would not silver be equally accent
anle II It were equally legal tender? A.
SILVER dollars are legal tender. Give any
man the option Of taking one hundred
81 tneSc pieces or ten gold pieces Of SO
each and he viii choose the latter. There
tore, they are not equally accountable.
" rs the difference In weight the only
EA4 son HEhAr =
siiver7 A. II was the only reason when
elvihzed nations made their choice be-
Q. What reasons exist now that did not
exist theng A. A variation of 50 per cent.
mas eaken- place in the value of the two
metals IN addition TO being sixteen
times as heavy. silver has lost one-haif
OF ITS value during the interval.
@. Haveeyou mentioned all the reasons
why gold is acceptable as money and
silver is not? A. The most decisive rea-
son IS that the civilized world has ad-
5usteu itself to the gold standard during
q long period Of time. All business is
boftomed on 1t. It is an accomplished
TACT coextensive with the commercial
World. 10 change to another standard
would be literally turning Ii commercial
world upside down.
{. Is the preference for gold universal?
a. II Is universal among civilized men.
Even the silver advocates in the United
states prefer gold in their business at
fairs. Senator Stewart of Nevada makes
MS mortgages payable in gold. When
ne was Faproved for this bad example.
ne said that he merely followed the uni-
versal custom on the Pacific Coast, where
he lives So we have his authority for
the statement that in the section OF the
Union where the demand for silver is
most voctferous everybody prefers gold in
his private business.
@. Can you give any other exampies2
A. Governor Altgeld, the chief of the
free silver movement In Illinois. is a gold
man in his private business. He is the
president and largest stakeholder of the
Unity Building Company in Chicago. All
the rents OF this building are made pay
able in standard ~s0ldscoin Of the United
States. The New York Herald pub
1ished a fac-simile of one of these leases
IN its issue of July 49,
" Can you give any other examples?
A. The territory IL Arizona brought a
bill before Congress two or three years
ago, asking authority to issue bonds pay-
able specifically in gold, on the ground
that the money could be borrowed at a
considerably lower rate of interest than
II they We're payable in dollars without
specifying the kind of dollars. The State
of Utah is negotiating a specific gold loan
now for the same reason. Yet both ART
IONA and Utah are politically for silver.
@. What do these acts signify? A. Two
things: First, that gold is preferable to
silver in the general estimation of man
kind, second, that payment in gold is an
advantage to borrowers.