The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-09-26

he mortgage runs for five years lle
vould be required to give, altogether
( 500 bushels for interest and 5000 bush
lis for principal, altogether 500 bush
is. IF. through the influx of gold
1rices became permanently to be 81 fol
wheat it would at once rednce the guam
:ity per annum he would have to pa!
$50 bushels, and the ultimate amour
o1' principal to $500 bushels. In othel
words, he would save one-half of hi:
rain at the expense Of his creditor AMI
ne money value OF. his farm would bt
lJubied; this would be of no benefit tt
aim beyond the discharge of his debts
because the value of all he had to pur
haze would rise in the same proportion
III creditors would lose half that wa!
iue them. This was an important con
;iaeration for the debt-coyered coun-
res of Europe, where go large a portion
If the people are creditors of the govern
ments. In Holland, to avoid this, they
passed law doing away with gold as 9
legal tender and making silver the only
medium of payment.
A gold advocate said to me, after very
carefully reading this statement, this
would absolutely prove that gold could
md had changed III value II we only
Knew what the result Of that demonetiz,
alton in Holland had en- the gold. Ap-
p,eton's American Encyclopedia, Vol H.
article Money. page 1856, reads as fol-
lows: "in 1855, Holland adopted silver
rs the only legal tender, at a fixed value
but attempted to coin gold coins having
40 such value, this only being recognized
by the market price from day to day
After 100000 forms (sS00GO) had beer
coined, the demand entirely ceased"
Here we have absolute history only
thirty-five or forty years ago, showing
gold, by It's plentifulness, not only
changed in value, but by legal demonet-
ization in Holland It's demand entirely
ceased, conclusiyely proving three
things. First, that it deprecated. Sec
ond. that legislation caused the demand
to entirely cease. Third, the most clear
iy shown Of all that the creditor class
did not wait a moment, but when they
found their interests were being affected
they Immediately commenced to enact
laws to strengthen their position.
Compare their action with the action
Of the debtor class in this country dur
ing the period of our shrinking values
Icy AdfC PuilSAL4y WdltCH, duu nave
seen their debts, which were created in
the money gradually appreciate, until tl
it meant the loss Of all their property,
houses, lands, farms and even home
steads.
make no comment here on the words
OF history, but my heart goes out in SYM
pathy TO about ten or twelve millions OF
what was our middle class of people,
who are now reduced by this unnatural
sh1inkage to poverty. This great shrink
age may have bettered fifty or sixty
thousand of our people, who have &C,
uuired these properties from the weaker
class. If SO, they are, OF course, to be
congratulated.
But the Thought comes to my mind. is il
not about time to call halt IN the ap-
probation of gold and the shrinkage OF
values. Let US not legislate further to
make it more valuable IF silver is re-
monetized gold Will depreciate and sill
yer appreciate.
The United States report Of the values
CT all cattle, oxen, swine and sheep in
this country i'll the year of 1870 was
nearly one hundred million more than N
1896, a quarter OF a century later, and YET
their number is now more than double
what 1t was then, and every one knows
that their quality in real value, head for
head, has improved from twenty to
twenty-five per cent. Has gold apreci-
ated?
The directors Of Harvard College, sixty
and ninety years ago, in writing ninety
nine year leases for their most yalua BILE
property in the city of Boston made
them payable in silver of a stated num-
Der of grains weight, as they thought
silver, for a term OF one hundred years.
as stable as any commodity they could
name.
The Inhabitants Of the earth are in
creasing 90 fast and their commercial
needs for medium of exchange as they
increase in intelligence increasing IN a
much greater ratio, should gold become
The standard. must necessitate a still
greater shrinkage In values until we
come to the level of European prices,
wages and customs.
Cernuschi the, celebrated French
economist, called in Europe. founder of
q true monetary science writes: Under
the regime OF the reconciliation Of sill
yer, the productive power Of the United
States would receive so enormous an i'm
pulse, and this development would have
such disastrous effect upon the eco
nomic and financial interests of England
and the other European nations now
governed by the gold standard. that it
may be confidently predicted in advance
that the course of events would force
the adoption of international bimet-
allsm as the only true solution, even
upon those who today deny the posi-
bility and efficacy of it,"
Remonetize silver and il would in
crease the redemption basis OF money
double it's present amount. This would
greatly lessen the danger of panics, and
really almost make panics impossible.
The money markets would be harder to
corner. It would reduce the unnatural
and extreme value of the gold dollar to
the place and value it occupied ten and
twenty years ago. 1t would bring the
silver dollar back to the value and place
it has occupied in all past ages, and
thereby make a more just basis Of settle
ment between debtor and creditor. For
example, take the farmer, our greatest
class, with oats at &c to 10c, corn lie to
lac, wheat 23c to 40c per bushel, While
rates of interest, taxes and railroad
charges remain the same with him.
This unnatural irregularity is working
great hardship.
Values of all articles would rise be-
cause of the increased redemption
medium upon which, or by which they
are. measured, and all values would as