The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-09-24

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money is inflated above its intrinsic
value. If you take the initiation our
of the coinage of a country you will
take the imitation out of the property
values. If you could make the silveG
in Mexican dollar worth gold dol
lar, the article which now costs two
Mexican silver dollars would at once
be worth only one Mexican silver do&
lar. Every silver using, silver staIst-
ard country on the face of the earA
is now using silver money depreciaten
/ to its bullion value (in gold, anC1
prices of all goods and property in
/ those countries are inflated, and
hundreds, nay, thousands of millions,
of debts exist there, all of which have
been incurred in deprecated money
or money worth only about half of its
face value
You have told us that international
bimetallism would raise silver to par
ity with gold and promote prosperity
among all the people of the earth by
raising the money of the silver-usinS
countries to parity with gold. 1
You have also told us that the
/ Western farmers of the United STATED
would be ruined if compelled to PAT
their mortgages in gold or its equivd
lent
Now, will you kindly explain to the
people Of the United States how the
hundreds of millions of people in the
silver countries could be benefited if
international bimetalism took the de-
probation out of their silver coinage
and compelled them to pay in 100-cent
dollars Cat par with gold thousands
of millions of debts they have.
tracted in deprecated 50-cent 0OllarSf
if, as you claim the American farmer
would be ruined if compelled to pan
his debts in dollars at par with gold
of the worlds standard?
Every dollar borrowed by any mani
in the United States since 1879 was asI
good as a gold dollar, was at par with
the gold dollar, would buy as much
as a gold dollar and would buy a gold
dollar itself. For this reason every
| debt in the United States should be
paid in dollars worth 100 cents in gold.
But i'll the silver-uSing countries the
case is different; their debts have
| been contracted i'll money worth only
about One-half as much as gold dol
lar, and would at no time buy gold
| dollar. Consequently the people of
those countries must have time, and
lots of it, to adjust their finances to a
100-cent dollar, because, as every
student of finance is aware, interna-
tiOnal bimetallism would take the de
probation out of their coinage, the
imitation out of their property values,
and if thrust suddenly upon them by
the action of other nations without
time for preparatory the readjust-
ment of their finances would only be
possible through bankruptcy.
The tinanciers of Europe know this,
and it is one of the difficulties that
they recognize in the way of inter
national bimetallism. When you say
that Europe is debating our financial
| policy because she refuses to adopt
bimetallism you misrepresent the
facts. The truth of the matter is that
you free silver people are trying to
dictate the financial policy of Europe
| by forcing her to adopt bimetallism.
Europe answers you and says: I'VE
do not see our way clearly to join you
in bimetallism. We have tried it,
found it full of difficulties, and, for
reasons which we cannot safely ig-
more, bimetallism must remain the
dream of the few"
Mr.. Bryan you have said that the
single gold standard makes the gold
dollar an approaching dollar, and for
| this reason YOU desire the double
| standard that will give us the silver
dollar at par with gold You ascribe
the fall Of prices to the appreciation
of gold, and by asserting much and
proving nothing you have constructed
a theory that if we had two kinds of
metal, gold and silver, in the standard
of value the evil yon charge against
| the single gold standard would be
remedied. 70 state it briefly, you
say, first, the gold dollar has appreci-
ated; second the double standard
would not permit the dollar to APP
preciate.
Now, suppose we adopt your double
standard and give the people the gold
and silver dollars at par, as you pro-
pose. A goes to market with the gold
dollar in one pocket and the silver
dollar in the other pocket-sugar is
four cents a pOund-each dollar will
buy twenty-five pounds of sugar
Wheat is 81 per bushel; each dollar
will buy one bushel of wheat In the
course of time A goes to market
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pocket and the gold dollar in the
other pocket. He learns that new
process has been discovered for max
ing sugar, and sugar is much cheaper
in consequence, say two cents a
pound. He can now buy fifty pounds
for his gold dollar and fifty pounds
for his silver dollar. Both dollars
have appreciated 100 per cent. as re-
CARDS sugar.
He goes to the wheat market and
discovers that wheat has been greatly
overproduced in Russia, India and
the Argentine Republic, as well as in
the United States and, in consequence
of this, wheat has fallen to so cents a
bushel. He can buy two bushels with
his gold dollar and two bushels with
his silver dollar and as regards wheat,
his double standard gold and silver
dollars have appreciated 100 per cent.
In the course of time he goes to
market again, and he learns that the
wheat crop of the world is short and
wheat has gone up to 81 per bushel.
He can buy one bushel with his gold
dollar and one bushel with his silver
dollar, and as regards wheat his
dOuble-standard gold and silver dol
lars have deprecated 80 per cent.
since his last purchase.
Now, Mr.. Bryan, you see that the