Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1896-06-09
MccIeary.s Speech.

The Congressional Record OF March
81 contains a speech by j. T. McCleary
of Minnesota against unrestricted coin-
age of silver, ! which is the most thor
ough, entertaining and convincing dis
cussion of the silver-question we have
seen. Every aspect of the question is
presented. Every argument of the hon
est believer in free coinage is patiently
examined and demolished. The vice of
the free coinage advocate, it is shown,
is that he picks his facts, ignoring such
as do not favor his argument. He does
not see the whole truth, but only so
much of it as suits his purpose. The
s~ilverite begins usually with the state
ment that there has been a ruinous a
of prices, beginning with 1878, when
silver dollars were excluded from free
coinage, and that the decline of prices
was due to the exclusion of silver. But
If he would consider the history OF
prices before 1878 he would find that
the recent decline began in 1865. The
fall between 1865 and 1878 was larger
than that between 1873 and the present
time, though the mint was then open
to silver. But this was not the first
period of low prices during the present
century. In the period from 1918 to
| 1862, while the mint vas open to sill
yer, there was afall in average prices
practically the same as that which has
taken place since 1878.
The price of silver before 1873 did
not decline along with that of other
commodities, as it has done since 1878.
| Silver was not then their faithful COM
panion, but held itself aloof from the
general tumble. Between 1869 and 1865
there was a tremendous fall, followed
by a tremendous rise of prices of COM
modities, but silver hardly varied. And
there is not - than before
1S79-any connection between the price
| of silver and the price of other things.
The decline of prices has not, how
ever, been universal. 1t has been large
articles worked by machinery, as textiles,
minerals, manufactures, ETC., but it has
not been large, as a rule, in products of
agriculture, tropical products, animal
and fish products, etc. The reduction of
transportation rates has lowered the
price of wheat phenomenally at the
points of consumption, as in the east
and in England, but the price obtained
by the farmer of the northwest has not
been materially changed. Beef, butter,
eggs and similar articles have not fol-
lowed the downward course of silver,
even at the points of consumption. There
is one commodity which is dealt in,
bought and sold, more universally and
in greater volume, it may be said, than
all others put together-labor. If it has
not fallen in price, it is folly to say that
there has been "a general fall of prices
due to the characterization of silver.
And it has not fallen. On the contrary,
wages have advanced, and the wages of
1890, with silver demonetized. exceeded
by So per cent the 'fbimetallic" wages
of 1860. In purchasing power the wages
of today exceed those of the earlier peri
cd by 70 per cent.
Much is made by silverites of French
bimetallism, but Mr.. McCleary shows
that France did not, by her law of 1903,
as a matter of fact, Sustain for 70
years her legal ratio of 15% to L" as
the commercial ratio of the world. The
price fiuctuated, Notwithstanding the
law. Nor did France ever have the con-
current circulation of silver n gold.
From 1920 to 1850 France had only sill
yer and from 1850 to 1865 only gold
coin in circulation. It was not the
French legal ratio that kept the ommer-
cial ratio neal 1873 to 1 from 1903 to
1878.
In concluding his telling speech Nj.
McCleary, himself a protectionist, de-
nounced the Pennsylvania protectionists
who are going in for the free coinage of
silver because they may thus reduce
American wages to the level in Mexico,
Japan and other countries ON the silver
basis. baltimore Sun.