The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-03-22
WHEN PROSPERITY WILL REVIVE.

standard by which value OF commodities
for tho purpose Of exchanging them is
measured. It would make shrdlu bz
measured. IT would be matter OF no
consequence whether onr standard of
valuc was what IL now is-to-wit, 2S.22
grains Of gOld--or whether it was five
times that, or only onc-lfih Of that,
If only ii was understood TO be fixed.
so that when a man took a promise 10
pay so many pieces OF the standard he
bad certainty about what he was 10
receive. Ia that case. when he valued
his horse at 500. or his cow at so. or
hushel Of his wheat at Is cents. he would
know exactly what he was going 10 re-
ceive when he parted with either. But
the word dollar now means 23.22 grains
Of pure gold. or something that the
Government promises TO keep always just
as valuable as q. % grains Of pure gold,
so that the word dollar may be said TO
mean absolutely %. p grains Of gold( ana
the man who agrees to accept so many
dollar, and 81 ii grains of silver will also
crty or I'm return for so much money
lent. knows absolutely that he will re-
ceive a multiple Of 23.22 grains Of gold.
But If the free coiners Of silver have
their way, the word dollar will have two
meanings. Twenty-three and twenty-five
hundredths grains Of gold will mean a
dollar, and 81 IL grains OF silver Will also
mean dollar, and the silver Will be worth
only one-half of what the gold will be
worth The person agreeing TO deliver
dollars viii have a choice Of which he
will deliver and he will, Of course, de
liver the cheapest one. Persons having
dollars. therefore. that are worth % p
grains OF gold each. or with valuable prop
crty. are unwilling to part with either
the dollars or the property upon promises
to deliver dollars at a future day. because
the silver dollars may be delivered. and
they viii thus lose one-half OF what
they possess.
We repeat thon. that property viii
never come again until all con froversy re-
garding what is to be the dollar-the stan
dard by which the values Of commodities
are determined for the purpose OF ox-
changing thcm-is brought to an end, ano
all men have absolute assurance that the
standard-the dollar-is a fixed thing that
is not 10 be changed; just as fixed as
the foot-rule, the inch, or the yard
stick
IL Is Of no Consequence. what the stan
dard is 50 that it be fixed. The French
standard is the gold franc which IS only
one-hfth as valuable as our standard, the
dollar; and the English standard. the
gold pound. IS nearly five times as valu-
able as our standard. yet each serves the
purpose of a standard with perfect salts
faction. because the people Of each coun-
Try understand that the STANDARD IS fxea
and payable in gold, IS not under any
circumstances TO be changed. ana. there
fore. when a man talks Of thousand
francs. he knows exactly what he is talk
ing about, ana when he talks Of a hun
drea pounds, he also knows exactly what
no IS talking about.
See the result OF this fixcdness IN the
standard: It Is that England transacts
an the affairs OF her gigantic commerce
with hardly any money. The tonnage oil
the worlds shipping is q ,g6S. 1919 tons: OF
this Englard's part is i295S. POS tons. while
Americas is only 2.o6G.OC3. England's IS
more than onc-half of the whole. while
ours is less than ono-twelfth. Yet Eng
land, for all the vast transactions Of her
money and paper currency Of al kinds.
while we have nearly 81. SO0.000. 900. ana
the people are clamoring for SIN more.
England is able to do her vast business
with 20 little money because her stan
dard Of value remains fixed and immuta-
ble people know exactly what they are
going to get when they take a promise
or an order for pounds. ana the drafts,
checks. notes. and bills of exchange of
mcchants become just as much a part OF
the currency Of the country as the gold
pounds or the notes Of the Bank OF ing
land. She has, therefore, only a small
money system, nominally. but she has
really q vast. almost inconceivable one
IN fact but It is one that could not exist
unless the standard Of Nalue-the pound
was fixed and immutable. Amazing as 1t
may seem. there has been for more than
year money. so-called but really loan
able capital. in the Bank Of England.
seeking borrowers. several times exceed
ing in amount to all the gold money ana
bank-notes that England has We shall
never have prosperity again until we
put ourselves upon the same foundation.
That VIII probably come with the presf-
Dental election in November. but even
then we must end all this talk OF foreign
wars before business really revives and
becomes what II ought TO be. We were
moving along on the high road 10 general
prosperity last fall. under the general
belief that had spread over the country
that the silver party was dead. when
Mr.. Cleveland sent in his wild mes
sage that confronted VS. with war with