Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-08-10
BATTLE OF THE STANDARDS.
Objections 10 Silver Answered.

Objections 10 Silver Answered.
Battle of the Standards
a DOUBLE STANDARD IS IN
SCIENTIFIC. IMPOSSIBLE AND ABB
sURD; WE MIGHT AS WE'LL HAVE
TWO YARD STICKS OF DIFFERENT
LENGTHS"
This appeal TO the yard stick is very
common, and is supposed TO afford a
conclusive argument against bmetal-
lism But the Illustration is unfortu-
nate In that IL reveals an utter ignor-
ance Of the first principles of the sub
ject under discussion. Money is not q
measure Of value in any sense so as 10
make such a comparison possible. A
yard sick is a measure o. fixed, I'M
changing length. so, t De said,
dollar is always a doll rue, but q
yard stick will measure tu.rty-siX inch
| es of cloth, no more, no less, though the
number of ward sticks be Indefinitely
( increased. while the dollar measures
PURCHASES, Of all commodities more
/ or less. as the number Of dollars in use
increases or dim,nishes Value is not
q thing; il implies relation. The
/ value Of anything is value in some other
( commod tv. The value of an article
/ cannot be mentioned without a refer
| eaCe TO something else. Value, there
fore. is not. strictly speaking. measured,
| but expressed or stated; and money IS
not q measure Of values, but a common
/ denOmina'Or IN terms OF which values
may be expressed. To say that the
/ value of money changes is but 20 say
! that the Level Of prices changes. Since.
/ ,hen. the value of money IS not and
cannot be fixed and iayaGah'o. IS com
/ par.son 20 yard sick or any other unit
of measure can have no force in q dis
cuss.On Of money Standards
The real question Is. which standard,
! tho single or the double. will render the
value Of money the more stable. Ri
metalltsts maintain than the two metals
! together are more stable in value than
either Of them used alone.
While the variations OF the two may
/ he more frequent than the one, IT must
be remembered that such variations
tead TO offset or balance one another.
/ With possibly more frequent changes,
the fluctuations are less wide in their
range. and the average value is more
stable than that Of either one. In case
: che depreciaJes in value, It will be eX-
ported until the supply is reduced TO
| the proper level, and the price rises: and
on the other hand, the other metal, be-
ing above the proper price level, will
be imported. the quantity increased and
/ ~ ha n
| rum will be restored according TO the
unvaryng laws of trade, and no great
change either way will take place. This
! is not mere theory: 1t has been proved
in practice At the beginning Of the
present century Fr-nce had the double
standard at the ratio of l5l2 to l. The
annual production Of silver was three
Zines that of gold. and continued large
! " in excess of gold for many years.
Says Prof. F. A. Waller: when the
| California discoveries took place the
stock OF silver in existence was at least
one and half times greater than hat
of gold. Within twenty years these
conditions were to be reversed" On
the discovery of gold in California the
production Of silver was about eight
Der cent greater than that of gold.
! Four years later the production Of gold
was more than three times tina, cf sill
yer. The world will probably never
again see so great a change III the rela-
tive production Of the two metals; yet
the ratio was maintained. The bimet-
allism of France preserved the parity
of the two metals. Waiter Bagehot,
tho DISTINGUISHED French economist,
sDeaking of the action CT the bimetallic
countries al that time, said. When
ever the value of the two metals alter
ed these countries acted as an equal
ling machine. They JCOk the metal
which fell. they sold the metal which
rose and thus the relative value OF the
TWO was kept at its old p)ln-.' Prof..
Iavons. an advocate of the gold stand
ard admits that bime,allism operated
AZ above set forth. lie llkel5 the dOu-
ble standard 10 two cis.arHs connected
bv a nine. so that changes In the guam
-i:v of water in either are less marked
by the equalization effected through
the pine. II affords practically, larS-
or surface upon which a given quantity
will cause less change than upon
smaller surface. This reveals one of
the s-rong advantages of the system.
Il Is often said that. for the existence
of debts. low prices which mean
small volume of standard money, would
he as good as high prices. Such is not
the fact. A large stock OF standard
money is desirable because the larger
the quantity the less proportionaliy
will be the change in the level OF prices
| bv the addition or subtraction OF q spec
/ flied quantity of money. With small
basis. a light increase in business acts
as the cause of a marked fall OF prices.
The fact that there is not now, and
: no, likely to be. gold enough for the
money uses. with the principal nations
on 2 gold basis. is recognized by the
leading economists Of the world. They
see that on this narrow basis. the ieye!
Of nrlces must be subject TO frequent
changes. and will tend steadily down
ward. They see a struggle for gold go
inc on At all money centers in gold US
:ng countries. and an ever present
dread of loss of gold and consequent
manic. They note the disastrous ef-
fecfs upon trade arising from divis-
ion Of the world into two great sec
lions. one using gold and the other sill