The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-08-06

dollar was actually worth 100 cents, TO-
day it is not worth more than 80 cents.
| There has been no reduction in the
| weight and tineness of the metal. but
only falling off in its market value.
| Here comes in the meaning of the ex-
preston, so often used in silver discus
sions, 16 to l. 1t means that when a
silver dollar contained 100 cents worth
| or silver, sixteen ounces of that metal
were worth one ounce OF gold. Gold was
commercially sixteen times more valuable
| than silver, weight for weight, of equal
| purity. But in the past twenty-three
years there has been such a reduction
/ in the market value of the white metal
that, whereas an ounce of gold has con-
without any change, the commercial
value of silver has so declined that the
| silver in Il dollar is worth only fifty cents,
and, instead of sixteen ounces of silver
being worth one of gold, thirty to thirty
two unces of silver are required to equal
IN value one of gold.
Thus it is that silver dollar is worth
commercially only 30 cents, and it only
passes for 100 cents in the limits of the
United States, because the law of congress
requires that the silver dollar shall be
maintained as good as Il gold dollar, and
this has been done by paying gold or sill
yer as it may be desired by the creditors
of the government, and it has required an
enormous eXertion, including the borrow
ing of gold, to keep up this parity of the
two metals
But the Chicago convention declared for
the unlimited coinage of silver dollars at
the ratio of 16 to l, without preserving the
parity of gold and silver. The convention
insisted that all public debts must be paid
i'll silver at the pleasure of the govern
Il hat ell, CHI In Inra
tender for the payment of all private
debts, whether contracted in gold or sill
YER.
The object of this convention was to
abolish the gold standard and establish in
its place silver standard. Silver dol,
lars at their commercial value of 30 cents
are to be the legal tender money of the
counter. and by this means 100 cents of
debt may be- paid with one 5O-cent dollar;
500 of debt can be paid with 100 5O-cent
dollars; $1,000 of debt may be discharged
with $500 of actual value. In this way
80 cents will stand for one dollar, and
every man who is in debt can repudiate
one-half of what he owes. and the crcdi'
tor is helpless to prevent it.
If. then, Il man is in debt, and no mon
ey is due him, it will pay him to
have silver standard, for he can get
rid of half his debts. But if man
Is creditor. ana mas money loaned OF
deposited in banks, silver standard
would be extremely injurious to him, for
it would cause the loss of one-half
of all coming to him. Then there is the
man who works for wages or Il salary.
Is it likely that his wages will be raised
when the change is made? Everybody
knows that the most difficult thing i'll the
world is to get wages raised. When dol
lars shall come to be worth only 80 cents
the workingman will get just as many
dollars as before, but they will be worth
only half as much as formerly.
This is the meaning of the silver stand
ard. 1t means 5O-cent dollars. Every
man who can profit by such dollars will
vote to have them made the money of
fer by the change will vote against the
silver standard There are 2O,OOO,OOO
wage-workers in the United States. Are
they willing to work for 50-cent dollars?
Even if their wages were doubled they
would not get cent more of value than
they do now. Did anybody ever hear
of employers doubling the wages of their
employees under any circumstances? Did
the United States government when its
paper money was worth only from one
half to one-third its face value in gold,
double or treble the pay of its millions
of soldiers during the civil war?
No, the working people are those who
would be the greatest sufferers by 80
cent dollars. Let them decide whether
they want to be cheated out of half their
earnings. There are 20,000,0OO of them. |
and there are enough voters among them |
to settle this question.-Ncw Orleans |
picayune. |