The Press., 1896-10-22
THREE FALLAc1Es EXPOSED.

To the Editor :-The writer Of this let.
 ter sulne years agu began the study of the currency qurstion on non partisan basis,
 VI ith his aim to get truth He has never sought any political office, and has no
 political or pecnnihry personal end to servo in the matter, Is in tn" class of
 wagP-earners, not of capitalists, and has
 never held dollar in U. s. bonds. He does not desire to fool the people. anl does not like to see them fooled by rep l resentatiOns which his or their wider search will reduce to glaring absurdities,
 such as, 1, that lack of currency in the United States is the trouble with our
 business. The volume of oul currency is greater in this administration than ever
 before. The increase of our currency for the last eighteen years is at faster rate than ever in any similar period before,
 and the chief increase is in that currency
 which is on a silver basis. The United States, so far from discountenancing sil- yer, gave it, to begin with, the immense advantage for circulation purposes, of coinage in small pieces, such as all the people use in everyday business. It has also coined more than fifty times as much since 1873 as during our whole previous history of 81 years since free silver cOim- age began. In all, some twenty-four times as many silver dollars as gold dol lars have been coined. There is trouble as to circulation and business confidence, but the government vaults are crowded with silver, over three hundred and fifty millions of dollars ordinarily, and more is being coined. Another immense ad- vantage given silver was in the purchase acts of 1878 and 1890, which almost ab- sorbed the total production of our mines, and made the United States the greatest silver coinage country in the world, ex- cept India. 2, the appeal to prejudice against England, on the ground that she own advantage raises the price of gold. | Notice, 1st, that India is actually under the dictatiOn of England as to it's money system; Sd, that India is the greatest SllV0I COlId30 COuuLIy HI LIl6 WOLNI Ou1 that Indias trade with England is in a strikngly similar relation to ours with England; it exchanges wheat, cotton and raw material for English goods. LOgi- cally, then, England should favor silver for us as she does for India. But, one says, England has raised the price of gold 300 per cent. We'll, as England is a golh- buying ccuntryE( her own production being insigniffcant), and we are chief among the gold-producing countries, if England wants to pay treble price for our gold, we can stand it as long as she can. 3, that free silver will raise prices, and so benefit the nation as a whole. But free silver'' does not alter the relation of supply and demand; it does not raise the actual val ue one cent. If you make by it, it is be- cause some one else loses. He may re- coup himself on the next man. But "what goes up (by artificial means) must come down." and woe to the ones at the bot tom-those who are dependent upon oth- CTS for employment. Prices may raise, as in the war period, 116 per cent, but wages, even when nearly all able-bodied men were drawn off into the army, rose only 43 per cent. Competition is far greater now, and circumstances far less favorable to high wages. J. N. ENo.