Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-03-26
FREE COINAGE


Personally, I am in favor of unlim-
tied coinage of silver, not as a senti-
ment and not in Difference to a popu-
lar cry. Upon what think to be sound
reason 1 believe in unlimited coinage
rs the best means to an end, viz, true
There are many argu.
ments in favor of it. but the controll-
ing reason is this: The best form of
bimetallism will undoubtedly be found
where the bullion value is the same as
the coin value. It is the only safe and
permanent basis for bimetallism. This
of bullion and coin value will
never exist under limited coinage.
That portion of silver which is denied
coinage will. as the surplus. always fix
the bullion price. As that surplus can
only be used for the baser purposes of
the arts, its price will always be less
than the coin value. Besides this,
money metal which is denied right of
coinage cannot hold its proper place in
the public estimate as the material for
standard coin, clothed with the power
of final payment do not favor de-
preciated silver dollar, nor does any
other true bimetallist, and 1 believe
the surest way to secure the parity OF
the silver dollar with the gold dollar
is to give it the franchise of unlimited
coinage.
THE basis of the argument against
unlimited coinage is the alleged danger
that with our minis open we would be
flooded with the silver of the world
How could this occur? Whenever the
value of silver rose here because OF
ne
respondingly in every market in the
world The world has no silver to
spare to us. On the contrary, the re-
mainder of the world needs more than
is made crtside of the United States.
The remainder Ct ..c world would not
leave US all of Our own sTotuct for our
own minis The proof of this is incon-
tcstibly shown in the fact that there
has never been single year since 1864
when our exports of silver did not
largely exceed our imports, showing
that the product of silver outside of
the United States is not sufficient for
the remainder of the worlds require
ments. In one year the excess of ex-
ports of silver over imports exceeded
S37, OO0, coo. and even when the coinage
under the Bland Allison act was in
full blast there was one year when the
excess of exports of silver over imports
was more than SIS. 600, Oo0 and another
year when such excess OF exports was
more than 1900. 600.
There is a great misapprehension
as to the worlds supply of silver and
as to the worlds annual product of
silver. There has been such an cutlery
about the great production OF silver
that many suppose that the supply is
practically limitless- This is very far
from the truth. cannot lay my hand
at this moment on the statement of
the product for 1s92 and 1894, which /
assume was some greater than in pre-
vious years. But, taking the report
ended with 1892, we have the follow
ing significant statements of the prod
uct of silver and Of the relative prod
ucts of silver and gold: According to
official reports, in the 100 years ended
in the year 1892, there was nearly
twice as much gold produced in Amer
lea as there was silver. The gold pro-
duced was 81, s37, ssl, 769 and the silver
produced was 81, 146. 500, COO In the
same period, from 1892 to 1892, taking
the production of the whole world,
there was produced $3.50, 600, 600 more
gold than of silver. The figures are;
Gold, SIS, e33, COS, 900, and silver, s5,077,-
061, 600
According to the official reports of
the United States government OF the
product of silver in 1892, if every ounce
of silver produced in the United States
in that year were coined, leaving none
for the arts or for export, it would only
make a small fraction more than 81
per capita to the people of the United
States And yet the product of that
year was greater than it had ever been
in any Previous year excepting one.
According to the same report of the
product of silver in the whole world
for that year, if every ounce produced
that year in the whole world were
brought to America and coined, leav-
ing not an ounce for the arts or for
coinage by other nations, such entire
product of silver of the whole world
for that year, would, when coined.
make considerable less than SIS per
capita to the people of the United
States The total amount produced il
the world in 1892, was 1896. Cos, 900,
and that was larger annual
worlds product of silver than
there had ever been in the hundred
preceding years.
although somewhat out of its order
in this place, cannot forbear, before
leaving the question of free coinage, to
notice briefly one argument against it,
which is drawn from the comparison
between the Mexican silver dollar and
| the American silver dollar. The same
| argument was repeated by the dis
| tinguished senator from Minnesota,
(Mr. Nelson) who preceded me. 1t is a
stock argument with many. based on
| the fact that an American silver dollar
bearing the stamp of a government
| which prohibits free coinage is worth
two Mexican silver dollars stamped by
| government where there is free coin
/ age, although the latter has more sill
YER in it than the former. Well, what
/ does that prove? What is true of the
/ American silver dollar is true of the
/ American paper dollar The American
/ paper dollar is also worth two Mexi.
can silver dollars, and the fact simply
proves that neither the American sill.
yer dollar nor the American paper dol.
lar is in fact the standard dollar, but
that each is only a token dollar, a rep.
resentative of the American gold dol.
lar, which is so artificislly appreciated
in value that American products mus,
be sold in it at half their forme,