The Monitor-register., 1896-07-31
Free Coinage Catechism.
A PLAIN DISCUSSION OF THE oUEsTIo,
OF THE HOUR.

| ASS OVAAu6O VdL6CukHm.
A PLAIN DISCUSSION OF THE o11EsTroN
| OF THE HOUR.
lFrom the New York Evening Post
y. what do the free coinage leaders
especially charge against the gold stand.
srd3 A. They declare that it has helped
tne rich, and has caused distress and loss
to everybody else.
y. Is th's statement true2 A. Il is not.
y. Suppose the gold standard had
worked injury to everyone except the rich; :;
now should we know the faotP A. People
with small incomes would have been
growing steadily poorer since the gold
standard was adopted.
u Have snch people been growing
poorer A. On the contrary, their pros
perity, since this country returned to tho
gold standard lie 1879. has increased in an
unprecedented degree.
q By whom are such deposits madea
A. They consist almost entirely of the
surplus income of tradesmen, wage.
earners and small producers.
Q. What are the figures of these depos
ist? A. In 1879 the total savings bank
deposits in the United States were $SO2.-
49O. 29S; in 1895 they were 81. .s44, 357, ,79s;
increase. 81 .O41. 1867, 800. or 1879 per cent.
Q. What is your authority for these
figures? A. The offical statements of the
savings banks to the United States
Government, published 10 the reports of
the Comptroller of the Currency.
Q. What do the figures showP A. They
show that during the seventeen years
since this country's return to the single
gold standard the savings of its poorer
people have been Thousand million dol
lars larger then they were in any proceed
ing period.
| Q. Are the savings banks deposits our
only proof that the people have prospered
under the gold Standard A. The building
and loan associations are another striking
proof.
| G. Who are the depositors with build.
Ing and loan assooistionsP A. Chiefly
wage earners, tradesman, and people with
small salaries.
q. What do the reports of these associ.
ations show? A. Twelve years ago the
deposits with such associations were com.
paratively insignificant. 10 1899 the
returns of the United States Department
Of Labor showed the aggregate to be
4EAn ~ do
deposits in this country is estimated at
$3.50, ,OOO. 900.
| Q. How do all these figures compare
with savings. bank deposits and with
building and LOAD association accounts in
Countries now on a silver Standard A.
such countries have neither savings banks
nor building ard loan associations.
1 @. Why? A. Presumably because the
wage-earners In those countries have nc
savings to deposit.
q. How do you explain so enormous an
Increase In the savings of our peopleP A,
Wages have increased since the return
to the gold standard. Great improvements
and extension OF production have lowered
prices and reduced the cost of living. Thj,
has necessarily increased the peoples sav
ngs.
q. What Ia your authority for stating
that wages have increased since our adop
tion Of the gold standard? A. The highest
known authority; the United States
Senate report of 1892, already referred to
in this Catechisn.
@. How much does this report show
average wages to have Increased since the
resumption of specie paymentsP A. Ul
to the latest date covered by the report
r they had increased 2Oa per cent. In many
Industries the increase had been muct
larger.
q. Then the average wage earner's in
come has increased under the gold stand
ard, while living expenses have decreased
for everybody? A. Such are the facts.
Q Would this advantage continue undel
free silver coinageP A. 1t conld not. W.
have already shown that wages would
not increase spontaneously, if at all, while
, prices for necessaries of life would rise
rapidly.
i G. Do the free coinage leaders admit
this certain rise in pricesP A. They do
they declare that all prices are now toe
I low, and that free coinage W i'll raise them
q. Bot do not these people claim that
high prices for food, clothing and house
hold necessaries will cause general con-
tentment and prosperity? A. They do.
@. How can we be sure that they are
not righie A. Read up the record o
years when currency inf alton had caused
high prices In this country. Look into
the condition of other countries where
prices now are high under silver stand
ard.
Il q. When were prices and living ex-
penses highest in this eountryP A. 10 1866
and 1866.
Il @. What did the American people o
that time think Of the high prices? A
They complained bitterly.
i q. Where can we find any record ol
such complaint? A. Go to a public
library and read the newsyapers of those
years.
Z. Give some illustrations A. In 1856
the New York papers seriously advised
people to stop eating meat. in order to
check the high prices. Letters from read
ers pubised in these papers complained
that milk. butter, coal and ice we're almost
beyond the poor mans reach. One letter,
in the New York Times of June 80, 1865,
deserves to be quoted: Call last winter, -
the writer says, "I could hardly afford to
buy any meat. The little bits OF beef and
mutton that We poor people buy cost 80
much that my wife says it is like eating
money" You can readily consult all
these published letters.
| Q. Would people object to high prices
now as much as they did then? A. Every
head Of a family and every housekeepsr
is competent to answer this question. q
| Q. If prices advanced under free coin.
age, would not the employer of labor be
able to pay very much higher wages? A.
His own living expenses would increase
as fast as his income, his business would
be thrown into confusion and all his
profits would become matter of specu-
lation.
Q. Was this his experience when prices
rose before 1866? A. 1t was emphaticalIy
his experience.
Il q. Bnt surely, if the money supply in.
creased, the wage Garner would get bis
share? A. He could get no more than his