The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-08-23

1
| that what the silver digger gets out In
| a dav is worth somewhere near the value
| OF tho q p grains Of gold that the gold
| digger rc,s out in day. or the silver
digger would quit digging silver and 10
| "a digpino, gold lie must. therefore. get
| somefhlng like 7i2 IL grains OF silver by
| his DAYS labor. and. II he docs. then, IL
| fakes only half as much labor to dl-
| s7ll IA grains Of silver as It takes TO dig
| out 2322 grains OF gold. There can be
| no flaw I'm this reasoning.
| OWNER or NINE MUST ABANDON
| IT UNLESS LABORER PRODUCES
SAME.
! II may bc said in answer 10 this that
| tho owner OF the silver mine has his
| property and plant. and that he must go
| on producing or sacrifice all he has. lie
will undoubtedly struggle against his fate.
| but the fixed law OF the case VIII force
him 10 abandon his property sooner or
later unless his laborer can dig from II
I'm 4 day what corresponds IN value 10
the yield OF the gold diggcT's work Tor
| day
lie must pay his iaborer out OF what
| that laborer produces. Now If the laborer
| I'm the gold mine next TO him digs ouA
2322 grains OF gold in DAY ana that
| q y grains will purchase two buShels OF
wheat. while his laborer digs out only
81 IA grains OF silver In day. winch
will nurchaee only one bushel OF wheat.
he will be forced TO stop work lie cam
not pay his laborer more than that IA
horer produces. Yet IL he pays him all
he produces. IL will not be as much as
what the gold man pays his. WIN
profit left over for himself The digger
OF silver must therefore. dig out some
thing in a day that approIimates IN
value what the digger OF gold digs ont IN
n dav or the silver mine owner VIII De
unable 10 pay him what the gold mine
owner pays his laborer. and the man VIII
nuit him and 20 10 the gold man. II is
pothing but an instance OF the we'll
known law that every man wants Tor
what he has TO sell the highest price at
tainablc. The laborer must i've. ana ne
has nothing 10 sell but his labor. IL
naturally. therefore. takes II 10 the mar
kot where IL commands the hiEhes'
pricc. The silver mine owner. therefore,
may consent to the, reduction OF MS
pronts for the sake OF trying TO Keep his
nronertv and plant alive. but when Ii
reaches tho point where the yield from
the lab0rer's work is considerably be-
low mat OF the yield Of the work OF the
same class OF labor I'm other empioyment-
he must stop business. He must pay th'
iahorer moro than he produces. whlch
Is suicide or he must 20 out OF business
When. therefore. 81 ia grains of sllVe'
are worth. for purchasing purposes only
half as much as 2&22 grains Of gold. th~
labOrcr must produce something ike
742 10 grains Of silver by days labor
~ The owner OF the mine will be forced
TO quit business. even although ne Is the
owner
We sec an illustration OF II always be-
foro our owes The State OF Virginia has
hundreds Of thousands Of acres of land
living waste and uncultivated that ar@
capable Of producing very good wheai
and corn. Why is this? II IS because tbs
field laborcr cannot get from these lands
what he can get with the same labor
from other lands. An Acre or lana IN
Dakota produces. we will say. 40 bushels
OF wheat that net the owner or the ldlu
in New York city $50. An acre Of Viz
giria land produces, we will say. IS BUSH
OILS which net the owner IN New Nor-
e. ~ The great return which the Da-
kota land makes the laborer carries all
wheat raiscrs to Dakota. The owner %
the Virginia land abandonS 1t rather
than work il in competition with tn.
Dakota land.
II. then. my proposition that labor IS
a. the bottom of everything valuable that
We create be sound. how can a silver dol
lar be as valuable as n gold dollar II
costs only about half the labor that
gold dollar costs. and It must, therefore.
be only half as valuab elsa gold dol
lar.
BAILEY PUTS HIS FOOT IN 1T.
(NOTE When Mr.. Bailey came TO re-
plv TO Mr.. Royal. he said the theory
Mr.. Royan advocated had once been
held. but that all writers on political
economy. from Ricardo down. had ADAM
doned the theory that labor was at the
bottom Of values. OF course. this
is not a fact but IT is curious that Mr..
Bailey should have selected Ricardo as
the authority for his vacary since 1t Is
one of the very propositions upon
which Ricardo POUNDS his system
John Stuart Mil IS the political econ
omist to whom all the advocates Of free
coinage refer as the most reliable writer
Of all upon questions Of political economy.
| quote. therefore from his writings. He
saws in Vol IT, % his work on political
economy. at page lO5. Little & Browns
edition. 1SiS. book 3. chapter ~. section .;
"When II is said by Ricardo and others
that the value OF a thing is regulated by
quantity OF labor they do not mean th-
quantity Of labor for which the thing
will exchange, but the quantity required
Tor producing t. This they mean 10
affirm determines its value, causes II 10
be Of the value Il is and OF no other"
And Mil says for himself at page 40.
chapter xvi. section .: IF the same Ia
Dor which grows threc-quarters OF wheat
on any given soil would always grow ore
that soil nve-quarters OF oats. the three
and the five-Quarters would be Of Tho
same value" lie means. % course as
modified by the demand. Mr.. Bailey
could learn. therefore. from his own all
thoritv that the principle ! contend fo-
IS the true one. and that Il is a favorite
one with the author whom he quoted AZ
opposed 10 II. RicardO's statement or
the proposition NAV be seen In his Frinci-
pies Of Political Economy and Taxation.
chapter I. section 81
GREAT PRODUCTION OF SILVER
RAISED THE CLAMOR
want to call your attention, fellow
citizens. I'm this connection 10 some facts
which | think YOU will agree with me IN
thinking interesting facts at least. There
was no silver money OF any consequence
circulating in this country prior 10 1873.
when the act demonetizing silver. as il
IS called. was passed There had been
the foreign silver coins that were here
and there was the subsidiary coinage
coined after 1853 But that was legal ten
der for only s.. and was used for change
only. no business transactions were has-
! ed upon H. II was not the money OF ac-
count. SO that am right IN saying that
there was substantially no silver In our
money of any account for many years
nrior TO 1873. From 1S3l-'7 to the war
we wore on a gold basis with siver
halves and quarters used for change, yet