Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-08-20

rauo- wnen mint prIcs Is -uIus estar
llished, Il regulates the bullion price, be
cause any person desiring coin may hnv
the bullion converted into coin ut tha
price, and any person desiring bullion cal
secure IL by melting the coin The onl
question upon which international bimetal
lists and independent bimetallists differ Il
Can the United States by the free and un
limited coinage Of silver at the presen
legal ratio create demand for silve
which, taken in connection with the de
mand already in existence, viii be suf
ficient 70 utilize all the silver that viii b
presented at the mintsi They agree in thei
defense Of the bimetallic principle, and
they agree in unalterablc opposition IN tn
gol1 standard international binetallists
cannot complain that free coinage gives a
benefit to the mine owner, because inter
national bimetallism gives to the owner OF
silver all the advantages offered by indie
pendent bimetnllism at the same ratio. In
ternational bimetallists cannot accuse the
advocates of free silver of being bullion
owners who desire to raise the value of
their bullion" or debtors who desire to
pay their debts in cheap dollars or
"delnagogues who desire TO curry favor
with the people" They must rest their
opposition upon one ground only-namely,
that the supply of silver available for coin
age is too largo to be utilized by the Unit
ed States
Our Capacity to Use Silver.
In discussing this question we must
consider the capacity of our peoplCato use
silver and the quantity Of silver which can
come to our mints. 1t must be reInem-
bered that we live in country only par
TALLY developed and that our people far
surpass any equal number of people in the
world in their power to consume and pro-
duce. Our extensive railroad development
and enormous internal commerce must
also be taken into consideration. Now,
how much silver can come here? Not the
coined silver of tho world, because almost
all of it is more valuable at this time in
other lands than it will be at our mints
under free coinage. If our mints arc
opened to free and unlimited coinage at
the present ratio, merchandise silver can.
not come. here, because the labor applied to
it has made it worth more in the form Of
merchandise than it wifi he worth at our
,nints. We cannot even expect all of the
annual product Of silver, because India,
<fI4bi1,--,,r-.H Mexico and oil the other
silver using Countries must satisfy their
annual needs from the ahnJal Product.
The arts will require large amount, and
the gold standard countries will need
considerable quantity for subsidiary coin
age. We will be required to coin only that
which Is not needed elsewhere, but if we
stand ready to take and utilize nll of it
other nations will he compelled to Buy at
the price which we fix. Many fear that
the opening of cur mints will be followed
by the enormous increase in the annual
production of silver. This Is conjecture,
Silver has been used ls money for thu
Sands Of years, and during all Of that time
the world has never suffered from an over
production. If for any reason the supply
of gold or silver in the future ever exceeds
the requirements Of the arts and the needs
of commerce, we confidently hope that the
intelligence of the people will be sufficient
to devise and enact any legislation neces-
sary for the protection of the public. 1t
is folly to refuse to the people the money
which they now need for fear they may
hereafter have more than they need. am
firmly convinced that by opening our 1nints
to free and Unlimited coinage at tie pres
,c,. .r,ar, ,yv ~, ~, c-nate ciepfor silver
which viii keep Tie Price q silver bullion
sat 81. 80 per ounce, measured by gold
Some of our opponents attribute the fall
in the value Of silver, when measured by
gold, to tho fact that during the last quar-
ter Of q century the worlds supply of silver
has increased more rapidly than the worlds
supply of gold. This argument ia entirely
answered by the fact that during the last
five years the annual. production ot gold
has Increased moro Rapidly than tho an
nual production Of silver. Since tho gold
price Of silver has fallen more during the
last five years than it ever fell in any pre-
vious five years in tho history Of the world
it is evident that the fall is not due to in
creased production. Prices can be lowered
as effectually by decreasing the demand
for an article as By increasing the supply
of it, and it seems certain that the fall in
the Gcld price Of silver is due to hostile
legislation and rot to natural laws.
Our opponents cannot ignore the fact
that gold is now going abroad in spite OF
all legislation intended to prevent it, and
no silver is being coined to take it's place
Not only is gold going abroad now, but it
must continue to go abroad rs long as the
present financial policy is adhered to un-
less we continue to borrow from across the
ocean, and even then we simply postpone
the evil, because the amount borrowed, to-
gether with interest upon it, must be re-
paid in appreciating dollars, The Ameri
can people now owe q large sum to Euro
pean creditors, and falling prices have left
larger and larger margin between our
net national income and our annual inter-
est charge There is only one way to stop
the increasing flow of gold from our shores,
and that is to stop falling prices. The res
toration of bimetallism will not only stop
falling prices, but will to some extent
restore prices by reducing tho worlds de-
mand for gold. If it is argued that rise
IN prices lessons the value of the dollars
which we pay to our creditors, reply
that In the balancing of equities the
American people have as much right to fa-
vor q financial system which will main
tain or restore prices Us foreign creditors
have to insist upon q financial system that
will reduce prices, But the interests Of
society are far superior to the interests Of
either debtors or creditors, and the inter
ests of society demand financial system
which will add to the volume Of the stand
ard money of the world, and thus restore
stability to prices.
A Reply to Criticism.
Perhaps the most persistent misrepre-
sentation that we have to meet Is the
charge that we are advocating the payment
of debts in 80 cent dollars. AT the present
time and under present laws silver dol
lar when melted loses nearly half Its val
ue but that will not be true when we
again establish mint price for silver and
leave no surplus silver upon the market to
drag down the price Of bullion. Under bi-
metallism silver bullion will be worth as
much as silver coin, just as gold bullion is
now worth as much as gold coin, and we
believe that silver dollar will be worth as
much as a gold dollar.
The charge Of repudiation comes with
NOR fyf.ace frofn those who nrn soaking tO