Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1896-09-04
CARLISLE REVIEWED.

Gold aud silver '"e W
IN lengthy review of Secretary Car
hSies speech to laboring men at Chi.
cago the Memphis Commercial Aonenl
refers TO IL as a curious mass of eco
nomic tallacy, misapplied and pervert-
eu history, erratic deduction, eccentric
i"glc and bald, dogmatic propositions
IN conflict with the most elementary
principles of economic science"
Let us take Mr.. Carlisle's initial
proposition, the foundation stone Of
ms whole argument, SAYS the CONNER
cial Appeal. He says that the frst
effect of the free coinage of silver
would be the expulsion from tho conn
try OF all it's gold, thereby diminishiny
the volume of money by oue-third.
The purchasing power of the remain.
der, he says, would be reduced 50 per
cent; that is, commodities would com.
mand twice as much money as before
and We should have Ill immense in fla.
tion of prices caused by an immense
contraction of the currencvl
There would be, says Mr.. Carlisle.
only two-thirds tho amount of monev
now In circulation, and Il would be so
appreciated that IL would require twice
hs muoh money TO transact the busI-
ness OF the country. Let us follow
MIR. Carlisle's fantastic logic 90 the
end The amount OF money every In.
dividual can obtain for the transaction
or his business wiz depend on the
prices he can get for what he has 20
sell. Mr.. Carlisle's proposition Is that
oy eNpelling one-third OF our money
prices would be doubled; or, In other
"oros' every man in the country could
command twice as much money as be-
fore. though all combined would have
lessl
Again, IL Il would require twice as
much money as the then existing vol
ume TO transact the country's business
the demand for money would be 100
per cent greater than the supply Per
sons familiar with the law OF demnnd
and supply would be apt TO say that
the value OF the money would certain
ly increase under the tremendous lift
ing power OF such u demand Not So
MIR. Carlisle. To him n contemporane-
Gus decrease of 33& per cent I'm tho
supply and Increase of 100 per cent I'm
demand Is perfectly consistent with n
fal OF 80 per cent I'm valuel Must we
ooliterHte all the laws of supply and
4 demand when we come TO reason about
money! Is IL possible 90 make money
scarcer, make the demand twice ns
| great, and at the same time mnke IL
twice as easy TO get money? Such Is
the case If Mr.. Carlisle's proposition Ia
correct-if you can at the Same time
contract the volume of money aud in
crease pricesi that is. the money-get-
ting power of commodities
Again: All the gold would leave the
country, says Mr.. Carlisle, because a
would no longer be In demand for
monetary purposes. All the monetary
demand of 1000, 900 OF the most active
money seekers in the world, for paw
Ing many hundred million dollars OF
debt, for carrying on the vast industry.
trade and commerce of this great
country, would he withdrawn from
gold and concentrated on silver. Yet.
according TO Mr.. Carlisle this stuDen-
dous influence would not affect the
value of either metal by the fraction
OF cent? And this Is monetary
science as eXpounded by one of its
most famous savants Mr.. Carlisle
refers 10 the operation of the mint
laws of 1892 and 1884 establishing the
ratio of coinage in this country 10
prove that legislation cannot affect
HE value of money metals II nnv-
thing Is demonstrated by the operation
of these laws II is that the value OF
the metals wns fixed and controlled bv
coinage laws. The most learned and
the most candid gold monometallists
admit that the coinage ratio of the
French mints dominated the relative
values of gold and silver for three
quarters of a century. Throughout
the most extreme fluctuations In their
relative production the vnlues of gold
and silver kept substantially stendv at
the French legal ratio of i5X TO 1.
When two countries open their mints
70 the coinage OF two metals at vary
Ing ratios the result will be that the
country whose law places the higher
value on gold will get the gold
and the country packing the high
er value on silver will get the
silver. But both countries will
have the full benefit OF both
In regulating the volume of their cur
rency. This was what happened un-
der the laws referred to. II gold or
a silver dollar went out of the country
ID put another and as good dollar In
Its place That was substantial BIZ
metallisn- Now. when n gold dollar
goes out, as they have been steadily
going for several years. there is no
way TO Ill It's place, except by mort
gagtng tho country to- buy back the
gold. There Is the difference between
monometallism and bimetallism. An
other difference Mr.. Carlisle ignored Is
that prior TO the demonetization OF
silver the debtor always had the OPP
tion TO pay his debt in the cheaper |
money If one became cheaper than the !
other. Now he is compelled 10 pay in |
the dearer money.
Mr.. Carlisle undertook to show that |
the waRe-earners would suffer because
the rise in prices would not be accom-
panied by a corresponding rise In /
wages--in other words that stocks |
and stones would command increased |
prices, but that human energy, intel
liRence and will could not keep the
pace. His illustration to prove this
was taken from the period when war
was fragrant. Mr.. Carlisle thinks that
time of war when business was
demoralized, markets destroyed, com