The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1896-10-09
With MI. Bryan's election. the silver dollar,

worth not cent more than the Market valu6
of the silver contained in it. II the market
value of that quantity is so cents. and you
present at tho mint 50 cents worth Of bullion,
you get back, not gold dollar. but silver
dollar worth just 80 cents You might, instead
of taking your bullion to the mint, sell it in
the market for just the same amount OF non
ey. Indeed, bullion owners, unless they have
some special reason for taking their bullion to
the mint, will take it to the market and sell
it there, as they very extensively do in all
countries in which there is free silver coinage.
Why should they not? Because, if they have
their bullion coined, they get legal tender dol
lars for it. Why, If they sell it in the market
they get there legal tender dollars likewise.
1t will therefore 10 a mere question of special
convenience whether they take it to the mint
or to the market. And in the market, accord
ing to all human reason and experience, its
price will, temporary fluctuations notwitE-
standing, remain on the whole very near to
the figure of the cost at which it can in large
quantities be produced. Mr.. Bryan's strange
tmaginings have therefore proved only that
when he speaks of government purchases of
silver and fixing prices and creating de-
mand greater than the supply, he simply does
not know what free coinage is.
Every sensible person, trust, will now ad
NIT that free silver coinage in the United
States alone will make bimetallism, the equal
use of both gold and silver as money, utterly
confirm Europe in gold monometallism and
condemn Us to silver monometallisn-thee X
elusive use OF silver as money and of paper
based upon silver. No doubt this is what the
silver men are really aiming at.
How Free Silver VIII Work.
Let US now consider how it will affect the
various interests of the people. The first
blessing we are promised to flow from free
coinage is general rise of prices. This means
that the silver dollar will buy less than the
gold dollar did. and this for the reason that
it is no longer worth much as the gold dol.
lar. Evidently the promise Of bimetallism, Of
silver rising to it's old price on the one hand,
and the promise Of higher prices owing to
less valuable silver dollar on the other hand
do not go together. The one or the other is a
fraud. OF course the fraud is the premise of
bimetallism. The rise Of prices owing to the
debasement Of the dollar will begin at once
as soon as gold departs and we slip on the sill
yer basis. Bread will be dearer; milk, coffee,
sugar, tea, meat, vegetables, will be dearer;
clothes, shoes and hats will be dearer; rents,
furniture, coal. kerosene-in short, every ar
ticle the price Of which can be raised by the
seller.
High prices are two edged sword-handy to
the seller, but unpleasant to the buyer. They
press, OF course, hardest upon those who are
compelled to buy most in proportion to their
income or their earnings. And who are they?
upon the actual necessaries of life, the indis-
pensable food clothing and shelter, is very
little compared with its income. Most of it's
expenditures go for things that are not neces.
saries and may be classed as luxuries, the pur-
chasing of which may be suspended or post
poned without hardship. But the poor family,
The wage earner's family, is obliged to spend
very large part OF its income from day TO day
upon food, clothing, shelter, heat and light,
that cannot be temporarily dispensed with
without hardship. From rise i'll the prices
Of the necessaries of life the poor people there
fore suffer by far the most.
Where the Wage Garner VIII Come In.
How stands the case of the wage earners
whose product can be raised in price proper
tomato to the debasement of the dollarp As
the dollar falls in value the manufacturer or
the merchant marks up his goods. The work
inGman or the clerk, finding himself hard
pressed by the rise in price of the necessaries
Of life. applies for corresponding increase
of wages. The head of the factory or the
mercantile establishment admits that some in
crease is called for. But, says he, "you are
not the only person in trouble. The value Of
our money 10 fuctuating. We hardly know
what it is today. We surely do not know what
it will be next week. Profits are excessively
close anyhow We make sale or purchase
today and think it is at a profit. Tomorrow
we may find that it was at loss. We hardly
venture to make contract to be filled at
future time, because we can make no safe cal
culations. We can increase your wages lit
tie, but not much. For that you will have to
wait until things are more settled. Besides,
this silver free coinage has thrown all bust
ness into dreadful confusion, and there are
plenty of people out of employment who
would do your work for less than you get
now" And so the wage Garner has to be sat-
isfed with little increase of pay and wait for
more while the advanced prices Of necessaries
prey upon him.
Is this mere conjecture9 1t is the experience
of every country that has been cursed by a
rise Of PRICES through money of fluctuating
value. defy any one to show me in the whole
history of the world single exception. Have
we not, during our civil war, witnessed it with
our own eyes? In 1852, when our irredeemable
paper currency had begun to depreciate, the
average wages Of labor rose only 9 per cent,
while average prices rose 49, In 1862 when
wages had risen 1919 per cent, average prices
were 40 per cent higher; in 1864 wages had
risen 25Z per cent and prices 901z: in 1866
wages had advanced 43 per cent and prices III
above what wages and prices had been in gold
in 1861. In other words, the laboring man 8
wages had lost in purchasing power more than
30 cents in every dollar. Every country la
boring under similar conditions tells the same
story. What reason in the world is there to
assume that this universal rule will not oper
ate in tho case of free coinage2
And what have the apostles Of free silver
coinage to say to this2 Hear Mr.. Bryan him
self in his famous New York grafton, sWhile
a gold standard raises the purchasing power
Of the dollar it also makes it more difficult to
obtain possession Of the dollar-employment
Is less permanent, loss Of work more probable
and unemployment less certain Is that all?
Yes, all. Does not Mr.. Bryan know that I'M
der what was practically the gold standard
we had in the ffties one Of the most active
and prosperous periods this country has ever
seenP Does he not know that more recently
at the time Of the return to specie payments,
we had under the gold standard years Of sig
nal prosperity with all hands at work? And
does he wish to learn what has been the
trouble since and what is the trouble now?
Let him ask the employers of labor, and with
almost one voice they will tell him that not
the existing gold standard, but the growing |
dan ger of its overthrow, that the growing ag |
gressiveness of the free coinage movement,
filling the minds Of men with anxious appre-
tensions as to dark future uncertainties, has
served to paralyze that spirit Of enterprise |
which sets the laboring man to work. Let him |
study the history of the crisis Of 1885, Not the
gold standard, Dut distrust Of silver destroy
I'D the confidence that employs labor. This |
Is the truth, and Mr.. Bryan will in vain try to |
deny it.
Debtor and Creditor.
The free coinage men profess especial solici. |
bu0e for those whom they call "the debtor |
class" Who are the debtor class? Our silver |
friends speak as If, a rule, the rich people |
were creditors and the poor were debtors. Is
this correct? In my household am the debtor
TO the cook and the chambermaid and the
two or three weeks in the
ax,I ,%Dvo NDr