Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-08-22
A SILVER QUERY.


To the Editor of the Register.
All the circumstances connected with
the composition and delivery Of Mr..
Bryan's speech in New York last week
warrant the voters Of the country in re-
garding 1t as the highest authority upon
the policy advocated by him and his
supporters. At the same time the over
whelmlng Importance of the subject
vita which it deals demands that every
honest voter should weigh most care
fully all its assertions and the cOnclu-
s.ons drawn from them. In pursuing
this course l have met with a great diff
Guilty in one portion of the speech; TO
which 1 beg leave 10 call your atten-
ton and that OF your readers, in the
hope that you or they may consider It
worth while 10 endeavor to remove il.
Mr.. Bryan says: There is an actual
necessity for bimetallism, as we'll as q
theoretical defense of it. During the
last twenty-three years legislation has
been creating an additional demand for
gold. and this law-created demand has
resulted in increasing the purchasing
power of each ounce Of gold. The res
torauOn Of bime,allism in the United
States will take away from gold just so
much of It's purchasing power as was
added to it by the decentralization Of sill
yer in the United States He further
SAYS that tine silver dollar is held up
TO the gold dollar by legal tender laws
in consequence of which the purchas-
ing power Of the silver dollar is now
equal to that Of the gold dollar,so that
it must have appreciated in the same
proportion.
Il is commonly assumed that the de-
mOnetizatiOn OF silver has about doubled
the purchasing power of gold, or has
added TO Il as mu"h again as 1t had in
1873. Now if the restoration of bimet-
allism in the United States will take
away from gold just so much Of its pur-
chasing power as was added 70 it by de-
monetzatiOl' ic will reduce that pur-
chasing power just one-half, so that the
dollar then will be worth 80 cents as
compared with the present standard.
This is the only meaning l am able 10
attach TO his language. And if we ad-
nit that the law has unjusJly doubled
the value of the dollar, this seems a
most logical and effective remedy.
Here. however is where | meet the
difficulty spoken of in the beginning.
Mr.. Bryan furthr says: perhaps the
most persistent misrepresentation THAI
we have to meet is the charge that We
are advocating the payment of debts in
5O-cent dollars" That certainly seems
lust conclusion from what is quoted
above: but what follows would make it
appear that Mr. Bryan had inadvert-
antly misrepresented himself when he
advocated bmetalism as taking away
the unjust addition to the purchasing
power of the dollar. He says: Under
bimetallism silver bullion will be worth
as much as silver coin, just as gold bull
ion is now worth as much as gold coin,
and we believe a silver dollar will be
worth as much rs a gold dollar" This
result might be brought about by lower
ing The value of the gold dollar one-half
or by raising that of the silver dollar
II cannot be by the means that he advO-
Gated. for he says it is persistent mis-
representation TO say that free silver
will give us fifty-cent dollar He must
therefore propose to raise the value Of
the silver dollar: and this is not mere
inference, for he says plainly, we con-
tend that free and unlimited coinage Of
silver by the United States alone will
raise the bullion value of silver to its
coinage value and thus make silver bull
ion worth $129 an ounce in gold
throughout the world" If this be true,
we shall have a new silver dollar Of the
same unjus-ly increased purchasing
power as the present gold dollar; and
where is the benefit to the producing
and debtor classes to come from?
To my mind these extracts involve a
fGt contradictions to the effects Of
free coinage on the money standard
whatever may be its effect on prices and
prosperity. Mr.. Bryan first asserts
that it will reduce the appreciated gold
dollar to It's normal and original pur-
chasing power. and then he contends"
that it will raise the price of silver bull
ion so as to give US a silver dollar which
is appreciated to the present level of the
gold dollar How can these be recon
ciled? And if they cannot be, which
am | 10 accept the former assertion or
the subsequent contention?
BENZ. TRAPNELL.
Charleston, w. Va, August 10, 1896.