The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-26
FREE COINAGE AND WAGES.
A Wase-Earner Has Practical
Talk AbOut silver.

Talk AbOut silver.
From the New York Times.
I'm going 10 vote for Bryan" New
York man said 10 me. ITS a good chance
10 get in a lick al Wall street Devil take
Wall streetr
Don't you care anything about your
self" 1 asked
What do you mean?"
Don't you care anything about the ef-
/ feet of your own earnings and domestic
! economy OF the establishment Of free
| coinage Of silver?"
"Oh. stun! 1t won't make any difference
| to me. Not a bit Of difference"
! Here was an intelligent man, a bright
/ man, a man who earns his 800 a year.
| He didn know that the establishment Of
| free coinage would affect him personally.
| What Is free COINAGE / asked.
! Means that the government viii coin
| all the gold and silver that taken TO the
! mint. free Of charge"
! Il suppose you noticed that provision in
| the Chicago platform IN regard 10 the ra-
| ito Of l6 to l."
! "Oh, yes"
What's that mean?"
/ Means that sixteen times as much sill
! Yer, by weight, snail so into the dollar as
so that all a man need do is to take a
| certain quantity Of silver to the mint, re-
CARELESS of It's market value, and set
! dollar for it,"
| 81 suppose So"
80 IL a man can buy as much silver as
| goes into a dollar for So cents he can sell
/ 1t to the government for dollar?'
| "Why, yes; / suppose So
"Now, do you mean to say that it would
not affect you personally If the dollar Of
| to-day, the one-hundred-cent-do
should be superseded by fifty-three-eent
''But It won't"
"Why not2"
Hang It all, a dollars a dollar It's the
stamp Of the government that makes the
dollar. Isn't this silver dollar that I've
got in my hand as good as gold dol
lar?'
For present use it is. It's worth a dol
lar to-day because practically It bears on
its face the promise of the United States
TO redeem 1t in gold. But If you should
keep that dollar and unlimited free coin
age should be established I'm this country
you would see the time when you couldn't
exchange II for gold--a time when its val
ne would be simply the value of the silver
that's in it, just as to-day the value OF a
gold dollar Is the value OF the gold that
in II. You say the stamp Of the government
makes value? Really, you don't believe
that, do your
Certainly; wherever the stamp goes the
value goes, Isn't that true?"
mot a bit of II. The stamp on the gold
| piece Is simply a certificate of the guam
tlty OF gold it contains. We are shipping
I
take our gold coin at its actual bullion
value. If there was more gold in five
dollar piece il would bring more abroad;
| If less, the price would be lower.
80 1t is IN our own country. The gold
coin is taken for what il actually is worth.
1t stands on It's merits. There Is no redemp-
ton back Of II. 1t is our standard of value.
II man has horse 30 sell, he names the
price-so many dOllars-and expects pay
ment in dollars that come up to the stand
> ard.
Not so with silver The fifty-three-cent
dollar you have in your hand stands pre-
cisey in the position of the paper dollar.
It is practically only a promise to pay
gold. It would circulate freely If there
was but ten cents worth Of silver in it. Ii
is taken now IN trades of an kinds without
question because nobody doubts the ability
of the government to redeem it in gold.
Establish free coinage and the silver
dollar viii have nothing behind il. 1t must
go for what it is actually worth. There
would be no redemption. In the first place
it is not proposed to back 1t with a gov
, eminent promise of redemption; in the
second place, the government could not
keep such promise good if 1T should
{ make 1t.
Free coinage means the substitution
of the silver dollar for the gold dollar as
the standard of value.
Can't you see now how it would affect
; you personality" I demanded of my
friend.
'Td get my salary in silver he an.
2 swered frankly, mot necessarily silver
coin, but in dollars redeemable in silver
! Is that what you mean?"
l That's part of it. You don't entertain
any expectation, do you, that your salary
: would be raised as the value of the
! money standardshould fan?'
DO /? of course I don't. I've seen toe
much of the world to expect the like OF
that Men who work for wages, big OF
little would keep on working at the same
wages. l We no doubt of that"
How about your expenses? The rent
: for example. You pay $35 month now
for your fiat, you say. viii your landlord
continue TO rent that fiat for $S5 when dol
= lars shall be worth so so, 40 cents? What
do you think about it?'
81 wouldn't if I was he"
5 How about clothing, food, and the
other necessaries of life? Would your sal
airy go as far after the scaling down by
free coinage as it does now? You paid
about $50 for that suit, judge-$30 in gold
, You don't suppose thirty -tifty-cent dollar;
: would buy such a suit of clothes do you?
Another thing. Is your life insured?"
Yes, for $780,"
: Comfort to you to think that if yol
: should die your wife would get that $4,000
You needn't say yes. I know. Now how
would you feel If this $1,000 should b,
scaled down to about 50 per cent. p?
THAT would be devilish."
: That's what free coinage proposes. L
proposes, too, that every dollar you and
your wife, by dint of economy. self-denia
and hard work, have put into the saving!
bank shall be cut in two about in the mid
die.
Now my advice to you" said l. IL
conclusion, sis to study into this question
7 little. Let Wall street go to thunder
Wall street will take care of itself in any
circumstances. Look out for yourself
t maintain that man who works for a liv.
Ing as you and do wants a stable none.
tary system. Certainly We don't want Il
! vote to cut our own wages down 80 pel
! cent. without first satisfying ourselve:
that we should get some great compensat
ing advantage out of free coinage
Wage Garner.
-Friend-"spent Sunday in New York
, Ell? Which hotel did you stop at%' Tn,