Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1896-10-24


of silver lest overloaded with the sill
yer of the world 1t should lose all It's
gold. Common sense 10 against the as
Eertion. Silver Is now produced in
such quantities, at ouch small expense
of production, that its value can not be
kept up to Its former standard. And
is the whole business of America to be
imperiled by leap into an experiment
which those very men who advocate 1t
confess to be only an experiment, and
which experience and common sense
condemn?
The boast that the United States is
able alone to whip England aud the
rest of the world into the coinage of
silver at 16 to 1, or to force the value
of silver up to s129 an ounce, is mere
nonsense. We are q great people, in
deed, but we havenot vet grownto that
commercial strength that our country
means the commercial world. Our ma
tional pride may give us extraordinary
dreams Of our Importance, but it will
not do to build the business of the
country upon those dreams. Would all
the commercial nations together coin
ing silver at 16 to bring up the silver
value of bullion to $1.29 an ounce? Per-
haps; strong commercial reasons sug-
gest the contrary. Would America alone
bring silver to S1.29? Assuredly not,
though, of course, the new demand for
silver from the mints would give some
increase to lis value--which increase,
however, might again be offset by an
increase of production. Some imagine
that the ratio Of silver to gold was al
ways 16 to or thereabouts. The ratio
was constantly changing throughout
historic times; at one time silver was
more valuable than gold; at the time
of the discovery of America, silver was
10 times less valuable than gold; 200
years before it had been eight times
less valuable. The ratio is constantly
changing, and the question for us to-
day Is not what the ratio was at pre-
ceding date, but what it should be in
our time.
But has not Herr Bismarck courseled
the United Sites to go ahead and make
the experiment all alone? Yes, and
un-American. The sly old fox would
indeed. be pleased to see America make
the experiment and go to the bottom of
the sea. Free coinage then will give
us money worth in the commercial
market of the world a little over half
its nominal value. No one imagines
that the stamp of the government gives
tO ,,;a 80
oertifies to the quantity and quality.
Otherwise the government stamp might
| as well be affixed to copper or to mere
paper. If the government stamp gave
value, the debased coins issued in the
past by impecunious sovereigns would
not have ruined the subjects OF those
| sovereigns and the assignat of France
and the paper issued by Ferdinand OF
Naples, century ago, would not have
sold in the market almost as govern
ment rags.
| The Inevitable Result.
Legal tender compelling men to ac-
cept against their will money above
its commercial value in the markets ol
the world is rank injustice. The early
financial statesmen of America, Jeffer.
son, Morris, Hamilton, never thought
of making the legal value of coiI
higher than the commercial value ol
the metal of which the coins were
made. Therefore, with the passage O.
free silver coinage we shall have cur
rency rejected at it's nominal value
from the markets Of the world, unsta
| nIa nd I'M tn uo1, ci
ness can not prosper with such a cur
rency. The first condition of the lif,
of business is stability of the currency
None will invest money of a certain
value today in commerce and industr.
if by the time the raw material ha
been turned into marketable wares tn
currency is likely to have changed il
value. Business in all branches woul,
become speculation, gamble, con
servative capital would keep out O
sight. No loans would be made.
! 1t is nonsense to say that capita
must put itself into the American mar
ket, whether the capital be America
or European. We should not be de
luded by words. We may clamor il
vain IOr cetpllal, IL VIII HOL COune uI
less there be security for it. 1t will re
main in the vaults of safety or go I
other parts of the world where rewar
is small but certain. And without capi
tai there will be no enterprises and n
work for the people. | am absolutel
convinced that the laboring classe
will suffer the most Of all from FIRE
j silver coinage. And yet the laborin
classes are those that are the most urt
, emily appealed to in this free silve
movement. A man who talks agains
, free silver is put down at once as a
enemy Of the common people" Wei
/ for my part, am willing to be calle
] an enemy of the working classes,
"the common people," if am in real
} ty advising them for their good an
serving their true interests. Thos
= above all others in the land who shoul
today be on their guard against IL
5 silver movement are the laborers
America. But will not the farmers
benefited? VIII thy not receive
l higherlprice for their products? Ms