The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-08-18

tive officers who have seen lit 10 surrender
right which should have been exercised
for the protection OF the interests or the
people. This executive action has already
been made the excuse fof the issue OF more
than j0000,0O0 bonds, and it IS lmpos-
sible to estimate the amount of bonds Whlch
may hereafter be issued IL this poicy IS
continued We are told that any attempt
upon the part Of the government to redeem
its obligations in silver would put pre-
mum upon gold, but why should III Inc
Bank of France exercises the right TO te~
deem all bank paper in either gold or slFeti
and vet France maintains the parity pe-
tween gold and silver at the ratio OF 10 l.
to 1 and retains III circulation mere sllNei
per capita than we Go in the United STATES
IT NAV be further answered that our OPP
Moments have suggested 10 feasible plan LOT
avoiding the dangers which they tear. Inc
retirement of the green5acks anu treasury
notes would rot protect TIE treasury
because the same policy which now leaus
the secretary Of the treasury to redeem All
government paper in gold, when gold Is
demanded, will require the redemption OIL
all silver dollars and silver certlncateS III
gold if the greenbacks ana treasury HoteS
are withdrawn from circulation. more Lh.tu
this if the government should fetlFe lts
paper and throw upon the banks the neces-
sity of furnishing coin redemptlon' the
hanks wpuld exercise the right to furnish
either gold or silver. In other WORDS, lhey
would exercise the option, just as the GOV
eminent ought to exercise 1t now ne
government must either exercise the risHt
to redeem its obligations In silver Wneh
silver is more convenient, or it must retire
all the silver and silver certificates from
circulation and leave nothing put Solu as
legal tender money. Are our opponents W.,
ling to outline financial system Whlcn
will carry out their policy to It's leSltiliate
conclusion or will they continue TO CLOAK
4lo;, 6oci0nc in ambiguous Phrases:
There is an actual necessity FOR bimetal-
lisn, as we'll as a theoretical defense OF IT,
During the last twenty three years leglsia-
tion has been creating an adQltlonai ue-
mand for gold, and this laW-created &C.
mand here resulted in increasing the puf-
chasing power of each ounce OF gold. Inc
restoration Of bimetallism in the Unlteu
States will take away from gold Just SO
much Of it's purchasing power as was auueu
TO it by the decentralization or silver py the
Tinted States The silver dollar is now
held m to the gold dollar by legal tender
laws and not by redemption IN gold pc
cause the standard silver dollars are not
now redeemable in gold, either III law OF
by administrative policy.
We contend that free and unlimited coin
age by the United States alone VIII raise
the bullion value of silver to its coinage
valne and thus make silver bullion worth
S1.29 per ounce in gold throughout the
world, This proposition is III keeping with
natural laws, not In defiance OF them. Inc
best known law Of commerce is the law OF
srpply and demand We recognize TINS law
and h1iiId our argument upon it. We apply
this law to money when we say that re-
duc+ion in the volume Of money will raise
the purchasing power of the dollar; we also
apply the law of supply and demand TO
silver when we say that new demand Tor
silver created by law will raise the price OF
silver bullion. Gold and silver are different
from other commodities in that they are
limited In quantity. Corn, wheat, manu-
featured products, etc, can be produced
almost without limit provided they can be
sold at price sufficient to stimulate pro-
duction, but gold and silver are called
precious metals because they are found, not
produced. These metals have been the OBJ
jects of serious search as far back as his
tory runs yet according to MIR. Harveys
calculation all the gold coin of the world
can be melted into a twenty-five foot cube
and all the silver coin in the world into a
sxty-six foot cube Because gold and sill
yer are limited; both in the quantity now
in hand and in actual production, it follows
that legislation can fix the ratio between
them. Any purchaser who stands ready to
take the entire supply Of any given article
at certain price can prevent that article
from falling below that price. So the goV-
eminent can fix price for gold and silver
by creating a demand greater than the sup
ply. international bimetallists believe that
several nations, by entering into an agree
ment to coin at a fixed ratio all the gold
and silver presented, can maintain the bull
lion value of the metals at the mint ratio.
When a mint price is thus established it
regulates the bullion price, because any per-
son desiring coin may have the bullion con-
verified into coin at that price and any
person desiring bullion secure it by
melting the coin. The only question upon
which international bimetallists and inde-
pendent bimetallists differ is: Can the
fEo6 SEOFa fun TOD
coinage of silver at the present legal ratio.
create a demand for silver which, taken in
connection with the demand already in
existence, will be sufficient to utilize all
the silver that will be presented at the
minis? They agIee III their defense Of the
bimetalic principles, aud they agree in I'M
alterable opposition to the gold standard.
International bmetallists cannot complain
that free COMA sc gives a benefit to the mine
owner, because international bimetallism
gives to the o1nar of silver all the adj
vantages offered by Independent bimetal-
liSm at the same ratio. international BIZ
metaliists Cannot accuse the advocates Of
free silver OF being ''bullion owners who
desire to raise the value Of their bullion"
or "dehtors who desire to pay Their debts
in cheap dollars" or ''demagogues who de-
sire to curry favor with the people," They
must rest their opposition upon one ground
only, namely, that the supply Of silver
available for coinage is too large to be
utilized by the United States.
In discussing this question we must con-
slider the capacity of our people to use sill
yer and the quantity Of silver which can
come to our minis 1t must be remembered
that we live in a country only partially de-
veloped, and that our people far surpass
any equal number of people in the world
in their power to consume and produce.
Our extensive railroad development and
enormous internal commerce must also be
taken into consideration. Now, how much
silver come here? Not the coined silver