Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1896-09-11


silver was undervalued and refused to
circulate except in the form of worn and |
aOraded foreign coins. Our own silver |
coins. even the subsidiary pieces were
melted down for bullion because they /
were Mols worth about per cent. more than
time of the great silver discoveries Con-
gEess IT. sought to make the coinage ratio
Tue same as the commercial ratio. 1t
never authorized coinage at any other.
" Mas that the coinage of the Constitu- |
,aon ,,s =: II so. will it be return to it for
US now to establish free coinage ut the |
ratio of 16 to 1 when the commercial
ratio is about 81 to L?
=. VIII not free coinage at 16 to re-
duce the value of the dollar unit by about
5. viii it not be in fact a population
of about one-half of all our debts, public
and private?
>. y: Is there not danger TINT It will
cause the return to us of all the Ameri-
can SECURITIES held abroad-govcrnment.
ratiroad and industrial stocks and bonds
,o.t; -.Hs precipltating panic of giant pro-
follow?
., =: 1. Win not your election upon the Chi
cago PLATFORM cause the calling in. be-
tween November and March, of all col
!ectable debts, all loans, all mortgages
nna,,,a rnad nave expired? And will not this
has m never known, particularly in the
s MesI ana South. where capital and
cfedit are most needed and depend upon
conhdsnce rs their basis?
2. VIII not free and unlimited coinage
drive an the five or six hundred millions
as. as money or as bank reserves? Win it
NOT cause currency contraction of the
most disastrous proportions. inasmuch
us the utmost capacity of the mints to
S CON silver cannot make good this with
oraw9I Tor several years to come?
once 9n,e. on financial level with Mexico.
India and China, and can we afford to
go upon that level?
~. Is there any country in the world
today which gives free and unlimited
ffoinase coma to silver, Mexico does not.
South American. States does. We know
Of no country that does, of no example
that can be studied.
~. Is there any. country in the world
now nov on the e. silver basis which is as pros
time, of depression? Is there any in
which wages are SO high as they are
here. or in which the dollar received in
wages will buy so much? Is there any
silver-basis country that has a large
commerce, prosperous manufactures, or
not a fact that in every silver-basis coun-
try i'll the world abject and hopeless pow
erty on the part of the masses is the
rule?
II. Will you explain to us for our en-
iightenment and guidance how our coun-
try is to escape like conditions if we
go to silver basis, or how we are to
avoid the lapse to that basis if we adopt
free and unlimited coinage at 16 to 1
when the commercial ratio between the
metals is about twice that?
A,,I kaN
coinage advocates do. that free coinage
will raise the commercial value of silver
to the coinage rate, will you explain to
us how in that case free coinage is to
make money cheaper or easier to get.
how it is to relieve "the debtor Glass;
or any other commodity?
Il. You may be aware that there was
of this state alone $643. 3.s73,574. This
enormous sum belonged to 1,615,17S de-
p9sit9rs' gp9sa ny giving an average to each Of
of it has been deposited since the pres-
ent standard of value was adopted by
the government. Do you think it fair
or just to impair by a per cent. or by
in which these deposits were earned and
in which today they would be paid?
Is. There are in this state SS,7 PEN
sioners. They drew from the govern
ment last year nearly $4,000 900. Con-
sidering the nature Of this debt of honor
vor upon any policy that might result in
paying them in q deprecated currency?
16. There are in the country 5S3S
building and loan association. of which
41s are in New York. These associa-
tions have 1,745,125 shareholders-all of
assets last year were $3.50 1867 ,594, repre-.
sented chiefly by mortgage loans to
homeseekers, of whom 455. 900 are mem
bers of the associations. These associa-
tions have nearly all been organized with
In the last fifteen years under the exist
fair or beneficial to the working people
to reduce by AZ per cent. or any lesser
sum, the value of these investments of
the thrifty poor?
II. Is it not a fact worth consideration
in proposing descent to the silver stan
surance companies alone doing business
in this state; last year had in force here
nearly 100000 policies, insuring over
$1,000, ,0OO, 900. The assessment compa-
nies and various benevolent orders have a
vast amount more. Would it not be an
of these polices-the widows and
orphans. whom a provident love had
sought to protect-to compel them to re-
ceiye in payment deprecated money?
18. The "rise in prices" which you
predict % result Of free silver coinage
would, cf course, mean an increase in tie
cost Of living to all the people-to wage-
earner., salaried men. and the whole
body Of consumers. Do you know Of anv
case in which rise in wages or sala.
ries has been parallel with the rise in
prices? Is there any way. to render II
certain, or even probable, that the wage
earners will be compensated for the In.
creased cost of living?
10. You attribute the decline in silver
to the decentralization of the silver dol.
lar in 1873, though that dollar was not
then coined in any considerable numbers.
and was not in circulation at ali, owing
to the fact that silver bullion was worth
more In the market than at the mint.
ounces in 1873 to 185. 900, 900 n ounces in
1895 had something to do in causing the be
money of all the great commasoiai aaa