Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1896-08-18
SIXTEEN TO One. On
A Lucid Explanation of This
Common Phrase.
TIE FIRST CAMPAIGN DOCUMENT.

/
Fsllacies of Free Silver Arguments Ex-
posed-should the Hopes OF the Silver
| ties Prevail All Gold Would Leave the
Country and the Currency Would BE
| Greatly Deprecated - A DISASTROUS
| Panic Would Ensue.
"Leafet No. L." entitled "Sixteen to
to One: What It Means" has been is
sued by the Republican national COM
Inittee. It has the following extract
! from the Democratic platform adopted
at Chicago ut the head Of the first page
Chicago platform of 1896: The free
and unlimited coinage of both gold and
silver at the present legal ratio of l6 to
]. The standard silver dollars shall be
a full legal tender equally with gold for
all debts, public and private"
Then following this comes the expla.
nation:
"Sixteen to one-what it means. A
silver dollar weighs sixteen times as
much as gold dollar. This is what is
meant by the coinage of silver at the
ratio of 16 to 1.
Free coinage of silver When brought
to the mint silver shall be coined into
dollars at the expense of the United
States government without cost to the
owner. By the unlimited coinage of
silver 10 meant that all the silver, Amer
ican or foreign, brought to any of our
mints, shall be so coined at the owners
demand. This is what is meant by the
free and unlimited coinage of silver.
| when the ratio Of l6 to was estab-
ished by the government, sixteen ounces
| of silver bullion was worth in the mar
ket Just as much as one ounce Of gold
hnlion. A silver dollar and gold
dollar were then worth precisely the
same, before they were coined, when
they were coined, or after they were
melted the face value of silver dol.
lar was its actual value. But of late
years pure silver has declined in value,
SO that now the commercial ratio, in
stead of being 16 to ], is about 81 to ]. .
That is to say, an ounce of gold bullion
is exchangeable for thirty.one ounces
Of silver bullion, instead OF being
changeable for only sixteen ounces of
silver bullion, as it formerly was. Sill.
yer bullion is thus worth in gold only
about half as much as it was when the
coinage ratio was made 18 to l.
"a silver dollar with the stamp of
| the government upon it passes for more
than it is worth, just as a paper dollar
passes for more than the paper upon
which it is printed is worth. The cred.
| it of the government is behind tho
paper dollar. and the credit of the gov
ernment is behind the silver dollar.
p,,k kh<, 90 10 l.
behind the uncoined silver, in the form
| changeable for other commodities only
to the amount of its actual or intrinsic
| value.
Free and unlimited coinage of silver
at the ratio of l6 to means, therefore,
that the government of the United
States, instead Of pledging its credit for
| the limited amount of silver, now worth
only 81 to /. at parity with gold, would
have to do so for an unlimited amount
at ratio of 16 to /. By this the United
States would undertake to double the
value Of every ounce Of silver, coined
or uncoined, in the world, and extend
al invitation to all the nations to send
their surplus silver here to be coined
into silver dollars at the ratio of 16 to /.
"These silver dollars, If coined in an
| unlimited quantity, would not be worth
as much as gold dollars, because it is
the credit Of the government which
makes those we now have equal in pur.
chasing power to gold dollar, and the
credit of the government is not without
limit. Unlimited coinage of silver
would exhaust its credit by exhausting
its power to redeem its pledges to main.
tain silver at a parity with gold at ra.
ito Of 16 to /. The consequence would
be that the silver dollar would soon de.
cline in purchasing power to the com.
mercial value of the bullion it contains
and would be worth little, if any more,
than half dollar in gold.
"As all private and public debts not
explicitly payable in gold would then be
| payable in these half-rate dollars, our
gold would disappear from circulation
and would quickly be drawn out of the
country in paying our Obligations and
purchases from gold.using countries
where our silver coins would not be &C.
cepted. AS a consequence we should in
| a few months lose all of our $6i2, ,OOO, 900
OF gold, leaving us with much con.
tracted and greatly deprecated cur
rency.
"a disastrous panic would ensue, fol-
lowed by the suspension of thousands
Of factories and business houses, gen.
eral business collapse, and the loss of
employment by hundreds of thousands
OF wage.earners and laborers."