The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-13

cause the standard silver dollars are not
now redeemable in gold, either in law or by
administrative policy.
FREE SILVER COINAGE.
| We contend that free and unlimited coinage
| by the United States alone will raise the
| bullion value of silver to its coinage value
| and thus make silver bullion worth $1.29 per
ounce, in gold throughout the world. This
| proposition is in keeping with natural laws,
| not in defiance of them. The best known
| law OF commerce is the law of supply and
demand. We recognize this law and build
| our argument upon it, We apply this law
| TO money when say that a reduction in
the volume of money will raise the purchas-
| ing power OF the dollar. We also apply the
| law OF supply and demand to the silver when
| we say that new demand for silver, created
by law, will raise the price Of silver bullion.
| Gold and silver are different from other
commodities, in that they limited in
quantity. Corn, wheat manufactured prod
ucts. etc. can be produced almost without
unit provided they can be sold at price
sufficient to stimulate production but gold
and silver are called precious metals because
they are found, not produced. These metals
| have been the objects of serious search as
| lar back as history runs, yet, according to
/ Mr.. Harvey's calculation, all the gold coin
OF the world can be melted into twenty-two-
foot cube, and all the silver coin of the world
into a sixty-sx-foot cube Because gold and
silver are limited both in the quantity now
in hand, and in actual production, it follows
tnat legislation can fix the ratio between
| to
take the entire supply of any given article
| at a certain price, can prevent that article
| from falling below that price. So the gov
eminent can fix price for gold and silver
| by creating demand greater than the sup
| ply.
International bimetallsts believe that sew
eral nations, by entering into an agreement
| 10 coin, at fixed ratio, all the gold and
! silver presented, can maintain the bullion
| value of the metals at the mint ratio When
| a mint price is thus established it regulates
| nT{a hoaoT a
| string coin may have the bullion converted
| into coin at that price, and any person de-
string bullion can secure it by melting the
coin. The only question upon which inter-
| national bimetallists and independent bimetal-
| lists differ is: Can the United States by the
| free and unlimited coinage of silver at the
present legal ratio create demand for sill
| yer which, taken in connection with the de-
| mand already in existence will be sufficient
| to utilize all the silver that will be presented
at the minis? They agree in their defense
OF the bimetalic principle, and they agree in
| unalterable opposition to the gold standard.
| International bimetallists cannot complain
! that free coinage gives benefit to the mine
| owner, because international bimetallism
| gives to the owner of silver all the advan-
tages offered by independent bimetallism at
the same ratio. International bimetallists
| cannot accuse the advocates of free silver of
being bullion owners who desire to raise
! the value of their bullion" or debtors who
desire to pay their debts in cheap dollars % or
| 'demagogues who desire to curry favor with
| ton 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 silver
| and the quantity of silver which can come to
| our minis. 1t must be remembered that we
live IN country only partially developed.
! and that our people far surpass any equal
| number OF people in the world in their power
| to consume and produce. Our extensive rail-
road development and enormous internal COM
4 oil hn fn1yn tn4@
ton. Now, how much silver can come here?
| Not the coined silver of the world because
almost all of it is more valuable at this time
in other lands than it will be at our minis
under free coinage.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND.
! If our mints are opened to free and unlim-
| lted coinage at the present ratio, merchandise
silver cannot come here, because the labor
applied to it has made it worth more in the
| form OF merchandise than it will be worth at
| our mlntS. We cannot even expect all of
| the annual product of silver, because India
China, Japan, Mexico and all the other silver
! using countries must satisfy their annual
needs from the annual product; the arts will
| require a large amount and the gold stand
ard countries will need a considerable GUAM
| tlty for subsidiary coinage. We will be re-
qulred to coin only that which is not needed
elsewhere; but, If we stand ready to take
and utilize all of it, other nations will be COM
PEELED to buy at the price which we fix.
Many rear that the opening of our minis
/
the annual production of silver This is
conjecture. Silver has been used as money
for thousands of years, and during all of that
| time the world has never suffered from an
! over-production Ii, for any reason the sup
ply of gold or silver in the future ever ex-
ceeds the requirements of the arts and the
needs OF commerce. we confidently hope that
the intelligence of the people will be sufficient
to devise and enact any legislation necessary
Tor the protection of the public 1t is folly
to refuse to the people the money which they
how
more than they need. | am firmly con-
WINGED that by opening our mines to free and
| create demand for silver which will keen
the price OF silver bullion.at 81. 30 per ounce,
| measured by gold.
| Some of our opponents attribute the fall In
] the value Of silver when measured by gold
] to the fact that during the last quarter of a
century the worlds supply of silver has in
cfease ea more rapidly than the worlds supply
! OF gold This argument is entirely answered
by the TACT that during the last five years the
annual production of gold has increased more
rapidly than the annual production of silver
Since the gold price of silver has fallen more
! curing the last i've years than it ever fell in
| any previous five years in the history of the
wor ia IL Is evident that the fall is not due
to the increased production. Prices can be
! lowered as eHectually by decreasing the de-
mand for an article as by increasing the sun
ply OF it, and it seems certain that the fall
| IN the gold price of silver is due to hostile
legislation and not to natural laws
our opponents cannot ignore the fact that
Solu is HOW gong ABROAD in spite of all legis-
iation intended to prevent it, and no silver
1 IS being coined to take its place. Not only
! is gold going abroad now but 1t must con-
elnue TO go abroad so long the present
| financial policy is adhered to- unless we CON
tinue to borrow from across the ocean. and
! even then we simply postpone the evil. he
! cause the amount borrowed together with in
terest upon 1t, must be repaid in appreciatine
Gollars. me American people now owe 3
! large sum to European creditors and falling
! prices have left a larger and larger margin
| between our net national income and orr ma
uonal interest charge. There is only ono
i way to stop the increasing flow of gold from
our shores, and that is to stop falling prices
] Inc restoration of bimetallism will not only
/ stop falling prices, but WILL to some extent
restore prices by reducing the worlds demand
! for gold. ~
If 1t is argued that rise in prices lessons
the value of the dollars which we nav To orr
creditors, reply that in the balancing Of
I equities, the American people have as much
right to favor financial system which will
+ MAINTAIN or restore prices as foreign creditors
lshaXe 70 insist upon financial system that
1 VIII reduce prices. But the interests of So
clety are far superior to the interests of either
debtors or creditors, and the interests of So
/ c1ety demand a financial system which will
add to the volume of the standard money IF
the world. and thus restore stability to prices.
FIFTY-CENT DOLLARS.
Perhaps the most persistent misreperesen
tatlon tnat we have to meet is the charge
that we are advocating the payments of debts
In hfty-cent dollars. AT the present time
and under present laws, silver dollar when
melted loses nearly half Its value but that