Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-08-07
The Depreciation OF Silver.

The advocates of the free coinage of
silver charge upon the ''crime of 1873
the great depreciation in the value of
the white metal, and affirm that if its
coinage is resumed, free TO all the silver
i'm the world, depreciation will cease.
\ few facts are worth volume of the
cries ON this subject.
From the establishment of the mint
/ in 1898 till 1888 we had free coinage for
silver dollars and subsidiary coin, and
from 1853 till 1873 we had free coinage
! for silver dollars, the government max
! ing subsidiary coin on its own account.
! During this whole period of 50 years.
/ from 1893 to 1878, with the minis open
to every one, the total coinage of silver
dollars was only S,03l,23S, while the
gold coinage amounted to 81 ,O1O 900
32i. or about one hundred and twenty
six times as much in value as the silver
Yet near the end of that period silver
was at Il premium Of three per cent
above gold, and had an actual value
as bullion. of $l.33 an ounce. From
1873. when the coinage of the silver
dollar was resumed. till 1896, there
were coined APO. ?s0,9 silver dollars
while the gold coined was valued at
SSOl, 320.711 less than twice the coinage
value of the silver. Yet the latter
metal had deprecated in bullion value
To 60 cents an ounce. If with a coin
age of only 5. OO0. 900 in so years silver
was at a premium, and if with coin
age of Si29, 900, 900 in Is years, it had
fallen off in bullion value 50 per cent.
there must surely be some cause other
than the coinage for the fluctuation.
The cause is clearly shown by the
study of few further figures. 70 90
back to 1853. when the disproportion
between the production Of the two
metals was the greatest, the worlds
product of gold was 100000 ounces
and that of silver was 81 300, 900 ounces.
Or only 4.16 times as much as gold
The same year the product of gold in
the United States was 3.144.OOO ounces.
and that of silver only 10000 ounces.
In other words we produced almost
eigty times as many ounces of gold as
we did of silver. From this time on
for twenty years there was gradual
1uced in the world, and a steady.
though not very rapid, increase in the
production of silver, till in 1872 the
worlds production of the latter metal
had increased to 81, 100. 900 ounces.
while that of gold had fallen TO 4,s2O,-
300 ounces the proportion being SO.
TN the United States gold had fallen to
l.741. 800 ounces, and the silver had in
creased to %, 237. 900 ounces.
In 1893. when the Sherman law for
the purchase of silver was repealed
the worlds production of gold had
'isen TO 900, 900 ounces, while that of
silver had increased to 100 O02, 900
ounces, the proportion being II. 50 TO l.
I'm the United States we produced
l,739.300 ounces of gold, and go. 900, 600
ounces of silver. In other words. in
stead of producing so times as many
ounces of gold rs we did of silver. as
VAS the case in 1853, we produced "a
lines as many ounces of silver as we
lid of gold.
1t requires no expert in political
economy To understand that. under
.hese circumstances, Il change i'm the
'elativc value Of the two metals was
Inevitable. We must add To these
changes in production the fact that since
1853 all the commercial nations of
europe have ceased TO coin sill
ger as standard money. If we open
our mints To The free coinage of the
worlds product the tide would be ire
disable. The hope that we could alone
maintain silver at par with gold ON a
oasis of 16 To 1 would be folly. Gold
would go out of circulation and we
should speedily De on the single silver
oasis. with silver at its deprecated
5alue. We should be in poor condition
o trade with other nations of the
,arth.
Johnnie Nv1tt a co1orod lo1 foil