Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-09-05

menJ 5 neld out 10 rs as 4 WiSp OF hay
Is tiet. to pOje-always litile ahead
OF the donkey, 10 s., - tired beast 10
50 tgr,her. L3j2c-d day shou,ers fer in
transitional agreement are not SINCERE.
Scratch them and you Will find them
yellow underneath
But ,he question is asked: Why Is to
L, when the conditions are so changed?'
Il IS true THAI the present moment one
ounce of gold bullion exchanges for
nearly -hirty-twO ounces Of silver bull
lion. That Il is the gold that has gone
up and no, the silver that has gone
d0wn-as can De- proved by comparing
prices in silver and gold countries-dOes
TO, alter the facc that the metals have
drif,ed apart. What account must be
taken Of that fact?
am frank TO say that If we were starting
with clean slate it might be advisable
TO adopt higher ratio. but this has moth
ing TO do with the case in hand. Histor-
ical causes have fixed the old ratio so
firmly i'm the minds of the American peo-
pie that there is no hope of getting up
enthusiasm for a new tangled ratio. The
alternative is 1G to I or the gold standard;
and put that way I am unreservedly for
Is to I. In the second place, a new ratio
would compel the new coinage OF our sill
Yer into bigger dollars, and apart from
expense would mean contraction in
stead of an expansion. Coinage at 80 TO
1 would cut our silver money in two and
bring in no fresh supply.
The result" say the gold men, "of
ccining at Is TO l when the metal stands
at p to 1 will be the leaving of our gold.
Silver will seek us because it will so far
Their here Gold will leave us because it
IS worth more elsewhere. You had bet
ter say nothing of bimetallism or ratio
and simply declare for the silver stand
"a with dollar of 37li4 grains as unit"
The matter Is by no means so simple.
The true ratio we have to take account
Of Is not at all 80 TO 1. The movements of
the metals which will determine the sue
cess or failure of our bimetallism depend
not on the monetary exchange ratio of
gold and silver bullion in London, but
upon the relation Of the purchasing power
i'm silV5r-using countries TO the purchas-
ING power Of gold in gold-using countries.
Gold has deprecated g. per cent. Silver
has not deprecated. but is everywhere re-
ported TO be able TO buy as much as it
ever could. The ratio Of 30 to /. therefore,
is merely speculative and does not express
the real economic relation of the two met
ais The real Value. e.. the respective
purchasing powers of gold and silver
have by no means drlfted so far apart
as the commercial ratio would indicate.
II the silver unit has remained the same
I'm purchasing power. while the gold unit
has gained 81 per cent, the ratio is not %
TO l. but q TO l.
Now what is the force we rely on to
overcome this divergence? It is the pos
session of $f25. oOO,O0o Of gold and the effect
upon the ratio Of telling part of this gold
20 go TO the gold-using countries and TAX
ine much larger mass of silver in its
place. We could produce a tremendous
effect upon the metals by absorbing
large mass Of silver and letting Europe
have. say. S400OOO0OO of our gold. This
mass pumped down into the currency Of
the gold countries would have an amaz-
ing effect. not only in stopping the up
ward flight of sold, but in pulling it down
toward silver.
II Is sometimes said that we propose TO
double at n stroke the value Of the $1,000
100000 Of silver money in the world. This
is absurd The silver coin in the gold
countries and in the gold and silver coun-
tries is already on a parity with gold at
ratios between II ind 1G TO l. The mass OF
silver 90 be lifted in purchasing power IS
only SlS45.o0OC00 of the silver standard
countries. Can any one doubt that with
out losing all our gold the currency of
great nation like this can permit so eX-
tensive a substitute of silver for gold as
shall pull down the purchasing power of
gold and pull up the purchasing power OF
silver until they meet?
Approach the problem In another way.
Where will the food of silver come from
that Is going to expel our last penny of
gold? From Europei The European avail
a7che OF silver is a myth. Their NlOOO0O.-
CC0 of silver is coined at 15l2 to ]. and every
dollar Of ii would lose cents Of value by
being dumped" upon us here. Is
Frcnchman going 10 bring sixteen ounces
Of silver 20 the United States and exchange
fl for one ounce of gold-even if he could
find some one to swap with him-when
fftecn and n half ounces are equivalent
TO one ounce of gold at home? The flood
can come only from the silver countries.
Could ii come from Mexico? She has only
So. COO eco. and could spare little Of that.
From South and Central America? They
have only si2OO0.OOO The inflow of silver
would have TO como from the S1.700.0O0O0O
in india and China. VIII these immobile
nations project one-third Of their silver
uron us? If they did. what would they
take back? Gold? They do not use it as
money. They would have TO exchange
their silver for American goods, and this
Drocess is so slow that it would take years
~ os+ any stlpply Of silver from them.
Moreover. as regards India, since the sus-
pension in 1898 of free coinage of silver
there the whole mass of her money has
begun TO move slowly upward with the
apnreciating gold standard
But how about the annual production OF
silver? Thanks to the gold reefs of the
T-ansvaaI. the annual production of gold
has leaped past the annual output of sill
,-or so that for some time TO come the
Influence of each will cancel the other.
The idea that free coinage will tempt
the mass of silver plate and jewelry into
the melting pot is too silly to need com
ment.
There was once n mountain climber who
fell and just rs he thought he was Slip
ming into an abyss caught his fingers in
crevice in the rock. After holding on in
agony tin all his strength was spent he
gave himself IN for lost. and closing his
eyes let 90. lie landed on a broad path four
inches below. Now Uncle Sam reminds
me of that traveller With much sweat
and anguish he is desperately holding on
TO the gold standard. fearing to let go
lest he drop into the abyss OF 50-cent silver.
Very likely he could stretch out his toes