Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1896-08-22
SIXTEEN TO One.
a. lucid Explanation CT This
Common Phrase.
TIL z-ESI GAMPAIGN DOCUMENT.

TIL I-EGI GATPAIGT DOCUMENT.
FGlIa.'-' Cr Tree Silver Arguments EI-
roael-ahoi,ld the Hopes of tho silver
5tra E-ovaI All Gold Would Lenvo the
. Country rud the Currency Would lie
G-crIy Oaprcciated - a DISASTROUS
Panic W0uid rnsue.
"Lcaaot no. l." entitled "Sixtoen to
to Ono; What 1t Means" has been is
suca j.y the Republican national COM
mi.tgc. It has the following extract
from the Democratic platform adopted
Mt Chicago at the head of the first page !:
"CAicago platform of 1896: The free
ana unlimited coinage of both gold and
silvor at the present legal ratio Of 16 to
!. The standard silver dollars shall be
q full legal tender equally with gold for
all d, s. public and private"
Then following this comes the expla-
nation:
"Giz.gon TO one-what it means. A
silvcz COLLAR weighs sixteen times as
much US q sold dollar. This is what is
mean ly the coinage cf silver ut the
ratio Of l6 to /.
Tree coinage of silver: When brought
to tAg liuG silver shall be coined into
dollars nc the expense of the United
States government without cost to the
owusn. " the unlimited coinage of
silvc- Is meant that all the silver, Amer
ican CT foreign, brought to any of our
mint, shall be so coined ut the owners
demand. This what is meant by the
free aLI unlimited coinage of silver.
"N hen the ratio of l6 to ! was estab-
EEL BY the government, sixteen ounces
Of silver bGlilou was worth in the mar
Ee5 -ay rs much rs one ounce of gold
bullion. y silver dollar and a gold
dCl-.I were then worth precisely the
same. before they We're coined, when
they asre coined, or after they were
me-ae. the face value of q silver dol
lar yyas its actual value. But of late
year rare silver has declined i'll value,
so thet now the commercial ratio, in
stegO uI being 16 to !, is about 81 to ].
That is 10 say, al ounce of gold bullion
is e.-rlaIg geable for thirty one ounces
OF .y-r lullion, instead of being
cha able for only sixteen ounces of
sily, uiiOn, as it formerly was. Sill
ve- -.lon is thus worth in gold only
abcu l.ai rs much as it was when the
coin re ratio was made Ii to |.
80 silver dollar with the stamp of
the rnvcyrmcnt upon it passes tor more
than - is worth, Just as Il paper dollar
pa for more than the paper upon
whic. Is printed is worth. The cred
ii o. the government is behind the
pap l.Gliar, and the credit of the gov
eruna.t is behind the silver dollar.
But Tlo credit of the government is not
behind the uncoined silver, i'll the form
OF lg ion, therefore the bullion is eX-
cha able for other commodities only
TO t.. amount of its actual or intrinsic
valLy.
Tree and unlimited coinage of silver
at vLc ratio of I6 to means, therefore,
THAI the government of the United
Statcs. Instead of pledging its credit for
the limited amount of silver, now worth
only 20 /, at a parity with gold would
have DO so for an unlimited amount
at q =. 10 OF l6 to l. By this the United
States would undertake to double the
value OF every ounce of silver, coined
or uLcCined, in the world, and extend
IN Invitation to all the nations to send
their surplus silver here to be coined
into silver dollars mt the ratio of 1G to l.
"IheSo silver dollars, if coined in an
unlimited quantity, would not be worth
as mach us gold dollars, because it is
the crodit of the government which
makes those we now have equal in pur-
chasing power to gold dollar, and the
creGlJ ol the government is not without
hmie Unlimited coinage of silver
would o-haust its credit by exhausting
Its power TO redeem its pledges to main
tain sl.Yc- II Il parity with gold at ra-
tie of o 10 /. The consequence would
be tA@, the silver dollar would soon de-
cline lG rarchasing power to the COM
merci;l v;lue of the bullion it contains,
and would he worth little, if any more,
than h.l. :: dollar i'll gold
''As all private and public debts not
eXpGci, .y payable i'll gold would then be
payable IL these hulf-rate dollars, our
gold would disappear from circulation
and ToIld quickly be drawn out of the
couut-'y IN paying our obligations and
purchases from gold-using countries
wher2 olr silver coins would not be ac-
cep.Cl. As II consequence we should in
q few months lose all of our $6l2 900, 900
OF geld, leuying us with much con-
tractgd and greatly deprecated cur
reEcy.
- disastrous panic would ensue, fol-
1oWca by the suspension of thousands
OF factories and business houses, gem
eral business collapse, and the loss of
emploL mont by hundreds of thousands
OF wage earners and laborers."
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ERE WORKINGMEN