The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-07-29
THE BUGABoo OF 1873.

To the Editor of the Globe.
In your editorial reply today TO questions
by $50 you say lit is singular how persis-
tently this phrase reduced one-half' and cut
in two recurs; just as if the countries which
had decided to coin no more silver had by
that act banished from circulation the silver
they had already coined. They did, of course,
nothing of the kind" No, of course not;
neither did they continue to coin metal they
had debased to one-half its former value. Is
1t not true that the act of 1873 had the effect of
depreciating the intrinsic value of the silver
dollar? Is it not true that the purchasing
power of that dollar though nominally gagged
at 100 cents is really depressed to the level of
Its intrinsic value or fifty odd cents? Ergo
is it not true that the act of 1878 cut the cur
rent value of silver in half, even if it did not,
as some believe, throw silver aside as one of
our forms of money: and is it not further true
that, measured in value, the only real measure
of any money, the act of 1873 in that way did
reduce our primary money If not one-half, at
least a large fraction? Yours respectfully
Edward N. Flint.
Winthrop, Mimi. July %, 1896.
Here, again, we have the customary,
but none the less singular Indifference
to facts that must be within the writ
er's knowledge. He says that the ma
items which demonetized silver did not
continue to coin the metal they had
debased to one-half its former value
in 1873, nor until twenty years after
ward It's decline was progressive. Yet
the United States, for one, did
continue to coin it. Between 1878
and 1896 it coined over $429, OOO, OeO, as
against $8,000,00O coined between
1893 and 1877. It is probably
true, as we have already said,
that the act of 1873 may have
assisted, to some slight extent, the fall
in the price of silver bullion But that
element is inconsiderable. The main
factors in the problem are the immense
cheapening in the cost of silver pro-
duction and the fall of prices due to
economic advances.
AS far as legislation had anything to
do with it, our correspondent must re-
member what everybody on his side
forgets, that the financial policy of the
Latin Union, of Germany and of the
rest Of Europe was far more effective
than our act of 1873 It is not true
that the purchasing power of the silver
dollar sis really depressed" to a little
more than so cents. 1t will be if we
ever come to the silver standard. AS
long as the gold standard is main
tanned, the purchasing power of the sill
yer dollar is exactly the same as that
Of the gold dollar. From what we have
said already, it follows that the act
of 1873 did not "cut the current value
Of silver in two" The Importance of
this act of 1873 is ludicrously exagger-
ated. AS far as it had any effect at
all it is only one of a series of inf1u-
ences, all the others of which were
vastly more important and operative 4
Referring, finally, to our CORE
spondent's talk about primary
money" If we take it that he means
money that Is a final tender and not
redeemable in anything but itself, we
must remind him once more that, since
1873, there have been added to our cur
rency over 429, 100000 silver dollars,
which are unlimited legal tender, and
do not call for redemption in any other
substance or medium whatever.