White Oaks eagle. (White Oaks, N.M.) 189?-190?, 1896-08-20
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
JICARILLA, New MEXICO.
August 18th. 1886

III Oruef 10 remove tne COD WeDS from
the active (?) brains of few Of our
McKiDleyite, goldbng placer miners,
will you please answer through the col
umns of the EAGLE the following:
|. What was the per capita debt of
the United States prior to the demone
tization of silver, in 1873?
2. What is 1t now?
3. Which OF the great European
powers are on a free silver basis?
4. Would the production Of silver in
the United States tend to huctuate the
market price of it if every silver mine
in this country was in operation?
6. If a promlssory note, payable in
legal tender Of the United States, is
given with gold and silver at the present
ratio, can the note, when due, be collect
ed wholly in gold, according to the
pleasure Of the payee?
6. Would the drawer of the note, in
order to pay the note in gold, have to
pay n premium on what gold he re-
ce YES IN exchange for silver?
BY answering as soon as convenient
you will oblige.
Very Respectfully,
SILNERITE.
|. The per capita, net, indebtedness
of the United States in 1873 was about
$5l.12.
.. The debt now is aLout Sl4.70.
Exact computation cannot he made
for the reason that the pc pulation of
the United States, III each case, must
be estimated The figures gwen, how
ever, are not far from correct.
3. Our corresp sp0nd1nt does not make
plain tue scope of this question, but we
presume he desires to know what Euro
pean nations have double standard
or use silver with gold as money.
Those that employ silver and where
silver coin is full loyal tender for all
debts, public and private, are: France,
Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Greece,
Spain, Romania, Scrvla, Netherlands,
Russia and Turkey. The ratio in all
of these is l5l5 of silver to Of gold.
4. Without unlimited coinage and
treating silver as commodity, as il
! II ow is, the price would be subject to
fluctuation and the law Of supply and
demand would govern the price as it
does the price of wheat aud all other
things which are the subject of barter.
! Production in excess Of the demand for
silver would, undoubtedly, cause the
price to drop. Unlimited coinage at a
ratio established by law, would apply a
legal value which could neither rise nor
fall, the market value being eliminated,
the fixed legal value would prevail just
rs it does now in the case of gold.
There is nc market price for gold as the
law fixes its value aud creates an unim.
tied demand by the coinage of all that
is presented to the mints f,r that pur.
pose. This establishes a legal value
from which there can be no variation.
Ii it were not for these laws gold
bullion would be subject to the same
fluctuations as any other commodity.
II our correspondent viii consult the
statistics on the subject, he will find
that dunrg all the years Of the unlim-
tied coinage Of gold aud silver at a
legal 'atio, there was never any material
disparity in the value OF the two metal
This period extends through the ex
cessiye and varying production Of one
over the other, vet the legal ratio waf
substantially maintained throughout
1t is true that slight discrepiencie.
have, from time TO time, occurred but
these can generally he traced to locuI
causes and do not affect the general act
OF tho power of legislation to maintain
the parity. When silver was demene-
tizod in 1879, il at once began to show
the effect uf the laws support. II be
came commodity aud subject to The
law Of supply and demand and fuctuat
ed "a other commodities do. just ~
goll would DO II treated under tL,
law as silver has been.
D. II q promistory note ia given
payable n legal tender, II can be paid il
any legal trnd'r money at the option oI
pleasure Of the maker.
O. II the drawer Of the note ha,
agreed TO pey 10 gold or any othe
specified currency, be might be com
pellod to pay premium on that partic
1isr kind ~ money " he found Il nm