The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-26
might easily have been held fast by a
campaign for sound money.
SOME FACTS. AND FIGURES.

the pulllon, charging seigniorage Tor COIN
ing it?
2. Is there any foundation to the statement
put forth by that free silver advocate, the
editor of Coins Financial School, that the
outstanding debts of the United States amount
to $1,000 900, 600, and the interest them is
$500, 900, 600 annually, to be paid in gold? II
the statement is not correct. will you please
state the amount of our outstanding debts as
near as possible, and what the interest on
them Is annually; also, the national debt and
interest on it?
8. After reading the Glob for some
time, have come to the conclusion that it
is in favor of bimetaiiism internationally. If
such is the case. will it please state wherein
it will be beneficial to the nations of the
world to have international bimetalism if,
as our gold standard advocates claim, we
have enough money at the present time to
transact all our business with our gold bills
or exchange and silver as subsidiary money :?
4. If silver would be remonetized at the
old ratio of l6 to l. and thereafter fifty dollars
coined, as our gold advocates claim why
would those silver dollars have only half the
purchasing power of the gold dollars. when
they would contain 37114 grains of pure sill
Ver-the same amount of silver that is in
our dollar at the present time, when the
dollar that is circulating today has the equal
purchasing power of the gold dollar and our
silver at the present time is not redeemable
In gold, as the G o b e stated Aug. Is that
our silver that is in circulation today is pri-
mary or redemption money?
A subscriber seeking information,
Jack Ravely.
AAuSSley, IN ~, aug. Il, 1880.
1. The government does not coin
bullion for owners and charge a
seigniorage, nor is it proposed that it
should do so under free coinage. When
there is a demand for more subsidiary
coins-that is, fractional silver-the
government purchases the bullion,
coins it and retains the seigniorage as
profit. When the treasury notes of
1890 are presented for redemption in
silver, the government coins enough
of the bullion in payment for which
they were issued to redeem them. In
this case it also retains the seignior-
age.
2. General statistics Of indebted
ness are unreliable. The census of 1890
gives the aggregate of state debts at
SIPS, 997, 389; of counties at $145, 04S, O45;
Of cities at 1924, 463, 900, and of school
districts at $50, 7O1, 94S. The same au-
thority gives the aggregate mortgage
debt in force on Jan. 1, 1890. as an
incumbrance on the real estate of the
country at $6,019, 679, 1856. To this may
be added the aggregate indebtedness
Of the railroad corporations Of the
country The treasury report shows
that the Understanding debt Of the
United States on June 80, 1885, was
$S47, 1863, $780, The interest on this is
about $34,000,00O annually. The total
interest and non-interest-bea debt
together amounted, at that time, to
s., 222, 729, $50.
3. The arguments in favor Of inter
national bimetallism are too extended
to be covered in the space of a para
graph like this. Our correspondent
will find them fully set forth in Mon
ey, Trade and Industry by Gen,
FRANCIS A. Walker. In general way,
we may say that it is reasonable TO
believe that prices would be more sta
BILE if based upon the total of both
gold and silver used as money by the
entlre world at an agreed-upon ratio.
This arrangement would seem to tend
to diminish fuctua tons in purchasing
power, and it would certainly put an
end to attempts of one nation to gain
advantages over another by changing
its currency laws. A strong argument
is found, also, in the exchanges with
silver-using countries. This one argu-
ment IS sufficient to attach many men
to the true bimetallic theory. There
VIII probably be, in any event MANY
countries like China and Japan. whose
people will continue for a long time
10 come by force Of habit, to use sill
yer as their money. Our trade with
THESE nations is large and growing
AS things now stand, where the mar
ket price of silver bullion NAV vary
from one TO i've cents per ounce within
a week, merchants who deal with those
countries cannot tell with any GER
tainty In advance what price thew will
receive or pay for commodities. They
make bargain expressed in terms
OF Mexican dollars or japanese silver
yen, and before their bills are settled
the gold values Of those terms in their
own countries f1uctuate widely. If
international bimetallism did no moro
than to establish and maintain fixed
par OF exchange between the gold-us-
ing and the silver-using countries a.
would be an immense advantage.
4. We repeat that the silver dollar
clrculates now at par with gold. be-
cause the government has declared re
intention to maintain it at that par
ity, and the people believe that if will,
be able to perform its promise with
reference to the number Of dollars now
in circulation; just as our co,resnona-
ent would believe that a neighbor
might be able to pay a debt to hin,
with five horses a year from date
while nothing could persuade him that
the same man would be able to nav
MIN 5'OOO,OO0OOO horses. So, if we have
unlimited coinage at 16 to 1. the Num-
Der of these dollars would be SO i'm
mensely increased that the peonIa
among whom they circulated would
not believe in the ability of the gov
eminent to redeem them in gold
Therefore, they would fall to their ar
tual bullion value, whatever that
might be. 1t is now SIS cents. and
would probably rise somewhat above
that, but most certainly would not
reach 100 cents, or anything like it.
Since, however, it would probably be
proposed to make all these dollars Ie-
gal tenders, and compel man to ac-