The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1896-08-19


any equal number o; i;7pe6p.e in the word
in their powsr to consume and produce.
Now how much silver can come here?
Not the coined silver of the world be-
cause almost all Of IL is more valuable
at his time III other lands than 1t Will
/. be az our mints under free coinage. If
our mints are opened to free and un-
Linked coiHage at the pressnt ratio.
beGSlse tn labor applied 10 il has made
1t worth more in TIE fern or merchan-
disc than 1t will be wo-th at our mints
ne for any reason the supply of gold
and Silver IN the future ever exceeds
the Requirements of the arts and the
needs of commerce. we confidently hope
thai the intelligence OF the people Will
be Sufficient to devise and enact any leg
the public.
OUR OPPONENTS
attribute the fan in the value of silver,
when measured by gold, to the fact that
duting the last quarter of century the
wofld's supply of silver has Increased
more rapidly than the worlds supply of
gold. This argument is entirely answer
ed By the fact that during the last nVe
years the annual production of gold has
increased more rapidly than the annual
prodnction ef silver.
our opponents cannot Ignore the fact
fhaf gold is now going abroad in spite
OF IN Legislation intended to prevent
1T, and no silver is being coined To take
i{iSs : Not onlyf5ls gold going abroad
now, but 1t must continue to go abroad
as long as the present financial policy
ia adhered to, unless we continue to
borrow from across the ocean, and even
then we simply postpone the cVli. be-
cause the amount borrowed, together
with interest upon 1t, must be repaid III
appreciatlng dollars.
Perhaps tie most persistent misrep-
resentatlon that we have to meet is the
charge thaC we are advocating tho
payments of debts in
FIFTY-CENT DOLLARS.
AT the present time and under the pres.
ent laws a silver dollar when melted
loses nearly half it's value, but that VIII
not be true when we again establish
mint price for silver and leave no
surplus silver upon the market to drag
down the price of bullion. Under the
bimetalllsm silver bullion will be worth
as much as silver coln,j Just as gold bull
lion is now worth as much as gold coin,
and we believe that a silver dollar VIII
be worth as much as gold dollar
No gold can leave this country untn
the owner of the gold receives something
in return for 1t which nc would rather
have. Exchanges are matters OF agree"
mont and IL silver comes to this country
under free coinage 1t VIII be at the IN
vItation of some one in this country
who will give something In exchange
for 1t.
Those who deny the ability of the
United States to maintain the parity
between gold and silver at the present
legal ratio without foreign aid point to
Mexico and assert that the opening OF
our mints will reduce us to silver ba.
sis and raise gold to premium. 1t is
no reflection upon our sister republic
to remind our people that the United
States Is much greater than Mexico In
area In population anu In commercial
strength.
In reply to the argument that improv-
ed machinery has lessened the cost OF
producing silver, 1t Is sufficient to say
that the same is true of the production
of and yet notwithstanding that gold
has risen in value So long as
there Is monetary demand suf-
nclent to take al a fixed mint price all
the gold and silver produced, the cost
of production need not be considered.
In the early part of the present cen.
tury the annual production of silver
was worth, at the coinage ratio. about
three tiInen IS much as the annual pro-
ductinn of gold: whereas, soon after
1S49,f the annual production of gold be-
came wort about three times as much
at the coinage ratio as the annual pro-
duction of silver.
IfIt is asserted by our opponents thai
the free coinage of silver Is Intended
only for the benefit OF the mine ownera
1t must be membered that free coinage
cannot restore to the mine owners any
more than demonetizatlon took away;
and 1t mu also be remembered that
the loss WI ich the demonstration OF
silver has brought to
TEE MINE OWNERS
Ii insignificant compared to the loss which
this policy has brought to the rest of
the people. The restoration of silver
VIII bring to the people generally many
owners can obtain from 1t.
While II is not the purpose of FREQ
coinage to especially aid any particular
class, yet those who believe that the
restoration of silver is needed by the
whole people should not be deferred be-
cause an incidental benefit will come to
the mine owner. The erection of forts.
the deepening of harbors, the improve
mcnt of rivers. the erection of public
buildlngs-all these confer Incidental
benefits upon individuals and communi>
ties, and yet these incidental benefits
do not deter us from making approprla'
tions for these purposes whenever such
appropriations are necessary for the
public good.
ut is constantly assumed by some
that the United States notes commonly
called greenbacks, and the treasury
notes Issued under the act of 1890 are
responsible for the recent drain upon
the gold reserve, but this assumption Is
entirely
WITHOUT FOUNDATION.
Secretary Carlisle appeared before the
house committee on appropriations on
January 81. 1895. and l quote from the
printed report of the testimony before
the committees
"Mr. slbley-I would like to ask you
the matter under dlscusslon), what OBJ,
lection there could be to having the op>
tion of redeeming either in silver or
gold lie with the treasury instead of
with the note holder?
.'Secretary Carlisle-If that policy had
been adopted at the beginning of the re-
sumption-and 1 am not saying this for
the purpose of criticising the action of
any of my predecessors or anybody else
but IL the policy of reSerYing to the
government at the beginning of the re-
sumption of the option of redeemlng in
god or silver all its paper presented,
believe 1t would have worked beneficial
ly and there would have been no trouble
growing out of 1t, but the secretaries of
the treasury from the beginning of the
resumption have pursued a policy OF
redeeming in gold and silver at the OPP
tlon of the holder OF the paper, and after
wards attempted to change that policy
and force silver upon man who want
ed gold or gold upon man who wanted
silver, and especially IL he had made
that attempt at such a critical period as
we have had in the last two years, my