The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-04
JUDGE NORWOOD ON SILVER.
SOME OF THE DOUBTFUL CUES
TTONs ANSWERED.


would Result in Increased Pro-
ducuOn and a Lower Market
VaIue-BeIIeves Every Dollar
wouId BE worth 100 Cents.
Judge Thomas N. Norwood OF the city
court Of Savannah. being one OF the first
Of the prominent men in the south 70 e.
pouse the cause OF free silver coinage.
a representative OF the Morning News
asked him yesterday for his Views on one
or two points concerning which there Is
a great difference Of opinion among the
| democrats.
do those who insist on free silver
coinage at the ratio Of ls TO believe that
| free coinage by this country alone would
so Increase the market value OF silver
that the market ratio and coinage ratio
would be practically the same?"
4 do not object TO stating my views"
Judge Norwood said. though they are
well known But must say in advance
that It IS unsatisfactory to discuss a
question Of such Importance in an inter-
view. 1t must necessarily be incomplete.
But / will endeavor TO answer your ques-
lions. In answer 10 that just asked VIII
say they do. unanimously 50 far as 1
know"
What are your reasons for thinking
SOP"
"A statement Of all the reasons cannot
be given In an interview OF reasonable
length" he replied. Il will state few.
The first is our own experience from 1772
to 1873. During those 81 years the market
value and coinage value were practically
the same. That is to say, the slight fiuc-
tuations in the value OF either gold or sill
yer bullion never effected the coin or
money value OF gold or silver At times
the production OF gold was in excess Of
silver. as when gold came In
such abundance from California
and Australia. and at times silver
was in excess. as when the Comstock group
Of mines yielded 30 largely. But the sill
yer and gold dollars remaining equal. and
the bullion value of both metals varied
very little.
Another reason Is that free coinage OF
| silver Will necessarily raise the market
value of silver bullion to equality with
gold bullion. ! will demonstrate this in
Few words. Law cannot make value.
| Demand alone gives value. This is true
as TO money as well as to merchandise.
| Supply and demand hold good as to
money as much as to any commodity.
| When money is plentiful demand decreas-
es. When money Is scarce demand in
creases and money rises. But while law
cannot give commercial value, Ii
can and does give function to
money. 1t imparts quality. Bullion
| Is merchandise. But law can make It
| legal tender This Is function or quality.
| This function creates demand Then
| while no legislation can raise the price of
| bullion as a commodity, legislation can
| raise the price OF bullion by giving to IL
| the quality or function of legal tender
wi ec
shall again restore silver to its function
| as money, the price of bullion will inevita-
bly, rise and remain practically on parity
| with gold bullion. For free and unlim-
/ tied coinage entities every ounce of silver
| to assume the function OF legal tender,
| that is of equality in every respect with
! gold; and the market price of silver bull
| lion then Will be N29 less the cost Of
| transportation to our mints. Silver bull
| lion in any part of the earth will COM
| mand that price, less expense of transport
tation, and a reasonable profit for the
| buyer. Congress might enact that here
! after gold bullion should be worth 81. 90 an
! ounce, but It's price would not rise one
cent. Commerce regulates price or value
| of commodities. But when congress en-
| acts that all silver bullion can be minted
at 4l2la grains, standard, every is ounces
of silver will be worth ounce of gold. for
the reason that the coinage of 16 ounces
OF silver gives them debt-paying power
or junction equal to that Of
! one ounce Of gold Then de-
mands which alone gives value to
to any community, will support silver
bullion as we'll as silver dollars to the
| point where supply may be In excess of
! demand. But that point no one in this or
the next generation will live long enough
to see"
as it not a fact that the OUTPUT of
| silver has been enormous within the hast
few years, and is not this increased pro-
! duction the real cause of the decline in
| the market value of silver?" was asked
| Your question assumes as a fact what
| Is not true" he said. The worlds output
of silver compared with that of gold has
not been enormous. The coinage value of
| silver produced from 1873 to 1890, seventeen
years, is only S2l 100000 more than the
output of gold That is not one and one
half millions more per year. But silver
| has steadily declined since 1873 WhyP
Because it was debarred the right of coin
age. Had not the act of 1873 been passed
| silver bullion would not have declined at
all. for the reasons just given in answer
| to your second question"
do you not think that free coinage
would stimulate production and still fur
Their decrease the market price of silver?"
| he was asked.
Free coinage of silver" he replied
would stimulate production, but increas-
| ed production would not decrease the
market price of bullion. 1 have already
| stated why in answer to your second
question. Bullion would command SI29
! here, and everywhere less the expense Of
| transportation to our minis
| but the summation OF production
| would not result in a large output Peo-
pie cannot make silver as they can corn
cotton or wheat. The whole earth has
been searched for gold and silver, and
! the value of either has not materially
| increased or diminished, production This
is one of the many subterfuges of the
British gold party. They scare people
by speaking of a flood of silver rushing
into our mints, when they know, or could
| know by reading a little, that that re-
suit is an impossibility. There is no sill
yer bullion damned up waiting for our
minis to be opened 1t is not in sight any
where on the earth. and it cannot. be
mined so as to flood us. Senator Jones of
! Nevada asserted before the Senate in
1898 that there were not g, 600 900 ounces of
silver bullion in the world outside our
| country that could come to our mints and
no gold advocate denied or even doubted
| his statement
rs it not a fact that the great majority
who want free silver coinage believe that
! if we had free coinage we should have
only silver monome tallism; silver dollars
| worth, say, about 90 cents, as compared
| with gold?" he was asked
Il have never heard nor read of a hi
metallist contending, believing or desir-
| ing that free coinage would put our coun.
! hoo &c s.fNvr