Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-08-07
FACTS ABOUT SILVER !. 7 q
4 McCleary Makes a Plain State
Il ment About Free Silver
Coinage. #a% ia
IA Large Attendance OF Inter
ested Noters-Ro yaIt0n Well
8. Represented.

Judge Morris Misses the Train
at Elk River and Was not
ss. Present. q
The first sound money meeting OF
Z the campaign in Little Falls was
held Monday evening, and was u
gratifying success. The attendance
was as large as the hall wOald &C.
4 commOdate, and the address II Hon.
\ j., 4. McCleary was q plain and con-
L yiacing statement III the money
question. GSzz4 s
Mr.. McCleary arrived On the sOuth
bound afternoon train. and was
shown the points Of interest In the
-city. Judge Morris was expected on
the 6:lO train from the south. hut
about 5 O'Clock word was received
that he had failed to make cOnptt:-
vtions at Elk River. He came from
Duluth on the Eastern Minnesota,
and was a few minutes too late to
-catch the Northern Pacific train at
Elk River. The evening train
brought abont 100 people from Roy
alton. including theexcelleat band of
that village. The delegation wore
golden colored badges, bearing the
words "Royalton Honest Money
Club" The band entertained the
crowd on the streets, and at about
s O'Clock escorted the speaker and
the committees to the opera house.
A. p. Blanchard. chairman 0f the
Republican county committee, pre-
sided at the meeting, and on the
platform were large number OF
representative farmers. labOringmen
and business men. >'
Mr.. McCleary said that the whole
silver question was "Shau We, or
) shall we not. allow the owner Of
, silver bullion 10 take his silver to the
government mint have the govern
ment without charge stamp each
37lA grains of that silver as one
dollar. give the coin back to the
owner OF the silver, and allow him
to pay it to others as one dollar?''
That, the speaker declared to be
the question before the voters, AS
far as free silver was concerned.
That was the Is to l proposition, as
1T provided that the silver bullion
was to be freely coined into dollars
\ weighing Is times as much as gold
dollars. The present proportion Ut
weight and value between gold
bullion and silver bullion la the
markets OF the world ia 81 weights
of silver to one weight of gold. yet
the free silverites proposed to have
this government stamp silver as
One-sixteenth the price OF gold. And
they proposed to make that coinage
free, and unlimited. When the
country had free and unlimited
coinage OF both gold and silver the
metal that was worth more in the
market than 1t was recognized as
worth by the laws, naturally sold
in the market, and the metal that
was worth more at the mint than la
the market, went to the mint, and
was coined and circulated as money.
lFhe,coins that the mint ratio under
valued would not circula te. and were
converted into bullion-as they were
worth more in such form.
The. cotnparative price of gold and
silver in the market constantly
varied, and a ratio that was true at
one time was sure to be untrue at
the next. change in the market price
land those changes were constantly
occurring. -. ~. H.. e.. ..54>.5# i
That Was why no nation today
maintained free coinage OF gold and
silver, and kept both kinds of money
in circulation on a parity. It was
Impossible to do so, and mad always
failed. .e.. .t... ~, Va. 49,. rs >,.E
@ When the government of the
United States was first established
1t provided for the free and unlimited
of both gold and silver, and
fixed the ratio at. the then compare
tive commercial values of the two
metals-l5 to j. In. a short time the
commercial ratio changed. and an
ounce Of gold became worth nearly
zig ounces of silver. That difference
resulted in silver monometalism, as
gold was worth more as bullion
than as coin, and silver was worth
more as coin than as bullion. In
order to bring gold back into circu-
lati0n the government reduced the
number OF grains in gold dollar.
until the ratio Of coinage was Is to
4 This slightly oyer-yalued gold,
and nndervalued silver. 50 silver
disappeared from circulation, and
gold was used as money. The people
some silver for use MS
change, so in 1853 the government
provided for the coinage Of silver 50