The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-07-30

mine owners. who now produce silver
bullion and sell it ut a profit at the ratio
Of thirty to thirty-twO pounds of silver t.
one pound Of gold. the privilege of coin
ing it free Of expense into silver dollars
weighing mt the ratio of sixteen pounds
Of silver to one of gold. Bankers engag-
ed in foreign traffic in place of drawing
bills Of exchange for the $3.50, 100000 in
gold coin each year which European
states have for the past ten years owed
MS annually for their purchases of grain,
provisions, cotton, etc. III excess of our
purchases of goods from them, may spend
this balance Of our European credit on
| behalf of whoever is entitled to draw
the bills. bankers or others, in the pur-
| chase of silver bullion at the rate of
thirty to thirty-two pounds of silver bull
lion to one of gold, bring it to the United
| States mint, have il coined into dollars
at the ratio Of 10 to !, and force those
dollars upon farmers and others.
A coinage act is merely an act for the
manufacture of coins. That cXhausts
| the word. Free coinage would be per-
fectly safe without IA force bill or legal
tender act in addition, because no man
| who had any common sense would ac-
ccpt n bad dollar, intrinsically worth
80 cents or Whereabouts. in place Of a
gold dollar, unless forced to. An act of
| legal tender is an act of force. The pur-
| pose of the silver party is to deprive the
mass of the people of their free choice by
| acts of legislation forcing bad money up
on them when of their own choice they
would always desire and choose good
money.
What will be the effect of free silver
1G to ! upon laborers? They will be
cheated in two directions. The first eff
feet of such an act of force, coupled with
WnnII hn
paralysis and widespread bankruptcy,
corresponding to the conditions which the
danger of Il mere threat of free coinage
brought about in 1893, only great deal
worse Vast numbers of workmen
would be reduced to compulsory idcness,
while wages would be reduced. Ere
long prices of domestic products would
slowly rise. The prices of foreign pro-
ducts, sugar, tea, coffee and the like
would be doubled at once. Thus the la
borer would be cheated both out of his
work, out of his wages and out of his
goods. He would be oppressed at every
point.
The farmer might slowly secure high
er price for his crops, but it would be-
come necessary for railway managers to
advance their rates or stop their traffic.
The goods which the farmer buys, cspec-
ally those of foreign origin-tea, coffee
and sugar-would be rapidly advanced or
doubled in price because after the pro-
duct or import had first been cut down by
the bankruptcy of its owners it would
be but slowly increased, and the price
would be advanced in respect to what
the farmer buys, while the farmer must
20 on cultivating full crops whether he
can sell them or not at an advance.
Clerks and employees of commercial cs-
adjustments would, in the first instance
he discharged from bankrupt establish
ments. Others would be thankful to
retain their places at whatever could be
offered. Rents would be among the first
subjects to be advanced with the price
of land; it would be difficult to forecast
whether clerks and employees would be
subjected to greater loss than the labor
ers. One thing may be remembered, Il Ia
borer can always find something to do if
he is willing to do it, Il clerk or cmploye
may often be wholly deprived of work for
Il long period. The proposed silver lcgisla-
ton would, in effect, be protection of the
most obnoxious kind of two classes, the
miners of the west and the bankers of
London Paris and Berlin, through af
fording those two classes the power to
force bad money upon the people of this
country and even to deprive the whole
community of the right TO make con-
tracts in terms of gold, Il proposed meas
ure being one forbidding any contract
except on the terms of the bad money to
be forced in circulation.
Bearing in mind that low prices when
brought about by way of science and i'll
vcnton are always coupled with increas-
ing rates of wages, which was true
down to the silver panic of 1893 since the
resumption of specie payment in 1879.
one can not help wondering how the ad-
q in N
miners and foreign bankers expect to
persuade laborers and employees that they
will be benefited by Il forced advance i'll
the prices of the ncccssarics of life.
1t may not be so difficult for them to per-
Suadc farmers that they may get some
benefit out of the higher prices, even If
these higher prices are forced by the cir
cuntion of bad money. No class has suf-
fcrcd so much as the farmers from the
depression and check to enterprise which
was brought about by the silver panic of
1893; yet when the case is fairly present
ed to farmers they will presently detect
the fraud.
The capacity of the farm lands now I'M
der intelligent cultivation in this coun
try has gone far beyond the consuming
power of our own people. For the last
ten years the export of farm products has
ranged from 10 to 20 per cent of the
whole product. averaging II per cent.
BY Il comparison of the declared value
of these exports with the farm prices of
the same quantities ut the farms. Il very
close estimate has lately been made of
Il number of persons occupied i'll agricul
turc who depend absolutely upon exports
for their entire market. The number
exceeds 2OOO.OOO persons occupied i'll
agriculture and probably exceeds 1000,
600, the proportion of persons being rath-