The Press., 1896-08-06

of the country, while the existing silver dollar is of full legal-tender value. There is now in the country silver currency to the amount of $999, ,OOO,O ,OOO. So it is un- true that silver Is not part of the cOun- try's currency; 1t is only true that from 1873 to 1878, and since 1893, during eight years of the country's history, the laws have provided that no silver dollars shall be coined except from the large stock of bullion already in the possession of the government. Nor is 1t true that the hard times resulted from the passage of the act of 1873. On the contrary, there was a good deal of prosperity within the period between 1873 and 1893, and some of this prosperity was due to the passage of the resumption act, which bound the govern ment to redeem the greenbacks in gold.
 If silver is added again to the money of the country, it must inevitably become the only money. There is now in the country about $2,224, 100000 in money and it's representatives, of which about $500, ,0OO,OOO is in gold and $989, ,OOO, 900 is in silver. The gold will leave the coun- try, for men will not pay their debts in 100-cent gold dollars when they can pay them in 53-cent silver dollars. So, for a time at least, this effort of the silver men to provide more money will result in less money. After many years they might be able to coin enough silver dollars to take the place of the gold that will be expelled from the country by the triumph of free silver, but for a long time there will be a contraction of the currency. MT. Bryan's effort is not the first one to remedy hard times by means of cheap money, nor is free coinage of silver unknown to the country. Free coinage of silver was au- thorized by the coinage laws of the United States from 1792 to 1873, but gold was un- dervalued when the ratio between it and silver was fixed at 15 to 1, which was the first ratio adopted in this country. An ounce of gold was then worth more than 15 ounces of silver; it was worth 15.1 ounces. Therefore gold did not circu- late, while the circulation of silver was so limited that it's coinage was suspended from 1906 to 1886. During the first fifty years of its existence the government did all in it's power to make the money of the country cheap and abundant It ever permitted the circulation of certain for. eign coins that were so cheap that they drove our own coins out of the country Finally we had the wildcat bank-notes and the disaster and ruin that always wait upon such financial experiments as tha into which MT. Bryan is endeavoring tC tempt the people of this country. Hav ing thus tried free coinage of silver ant cheap money of all kinds, having seer clipped and abraded Mexican dollars driv' our own gold and silver into retirement having seen wildcat bank-notes and thel greenbaeke take the place of coin, having suffered all the troubles that result iron imitation, we do not believe that the peo pie of the United States will again makt trial of worn-Out device.
 ! Before closing this article we will state for the benefit of those who are confused by the expression, the meaning of fre coinage at the ratio of 16 to 1. In som
 parts of the country it is thought that thi
 means that the government will give six teen silver dollars to every holder of { gold dollar. Elsewhere 1t is thought t. mean that the government will presen each citizen with sixteen silver dollars These are more tempting propositions t.
 some minds than the propositions of tn
 silverites, which is that the people of thi
 country-for all the governments none,
 comes from the people-be compelled t.
 pay one dollar for every f1fty-three cents
 worth of silver, and to coin it into money
 in other words, when one ounce of gold 1
 worth thirty ounces of silver, that tn
 government shall treat it as worth onl
 sixteen ounces.