Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1896-08-07

Not having had time last week to re-
view Mr.. Bartiett's argument on the
issues of the day we beg to resume the
subject now by respectfully suggesting
that in assuming to state the issues aris-
ing out OF the St. Louis platform he has
only stated one feature of a single issue
in it. He states the question to be OF "a
single gold standard as set forth in the
republican platform at St. Louis, or the
return to bimetallism which prevailed in
this country for more than 70 years,
etc. A complete misconception. The
question is not whether we shall return
to any previous condition of finances,
but whether the country shall be plunged
into an unknown condition, the free
and unlimited coinage of gold and silver
at an absolute ratio of 16 to !, and
whether or not it shall be made legal
tender for both public and private debts
with a prohibition on private agree
ments. The proposition is not to return
to any known condition of the country.
But to strike out into something EN-
tirely new and experimental. Let us refer
to his statistics. He says that during no
twenty years since 1892 to 1894 has the
production of gold and silver i'll the
world run so uniform as from 1873 to
1894; that from 1898 to 1881 there
was 1876 per cent. less gold than silver
produced in the world; from 1881 to
1853 there was less gold than silver J;
from 1853 to 1873 there was 131 per
- So -:i--~-- AL--- ,-of5 a-,I from
1873 to 1898 the production of the two
metals was about equal. The result Of
his statement is sixty years of the metal
productions of the whole world in which
silver is very largely in excess, and Il short
period during which gold was; then 30
years when the metals were about equal,
and says that during this 20 years, from
1873 to 1898, silver went down to 81
cents on account of the legislation Of one
single country out of halt dozen or more.
Now although we might quarrel with
his figures and the arrangement of them
for the argument let them stand. Now
what does he get from them, il anything
The simple tact that certain legislation
was had in one country and silver went
down. From this fact he argues that all
the theories Of his conventions are cor.
rect.
Now anyone can see without further
suggestion the fallacy of the proposition
itself, even if the fact or the proposition
proved anything. Look at his condi
tons. minting privileges, ETC., being
equal, he says i. e, demand tor he puts
his whole argument on the fact that
coinage is the requisite demandl being
the same, and the supply varying from
1871 one way to 1855 per cent. the other
and still the competing article with nc
other causes or effects involved, the com
petition will vary only two per cent in
half a century. Now does not this show
conclusively that the potency of our
legislation is entirely misapprehended
by our friend? The trouble is he has
measured the condition of this one
country by the condition of the whole
world in one respect, and has taken one
condition of the coins and omitted all
Gus uses of the metals during the time he
quotes in various parts of the world, as
well as legislation in other countries that
was had in respect to them, and all the
many conditions which influenced their
value, are entirely overlooked except the
one mentioned. This could not have es
capped our correspondents attention, 70,
he must have read from the chief of his
philosophers that, "The English economic
statisticians are generally agreed that the
purchasing power of gold has largely in.
creased since the German decentralization
How far this has been in consequence Of
that demonstration is a matter of dis.
pute"; or he must have forgotten the
language of his old time ideal states.
man: "1f our decentralization were the
only cause of the decline in the value oil
silver then reconciliation would be its
effectual and proper cure. But other
causes beyond our control have been far
more potentially operative than the sim
Gle fact that congress prohibited further
coinage" He must have overlo oked the
fact that the value of silver has fallen
during other periods under the same con-
ditions without his legislation at ratio
gilmore than three to one of his period
He must have overlooked the fact that
under similar conditions silver continued
after 1873 to fall, although the mints
were open to about $4,000, 900 addi-
tional silver currency. But he must have
seen according to his own figures that