Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-10-19

| ton. France. with all the countries III
the Latin union, had to give up The
| coinage of silver lest, overloaded with
the silver OF the world, it should lose all
its gold. Common sense is against thu
assertion. Silver is now produced in
such quantities, at such small expense
of production, that its value can not be
kept up to it's former standard. And is
the whole business of America to be
imperiled by a leap into an experiment
which those very men who advocate ii
confess to he only an experiment, and
which experience and common sense
| condemn
The boast that the United States is
| able alone to whip England and the
rest of the world into the coinage Of
silver at Is to /, or to force the value
] of silver up to s1.29 an ounce, is mere
| nonsense. we are a great people. in
deed, but we have not yet grown to
that commercial strength that our
| country means the commercial world.
Our national pride may give us ex-
traordinary dreams of our Importance.
but it will not do to build the business
of the country upon those dreams.
Would all the commercial nations to-
gether coming silver at Is to bring up
the silver value of bullion to S129 an
ounce? Perhaps strong commercial
reasons suggest the contrary. Would
America alone bring silver to s1.29? AS
suredly not, though, of course. the new
demand for silver from the minis would
give some increase TO it's value-which
increase. however. might again be off
set by an increase of production.
RATIO CONSTANTLY CHANGING.
Some imagine that the ratio of sill
yer to gold was always Is to /. or there
about. The ratio was constantly
changing throughout historic times: at
one time silver was more valuable than
gold at the time of the discovery of
America silver was ten times less val
liable than gold: 200 years before it had
been eight times less valuable. The
ratio is constantly changing. and the
question for us today is not what the
ratio was at preceding date, but what
it should be in our time
But has not Herr Bismarck counseled
the United States to so ahead and
make the experiment all alone? Yes.
and some Americans quote his advice
as an authority. The sly old fox would.
indeed. be pleased to see America make
the eXperiment--and go to the bottom
of the sea.
Free coinage then will give us money
worth in the commercial market of the
world little over half it's nominal
value. No one imagines that the
stamp of the government gives value to
a piece of metal: it merely certifies to
the nIl9ntitV
the government stamp might as well be
affixed to copper or mere paper. If the
government stamp gave value, the de-
based coins issued in the past by i'm
pecunious sovereigns would not have
ruined the subjects of those sovereigns.
and the assignat of France and the pa
per issued by Ferdinand of Naples a
century ago would not have sold in the
market almost as government rags.
Legal tender compelling men to accept
against their will money above it's
commercial value in the markets of the
world is rank injustice. The early fl
nancial statesmen of America-Jeffer-
son, Morris, Hamilton--never thought
OF making the legal value of coin high
er than the commercial value of the
metal of which the coins were made.
therefore. with the passage of free
silver coinage we shall have a crr-
rency rejected at it's nominal value
from the markets of the world. nm
stable and fiuctuating in real yalue
BUSINESS cannot prosper with such
currency. The first condition of the life
or business is certain value: TO-DAY in
commerce and industry if by the time
the raw material has been turned into
marketable wares. the currency is like
~ TO nave changed in value, business
~ all branches would become specu-
lation, a gamble. and conservative can
ital would keep out of sight. No loans
would be made. 1t is nonsense to say