Morris tribune., 1896-08-12

''The American people from tradition and
interest favor bimetaIlism, and the Repub-
lican party demands the use Of both gold
and silver as standard money, with such
restrictions and under such provisions, TO
be determined by legislation, as will secure
the maintenance of the parity Of values OF
the two metals so that the purchasing and
debt paying power of the dollar, whether
of silver, gold, or paper, shall at all times
be equal" Does not this language clearly
imply-can 1t be tortured into anything
else-that the silver dollar should at all
times be kept up to the gold standard in
value, and was not that the condition under
which bimetallism was favored? Was not
as matter of fact the gold dollar made
as much of a standard value in 1892 as in
1896? The parity was to be maintained
at all hazards. And that implied that silver,
the cheaper metal must be kept up In
value TO gold, the dearer metal. Our plat
form of 1896 asks for no more. This is
the anguage
1--WE are unalterably opposed to every
measure calculated to debase our currency
or impair the credit Of our country. We
are, therefore, opposed to the free coin
age of silver except by international agree
ment with the leading commercial nations
of the world, which we pledge ourselves to
promote; and until such an agreement can
be obtained the existing gold standard must
be preserved. All our silver and paper
currency must be maintained at. parity with
gold and we favor ell measures designed
to maintain inyiolably the obligations of the
United States and all our money, either
coin oil paper, at the present standard
the standard of the most enlightened ma
lions of the world"
Our platform of 1896 insists, like our
platform of 1892, upon maintaining our
Gold is no more the standard In one case
than the other. If in one case gold could
be pulled down TO the level of silver so it
could in the other case. The parity, the
equality in coin value is the gist of the
matter in either case. There was no ex-
press demand for the free coinage of silver
in the platform of 1902. If it be said that
this demand is implied in the phrase: 'The
Republican party demands the use of both
gold and silver as standard money" it
must be noted that this was coupled with
the condition that it was to be under "such
restrictions and such provisions as would
maintain the parity in value of the two
metals. This is precisely the attitude Of the
platform Of 1896 on this point. 1t is in favor
of free coinage only
BY international Agreement
And every genuine and honest bimetal-
list, who Is not at heart a silver mono
metallist, knows that there can be no act
ual, genuine and substantial bimetallic cir
culation except through concurrent agree
ment of at least major number of the
great commercial nations Of the world
Free coinage under present conditions and
with the present great disparity in the
commercial value of the two metals would,
without such an agreement, inevitably lead
to silver monometallism-to a fuctuating
single silver standard, such as now prevails
in Mexico, China and Japan. This will
try to make clear as proceed to consider
the free coinage of silver and it's conse-
quences more in detail and at short range.
The phrase, "a ratio of 16 to 1,'' means
that sixteen ounces of silver coined into
money shall be equal to one ounce of gold
coined into money. This Is the coin or
money ratio fixed by law. But the rela-
tive commercial price or cost Of the two
metals may be, and generally is, entirely
different from the coin or money ratio.
This relative commercial price is called
the commercial ratio to distinguish it from
the other, or coin ratio. To Illustrate: The
government declares that sixteen ounces
of silver, in the shape of silver dollars,
shall be equal to one ounce of gold in the
shape of gold dollars, when. as a matter
of fact, l can to-day purchase, and ever
since 1893 could have purchased, not less
than thirty ounces of silver for one ounce
of gold. So that to-day, while the coin
ratio is 16 to /, the commercial ratio is
30 to l. The free and unlimited coinage OF
silver at the ratio of 16 to means that
the government of the United States shall
receive at it's minis and coin into silver
dollars, without charge, all silver bullion
that may be brought there by any person
or corporation whatsoever from any nook
or corner Of the entire world. 1t means,
futher, that, although one ounce of gold
will purchase thirty ounces of silver, vet
the government must take sixteen of those
thirty ounces and stamp them into silver
dollars and then make them equal, and COM
pei you and me to take them as equal 10
one ounce of gold. Or, to put the matter
in another, but equally truthful light 1t
means that when the owner of silver BULL
ion sells his silver to you or me without
the intervention of government he must
give thirty ounces of silver for one ounce
of gold but that when he gets the govern
ment. without charge, to coin and stamp
his silver bullion into silver dollars, then
he need not give sixteen ounces OF silver
for one ounce of gold 1t means all this,
for gold at the ratio of to 16 is made
the measure of the price Of silver. IL 1t
does not mean this, then it means silver
Observation-Disclosures single silver standard,
pure and simple-for only In this way can
you degrade the silver dollar below the
gold standard Your silver dollar must OF
necessity be gold standard. or gold bug
dollar, If you please. or it will be huctu-
ating silver bullion dollar.
1t is universal and memorable rule gov
erning the circulation of money. that the
cheaper money drives the
dearer money out of circulation, unless the
fotmer Is interconvertible at par with the
latter The debtor will always pay with
the cheaper dollar and the buyer always
buy with the cheaper dollar. The dearer
dollar will be withdrawn from circulation
and disposed Of at it's bullion value. the
intrinsic difference may be slight, but still
the rule holds good. This is the universal
money lesson of the past 1t is the lesson
taught us by our own experience In l79z
the commercial ratio of silver was 1911 to
1. and at that time, at the instance OF Ham
ilton and Jefferson. congress enacted our
first coinage law, establishing the ratio at
Is to l. Unlike the Popullst ana free SIT
ver Democrats of our day, those great
statesmen Of our early days aimed to make
The Coin Ratio
almost identical with the commercial ratio.
Rut these two ratios soon parted company,
for the reason, to large extent, that the