People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1896-09-03
actual necessity for bimetallism as we'll

law creat e1 demand has resulted in inCreas-
ing the purcha ing power OF each ounce Of
gold The restoration Of bimeta'ism in
the United >ta-es vii. take away from
gold just 80 much % its purchasing power
al was added 10 II BIZ The demonstration
of silver BIZ The United Sta-es. The silver
dollar is now held up to the gold dollar by
legal tender laws and not by redemption
in gold because the standard silver dollars
are not nOW leie5mable in gold either by
law or administrative power.
We contend that free and unlimited
coinage by the United States alone will
raise the bul on value of silvertO is coin
age value, aad thus make silver bullion
worth 1929 per ounce throughout the
world. This proposition is in keeping
with natural laws, no. in defiance OF Them.
the best known law Of commerce Is the
law of supply and demand. We recognize
this law ana build our argument upon il.
We apply this law TO money when we say
reduction in the volume
of money will rai,e the pur-
chasing power Of the dollar; we also
apply the law of supply and demand to
silver when we say that a new demand for
silver created By law will raise the price Of
silver bullion. Gold and silver are differ
ent from other commodities in that they
are limited in quality Corn, wheat, and
manufactured products, etc, can be pro-
duced almost without limit provided they
can be sold at a price sufficient to stimu-
late production. but gold and silver are
called precious metals because they are
found, not produced.
Limited in Quantity.
These meals have been the objects Of
anxious search as far back as history runs,
yet according to Mr.. Harvey's calculation
all the gold coin of the world can be
melted into Y foot cube, and all the sill
yer coin in the world into 66-foot cube.
Because gold and silver are limited, both
in the quantity now in hand and in actual
production, it follows that legislation can
fix the ratio between them. ANY pur-
chaser who stands ready to take the entire
supply Of any given article at a GER
ttain price can prevent that article
from falling below that price. So
the government can fix a price for gold
and silver by creating a demand eater
than the supply. International bimetal-
lists believe that the nations, by ente ing
into an agreement to coin at fixed ratio
all the gold and silver presented can
maintain the bullion value of the metals
at the mint ratio. When a mint price is
thus established, it regulates the bullion
price, because any person desiring coin
may have the bullion converted into coin
at that price and any person desiring
bullion can secure it by melting the coin.
The question upon which international
bimetalliSts and independent bimetallists
differ is:
Can the United States by the free and
unlimited coinage of silver at the pre-, ent
legal ratio create a demand for silver
which, taken in connection with the de
mand already in existence, will be sufii-
cient to utilize all the silver that will be
presented at the minis. They agree in
their defense of the bimetalic principle
and they agree in unalterable opposition
to the gold standard International BIZ
metallists cannot complain that free coin
age gives benefit to the mine owner, be-
cause international bimetallism gives to
the owners of silver all the advantages of
fered by independent bimetallism at the
ratio. international bimetallists cannot
accuse the advocates of free silver of being
bullion owners" who desire to raise the
value Of their bullion, or debtors who
desire to pay their debts in cheap dollar, 1"
or "demagogues who desire to curry favor
with the people" They must rest their
opposition upon one ground only, namely,
that the supply Of silver available for coin
age is too large to be utilized by the
United States.
In discussing this question, we must
consider the capacity Of our people to use
silver, and the quantity of silver which
can come to our minis. 1t must be re-
membered that we live in a country only
partially developed, and that our people
far surpasS any equal number of people in
the world in their power to consume and
produce. Our extensive railroad develop
1hent and enormous internal commerce
must also be taken into consideration.
Now, how much silver can come here?
Not the coined silver of the world, be-
cause almost all of it is more valuable in
other lands than it would be at our minis
under free coinage. If our minis are
opened to free and unlimited coinage at
the present ratio, merchandise silver can
not come here because the labor applied
to it has made it worth mora in the form
Of merchandise than it will be worth at
our minis. We cannot even expect all OF
the annual product 81 silver, because
India, China, Japan and Mexico, and all
other silver-uSing countries must satisfy
their annual needs from the annual prod
ucts. The arts will require large guam
tity and the gold standard countries
will need considerable quantity for sub
sidiary coinage. We will be required to
nOira nnlu fhar tr-biob q. Al
where. But If we stand ready to take and
utilize all Of it, other nations will be com.
PEELED to buy at the prices which we fix.
Many feac that the opening of our minis
will be followed by an enormous increase
in the annual production Of silver This
Is conjecture. Silver has been used Is
money for thousands of years and during
all Of that time the world has never suf
fered from Overproduction. If for any
reason the supply of gold or silver in the
future ever exceeds the requirements of
the arts and the needs of commerce, we
confidently hope that the intelligence of
the people will be sufficient to devise and
enact any legislation necessary for the pro-
lection Of the public. 1t Is folly to refuse
to the people the money which they now
need, for fear they may hereafter have
more than they need.
l am firmly convinced that by opening
our minis to free and unlimited coinage
at the present ratio we can create de-
mand for silver which will keep the price
Of silver bullion at s1.29 per ounce, meas.
ured by gold. Some of our opponents at
fribute the fall in the value of silver
when measured by gold, to the fact
that during the last quarter of century
che worlds supply Of silver has increased
more rapidly than the worlds supply of
gold. This argument Is entirely answered
by the fact that during the last five years
the annual production of gold has in
creased more rapidly than the annual pro-
duction of silver. Since the gold price Of
silver has fallen more during the last five
years than it ever fell in any previous five
years in the history of the world, it is eyi.
dent that the fall Is not due to increased
production. Prices can be lowered as ef.
fectually by decreasing the demand for an
article as by increasing the supply of it,
and it seems certain that the fall in the