Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-08-21

tons in silver would put premium upon
gold. But why should 1t? The Bank Of
France exercises the right to redeem all
bank paper in either COLO or silver. and
yet France maintains the parity between
gold and silver al ratio Of 15h to !,
/ and retains in circulation more silver
per capita than we do.
1T may be further answered that our
! opponents have suggested no feasible
plan for avoiding tine danger which they
fear. The retirement of greenbacks and
| treasury notes would not protect the
! treasury, but the same policy which now
| leads the secretary of the treasury to
redeem all government paper in gold,
when gold is demanded, will require the
redemption of all silver dollars and silver
certificates in gold if the greenbacks and
| treasury notes are withdrawn from
circulation. Are our opponents willing to
outline a financial system which will
carry out their precepts to a legitimate
| conclusion, or will they continue to cloak
their designs in ambiguous phrase? There
| is an actual necessity for bimetallism as
well as a theoretical defense. We con-
| tend that the free and unlimited coinage
| by the United States alone will raise the
| bullion coinage of silver to It's coinage
value, and thus make silver bullion worth
$1.29 per ounce in gold throughout the
world.
In Keeping with Natural Laws.
This proposition is In keeping with
natural laws, and not in defiance of them.
The best known law of commerce is the
law of supply and demand. We recognize
this law and build our argument upon it.
The question upon which international
| bmetallists and independent bimetallists
differ is: That the free and unlimited
coinage of silver at the presnt legol ratio
will create demand for silver which,
taken in connection with the demand al
ready in existence, will be sufficient to
utilize all the silver that would be pre-
sented at the minis They agree in their
defense of the bimetallic. principle, and
| they agree in the unalterable opposition
to the gold standard. International BIZ
| metallists can not complain that free
coinage gives a benefit to the mine own
| err, but international bimetallism gives to
the owner of silver all the advantages Of
fered by Independent bimetallism at that
ratio. International bimetallsts can not
accuse the advocates of free silver of
being bullion owners who desire to raise
| eiiS NoloS VI pdillOIp VI bSplOlS VIM VIZ
sire to pay their debts in cheap dollars,
or dema gogues who desire to curry favor
| with the people.
"They must rest their opposition on the
ground only, namely, that the supply of
silver available for coinage is too large
| to be utilized by the United States. If
our mines are opened to tree and unlim-
tied coinage at the present ratio. mer-
| oI,o ptlx hnr ho
labor applied to it has made it worth
more in the form of merchandise than it
will be worth at our minis. We can not
even expect all of the product Of silver,
because India, China, Japan and Mexico
and all other silver using countries must
satisfy their annual needs from the an
nual products. The arts will require
large amount, and standard countries will
need a considerable quantity for subsdi-
airy coinage. We will be required to coin
that which is needed here and not needed
elsewhere, but if we stand ready to take
and utilize all of it, other nations will be
compelled to buy at the price which We
| fix.
| Measured by Gold.
Some OF our opponents attributed the
fall in the value of silver when measured
quarter of a century the worlds supply
of silver has increased more rapidly than
the worlds supply of gold. This argu-
ment is entirely answered by the fact
that for the last five years the annual
| production of gold has increased more
rapidly than the annual production of sill
yer. Our opponents can not ignore the
| fact that gold is now going abroad. in
| spite of all legislation to prevent it, and
| no silver is being coined to take its place.
| There is only one way to stop the in
| creasing flow of gold from our shores,
and that is to stop the falling prices. The
restoration of bimetallism will not only
stop the falling prices, but will to some
| extent restore prices by reducing the
worlds demand for gold.
Charge of Reputation.
tine charge of reputation comes with
| poor grace from those Who are seeking
| TO add to the weight of existing debts
| by legislation which makes money dear
| er, and who conceal their designs against
the general welfare under the euphonious
| pretense that they are unfolding public
credit and national honor. in answer TO
the charge that gold Will go abroad, it
must be remembered that no gold can
| leave this country until the owner of
gold receives something in return for 1t
which he would rather have. In other
words, when gold leaves the country,
| those who formerly owend it will be ben
| Gifted There is no process by which
We can be compelled to part with our
| gold against our w.n nor is there any
process by which silver can be forced
upon US without our consent
I'm reply to the argument that i'm
proved machinery has lessened the cost
of producing silver, it is sufficient to say
that the same is true of the production
of gold, and yet, Notwithstanding that,
gold has risen in value. AS a matter of
fact, the cost of production does not de-
termine the value of the precious metals,
except as it may affect the supply. If,
for instance, the cost of producing gold
should be reduced 80 per cent without
any increase, the output purchasing pow
er of gold would not fall. 1t is often OBJ
jected that prices of gold and silver
| cannot be fixed in relation to each other,
because of the variation in the relative
production of the metals. These argu-
ments also overlook the fact that if the
| IntL orc 1s Eva r,rin