Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1896-09-18

as each one pound of gold.
"Our mints and those of the
great commercial nations of Eu-
rope are to-day open to the free
coinage of gold. None OF them are
open to silver. Our gold coin is
accepted in any market in the
world at the equivalent of its face
value, not because of the mint
stamp, but because the bullion in
it is worth that amount. Persons
in this city who have payments to
make in Europe send either gold
coin or gold in bars. 1t goes on
its intrinsic value. Now in the
form OF bullion it takes about
thirty pounds OF silver to equal
pound of gold The Chicago propo
sitiou to make six, zen pounds Of sill
Yer coins equal 4 pound of gold
coiHS could b imposed only p)n
our own people. Tie dollar contain
ing 53 cents worth Of silver could
be forced by law ,oA reditors in
.ttiS country as legal tender for
100 CENTS If dent Na have i'm
existence to day nearly 500 mil
lions of silver dollars and silver
bullion against which circulating
notes have been issued, and these
have thus far been kept at an
equality with gold dollars because
the government has ceased to ere
ate anymore of this legal tender
silver, aud has kept the amount
already in existence as good as
gold by preserving the national
credit aud redeeming its obliga
tlons in gold when demanded.
"But if the United States placed
its mints at the free service of
every foreigner who chose to have
53 cents worth of silver stamped
into a dollar with which he could
then discharge a hundred cents
worth of debt to our own citizens
with every miner of this coun-
try and every owner of old spoons
turning his Silver into dollars
without end--it stands to reason
that the government could not
keep this vast unlimited mass of
silver into dollars at parity with
gold, and they would circulate at
home and abroad like the dollars
of free coinage Mexico, at their
worth 1n bullion. Persons who
visit Mexico get a valuable OBJ
llect lesson in the effect of un-
limited coinage. A man may get
a meal and when he puts down az
American dollar in payment vii.
| get back as change a Mex au
| dollar, which contains six grains
more silver than our own. He gel $
Il demonstration of the fact that
it Is the credit of our government
which keeps the silver dollar
atoat at II cents more than its
intrinsic value, just as it keeps
its paper notes. which bave no
intrinsic value at all, at an equal
ity with a gold dollar.
Free, unlimited and inaepeud-
ent coinage at Is to l." would
mean dollars worth only 81 cents.
The wage Garner and the man on
salary would be paid in thes0,
thus cutting his income down
nearly one-half, and every debtor
could pay his credit or with these
| deprecated dollars. If it ever
| became evident that the Ameri-
can people were SO dishonest and
SO foolish as TO adopt such policy
th re would be rush to antici-
pate It's effects. The 600 million
gold in the country would plecipi
tate panic, with all its dread
sequel Of Frustrated business, idle
Industries and unemployed labor.
In the crash and in the subsequent
readjuStment to the deprecated
currency the rich would get rich 7,
the poor would be poorer than
lever, and it would require a gen
Grafton of organized agitation to
bring back wages to their present
relative purchasing power"