Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-09-17
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portion to the premium on gold is certain;
that the price of labor must also increase
or times grow worse Is also certain. But
should the cost of living increase only 70
sis. how long will labor be in persuading
capital to add q per cent to its pay? In
other words. how soon can wage earners
who now receive 81 per day expect 10 re-
ceive N.25? This they must receive. or be
worse Off than ever. It will be well for
them to consult their past experience be-
fore concluding that there will =, he any
rapid rise in wages Not this way seems to
lie prosperity"
"As to Cheap Money"
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
A thoughtful article with the above
heading appeared In your excellent paper,
dated September IA. and many Of Its state
ments carry conviction because they are
based upon experience and common sense.
The article was written by X. Y. Z.-"a
well-informed student Of economical SUBJ
jects." While not processing to be well
informed on this subject. 1t seems to me
that few of the statements in the said
article are. to say the least, doubtful. and
not altogether based upon facts and fig
ures. They are referred to because A. B.
c. agrees with X. Y. z. that "the essen
TALLY important thing is the dis
covery Of truth
The article on Cheap Money" says: by
the demonstration of silver all demand
for coinage purposes was suspended and
destroyed, and the entire supply thrown
upon the market for use in the arts" lex
cept the government purchase of silver at
market rates. and which was only a tenn
porary experiment.. Now. we find in the
encyclopedia Britannica that nearly four
hfths OF all the silver produced In the west
ern world. from the discovery of America
to the present time. have been consumed in
the arts lost ETC.. or exported to Asia.
Taking this as a basis. only about 70 per
cent Of our silver has been used Cor COIN
age; and as We only produced. even as late
as 1873 81 per cent of the whole production
OF the world. our characterization of silver,
II 1t occurred. should only have lowered the
price throughout the world co per cent Of
II per cent eQuals) IA per cent whereas
we know that the market price ia at pres
ent about At per cent below par. In other
words. about 10 per cent Of the fall in silver
seems TO be due to other causes than Its
alleged decentralization in 1873. That there
were apparently adequate causes x Y a.
himself indicates when he writes about "a
decrease In the value Of silver bullion I'M
der the Inevitable operation of the law of
supply and demand" for we find that in
the twenty years between 1873 and 1893 the
government purchased some S5O9,uOO, 900
worth Of silver. and ceased purchasing
mainly because the mines were worked SO
much the harder that the supply became
greater than tho special demand, resulting
IN the "ineYitable' fall in price, and nearly
klll1ng the goose which laid the silver egg.
But was silver demonetized In 1873. and
has 1t remained so ever since? The test
seems easy. Let the average American
search his pockets, and he will find some
COINS and some notes Those coins (omt-
ting the very small change) are silver and
those notes are certificates that on demand
at the treasury he can obtain silver In
o.her words silver is the only precious
money we have in circulation. except In
1t from another point of view Our total
silver coinage for the hundred years be-
tween 1913 and 1893 was about S67o. 900 600
"nile the silver IN circulation in 1894 was
over one hundred and twelve m,llions-i e.,
more than one-sixth Of the coinage for the
whole previous century, and yet we are
told that silver Is now demonetized, and
tnat there Is not enough in circulation.
ApropoS OF circulation, 1t may be we'll in
passing. to touch upon the statement in
the same issue of The Star. that Mr. Bryan
spoke OF the reduction of the total money
circulation in the United States between
1894 and 1896. when it fell from so4.os to
Gl.lo. or about s.. per capita But why
any excitement? First. If we hold to the
policy which compels the export Of gold to
pay the balance for things. most of which
we used to produce ourselves-a policy.
moreover. which induces timid people to
hoard gold-there must be a reduction in
the normal circulation. Second. if the year
1913 Is to be taken as the standard Of per-
lection (of course. before 1.-The crime was
committed). then the circulation per capita
should be $ls.l3. or s. less than at present,
anu We nave large margin or safety, Mr..
Bryan does not state that the highest per
capita was attained in 1892. as the culmina-
ton or the economic policy which he op-
poses. 1t almost seems as if his garbling
was Intentional.
To return to X. Y. a.. he writes: "Furth-
ermore. the same law " made gold
the sole metal Of coinage. The de-
| mand - was thrown wholly upon
gold. II that were literally true, then we
| who do not live upon the Pacific coast have
| no money at all; but. fortunately, as we
| nave seen above, we still have silver and
| silver notes. x. Y. z. continues: The in
| TO increase the value of gold or (and0 en-
| nance Its purchasing power. ." Has
| THIS resulted: We are aware that some
| members Of the silver party assert that 1t
! IS not the silver dollar which has declined
| TO 53 cents. but the gold dollar which has
| appreciated to 200 cents. This also can
! easily be tested. Let the average Amer
| lean fetch out that fve-dollar gold piece
which he "hoarded" against hard times
| borrow that ten-dollar pocket piece from
| his wife. and hunt up those nalf-dozen
gold dollars in the family trinkets and coin
| collection: let him go down town with his
| gold, to prove it's enhanced PURCHASING
| power in relation to- say suit of clothes
or months groceries. and he will find
| that a gold dollar of ordinary date and
| mintage is not worth 200 cents. and that II
will buy no more collars or potatoes than
| the silver dollar. which the government
/ still keeps up to par, but only because the
| latter ID not as yet Tree ana unlimited as
| to coinage.
X. Y. u. proceeds: 1.-The demand for silver
| being thereby (under supposed free silver
statute) enlarged. and for gold diminished
| they will again necessarily approximate
each other in purchasing power. though II
| is not In the least probable that silver al
! 10 to 1 will be at par with gold during the
| present generation, II ever" But we have
seen by experience that any demand fol
! silver will be met by a still more enlarged
| supply; that the demand for gold will he
continued as long as we pursue a quas
free trade policy; that it Is unnecessary
| to wait for silver and gold to again ap
| proximate each other in purchasing power
| for they are now practically identical II
| power. and that the probability of the ratio
| ever becoming Is to is more remote thar
| ever. because the real ratio, after failing
| to about 81 to l, still continues to fall.
! Further on we find the doubt: whether
| on the whole, this (silver monometallism
| would prove a blessing or a curse is no
| yet manifest, and can be determined only
| by results. probably neither in unmixet
| measure" But how many results" do W,
need? Why not compare the economico
financial policy OF. say, France. Germany
| and the United States with that of. say
| Mexico. China and India, and govern our
| selves accordingly? We are using gold fo
| certain purposes and silver for other pur
| poses. Let us retain both for the present
| hv fut1 m ho rio il,