Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-09-08

/ NOhSlltutlOus LII WHAT clause OF
the Constitution, or In which of the if
teen amendments, does the Fundamental
law prescribe gold and silver coinage
or any other coinage2 In which does il
| mention any coinage further than to ali
tnorlZe the general government to "coin
| money and regulate the value there
of? Acting under that authority Con
gress at first authorized coinage at Is TO
| l. Was that the gold and silver coin
age OF the CONSTITUTIONS" If so, how
mas 10 to l conc 20 be the coinage Of
the Constit;1tuofF Under the first ratio
silver was undervalued and refused to
I circulate except in the form of worn and
apfaued foreign coins. Our own silver
coins, even the. subsidiary pieces, were
melted down for bullion because they
were worth about 3 per cent. more than
goid dollars. In all the period up to the
time OF the great silver discoveries Con-
gress sought to make the coinage ratio
the same as the commercial ratio. 1t
never authorized coinage at any other.
was that the coinage of the COnstitu-
| tlon If so, will it be a return to it for
us now to establish free coinage at the
ratio of JIG to 1 when the commercial
ratio is about 81 to L?
| H. VIII not free coinage at 16 to l re-
duce the value of the dollar unit by about
| one-half?
3. VIII it not be in fact Reputation
|
and private?
o. Is there not danger that It will
| cause the return to us of all the Ameri-
can securities held abroad-government
railroad and Industrial stocks and bonds
| thus precipitating panic of giant pro-
| follow?
e. VIII not your election upon the Chi
cago platform cause the calling in, be-
| tween November and March, of all col
iectaDle debts, all loans. all mortgages
mat nave expired? And will not this
produce such distress as this country
MS MS. never known, particularly. in the
credit are most needed and depend upon
confidence as their basis?
| Q. WIN not free and unlimited coinage
| driVe an the five or six hundred millions
OF gold and gold certificates out of use
as money or as bank reserves? Will it
NOT cause currency contraction of the
most disastrous proportions. inasmuch
as. the utmost capacity of the minis to
com SILVER cannot make good this with
| uraWal tor several years to come?
y. WIZ not free coinage place us at
once on financial level with Mexico,
lndla and China, and can we afford to
| go upon that level?
10. Is there any country in the world
today which gives free and unlimited
coinage to silver? Mexico does not
India does not None of the Central or
South American States does. We know
OF no country that does, of no example
that can he studied.
| Ill. is there any country in the world
now on the silver basis which is as pros
porous as the United States. even in this
time OF depression? Is there any in
| winch wages are so high as they are
here. or in which the dollar received in
wages will buy so much? Is there any
IlN-n -hpG IL. A.
| commerce, prosperous manufactures, or
well-to-do agricultural class? Is 1t
not fact that in every silver basis coun-
try in the world abject and hopeless pow
erty on the part of the masses is the
| rule?
II. Will You explain to us for our en-
| lightenment and guidance how our coun-
| try is TO escape like conditions If we
go to silver basis, or how we are to
| avoid the lapse to that basis if we adopt
free and unlimited coinage at 16 to i
| when the commercial ratio between the
| metals is about twice that?
| 13. And if you tell us, as many free
coinage advocates do, that free coinage
| will raise the commercial value of silver
to the coinage rate, will you explain to
| us how in that case free coinage is TO
| make money cheaper or easier to get,
how it is to relieve ''the debtor class"
how it is to increase the price of wheat
| IA. You may be aware that there was
last year on deposit in the savings banks
of this state alone $643, S13,574. This
| enormous sum belonged to 1,615,17S de-
| positors, giving an average to each Of
$39S63. 1t represents mainly the small
savings of the thrifty poor. Nearly all
of it has been deposited since the pres
ent standard of value was adopted by
| the government Do you think il fair
or just to impair by AZ per cent or by
| even l per cent the value of the money
| in which these deposits were earned and
in which today they would be paid?
| Is. There are in this state 8S,719 men,
sioners. They drew from the govern
ment last year nearly S14,O00,OOO. Con-
| sidering the nature of this debt of honor
when justly due---can you look with ia
vor upon any policy that might result in
paying them in deprecated currency?
rs. There are in the country 1898
| building and loan association, of which
| AS are in New York. These assoca-
| tons have 1,745, 125 shareholders-all of
| the working and saving classes. Their
assets last year were $450,667 ,594, repre-
sented chiefly by mortgage loans to
homeseekers, of whom 455, 900 are mem
bers of the associations These associa-
tions have nearly all been organized with
In the last fifteen years under the exist,
ing money standard. Can you think IL
fair or beneficial to the working people
to reduce by AZ per cent, or any lesser
sum, the value of these investments of
the thrifty poor?
IL. Is it not fact worth consideration
in proposing descent to the silver stan
dard that the thirty-n old-style life in
surance companies alone doing business
In this state last year had in force here
nearly 100000 policies, insuring over
Sc, GOO, 100000. The assessment compa-
MES and various benevolent orders have a
vast amount more. Would il not be an
injury and a wrong to the benefciaries
--of these polices-the widows and
orphans, whom a provident love had
sought 10 protect-to compel them to re-
ceive in payment deprecated money?
49, The rise in prices" which you
predict as result of free silver coinage
would. of course, mean an increase in the
cost of living to all the people-to wage
carriers, salaried men, and the whole
body of consumers. Do you know of any
case in which rise in wages or sala.
ries has been parallel with the rise in
prices? Is there any way to render il
certain, or even probable, that the wage
carriers will be compensated for the In
creased cost of living?
10. You attribute the decline in silver
TO the demonstration of the silver dol
lar in 1878, though that dollar was not
then coined in any considerable numbers
and was not in circulation at all owing
to the fact that silver bullion was worth
more in the market than at the mint
Do YOU consider that the increase in the
If. al