Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-10-06
kindly answer this argument editori-


for some reason best known to him
self, to append his name to. his request
and after he has thought 1t all over w
believe he will be glad that he didn'
give his name, for assuredly any faitl
THAT finds the above sufficient to lear
upon is mighty weary for lack of sup
port. Nevertheless, those are as strong
certainly, as any points which Bryan
has been able to advance in support OF
| his theory. But why should sub
scriber' ask an opinion of the Journal
when right now conditions are in eX-
istence that take from those statements
of the boy orator any strength they
might have seemed to have. While he
is travelling over the country talking
this sort of nonsense, silver is dropping
in price and wheat is going up. In both
instances it is due to the laws of supply
and demand. Possibly silver may rise
a little and wheat may fall little, or
vice versa as some of the buyers may
have overestimated or underesti-
mated in making their purchases in ad-
vance. But the changes in the prices
of those respective articles have been
brought about by the influence of sup
ply and demand rather than by specu-
lation.
In view Of the falling price of silver
and the contemporary rising price of
wheat it ought now to be clear to the
minds of all that a fall in the price
of silver does not cause a fall in the
price of wheat. If the price of silver
could be raised as high as the price of
gold at the ratio of 16 to / and the
growers of wheat in india where help
is paid with silver, did not lower their
wages, as they can easily do in a
by the bare cost of existence of the
wage worker, then slight rise in wheat
might follow. This is evidently what
Secretary Rusk had in mind when he
expressed the belief that the prospect
of the restoration of bimetallsm had
influenced the price of wheat favorably
But Secretary Rusk was doomed to
Notwithstanding many
at that time held the opinion that
wheat and silver rose proportionately-
this was before the matter had been in
vestigated and when notions rather
than opinions founded upon facts pre-
vailed respecting the misunderstanding
Rusk does not say that wheat would
yer. What he does say is that the
prospect of the restoration of the
bimetallic standard has had much to
do with the recent advance in the price
of cereals He wrote that before June
30th. 1890 and by the close of that year
the prospect of the restoration of the
bimetallic standard had changed to the
certainty that bimetallism couldn't
be restored by this country at the ratio
of 16 to l. But Mr.. Bryan is not honest
when he insists on ignoring all history
and being blind to all reasoning and
leaves us to believe that the Sherman
law raised silver to s1.20 by taking all
the silver not used for the arts and for
export. Even if the price had gone to
$1.20 an ounce by coming all the avail
able bullion that would not give us
with unlimited Is to / coin
age. In order for gold and silver to
circulate at a parity silver must be
$1.29 an ounce under such a ratio and
stay at that figure. This we know
from experience, and the falling
of one metal the fraction of
cent is sufficient to destroy that
parity. The difference of nine cents
would have sent us with a crash
to silver basis where Bryan proposes
now to send us, only now the fall in
stead of nine cents would be about
the value of our dollar.
But let us look at this high price
quoted by Mr.. Bryan Turning to the
report of the London market where the
price Of silver is made, we find that the
lowest price of an ounce of silver in 1889
was AZ pence, but that the average price
in urmoney for fine ounce was So 1886.
but .O46 per ounce, the highest price dur
ing the year being but 81 and SIS pence
per ounce, whereas to have the silver dol
lar,1 to 1,equal in intrinsic value to the
gold dollar silver must sell for 50 pence
per ounce in the London market.
Mr.. Bryan's quotation is erroneous
in other ways. The high price of sill
Yer was speculative on the prospect
of bimetalism' and that prospect not
being realized and it becoming evident
from the increased production that it
would be Impossible for this country
alone to restore bimetallism the pricc
went down, 'slumped" In 1891 the
average price was only $O.9S7 and the
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