Birmingham state herald., 1896-06-07
We Must Adopt Free Coinage of
 Silver.
CAN'T WAIT FOR THE OTHERS
The Business of the United States Can No Longer Float Upon the Shallow
 Tide of Gold.
Montgomery, June 5, 1896.

In a former issue Of your paper gave quite number of reasons why the United States could and should adopt tke free and unlimited coinage of silver at the ra- tio of 16 to l, without regard to the posi- tlon or action of any other nation.
 I now propose to show that such course is a necessity on the part of this government, because the worlds produc- ton of gold is not sufficient to supply it and the other nations of the world with an adequate quantity of money. Going back to 1871 we find that England and Portugal were the only nations at that time that were making demands for gold as a sole standard, all of the other inn portant nations at that time being on either a paper or bimetallic standard The combined popula tion of England and Portugal in 1870 was less than 36,Oo0,000 people, The ma tons of Europe and Amer lea now demanding gold and fighting and struggling for it represent a population CT more than 330000000 people. MT. Robert Giffn, statistician for the London board of trade and an obdurate gold Standarq advocate, from whom all of the gold advocates draw their supplies for argu- ments, admits that substantially none Of the gold yielded annually from the mines becomes Cor, if minted, remains) money, but is absorbed by the arts and manutac- lures"
 The aDONe statement SHOWS populst- ton more than nine times greater than that of 1870 demanding gold and gold en- ly as it's standard of value, while Stat1StlcS and the best authorities show that the supply of gold to meet this increased de- mand has been very little augmented.
 In the face of these facts, however, the advocates of the single gold standard in this country insist that there is an ade-- quate supply of gold for money and all other purposes, and, while denying the increased purchasing power Of the gold dollar on account of its scarclty-thus dis putting the law of supply and demand as applied to gold-insist upon it's rlSid en- forcement when applied to all commodl- ties, cereals or other values. This same class also insist that the fall of commer- cial prices has been caused solely by new inventions, etc, superinducing thereby overproduction. MT Robert Giffin, bow ever their most eminent authority, IS more candid. Speaking of the great and extraordinary demand for gold, caused by the addition of Germany and the United States in 1873 to the gold standard countries, he says; "They have been supplied very largely by a continual pressure upon existing stocks till an ad- justment has at leng h been made by contraction of trade and fall In values"
 If the demand of the United States and Germany alone produced such a pressure upon existing stocks of gold as to cause a contraction of trade and fall in val ues," what must have been the effect be- tween 1873 and 1896, when pressure nine times greater upon the worlds sup ply of gold was brought to bear on ac- count of the balance of the great na- tions of the world adopting the gold standard? The south we are told, has lost on cotton alone $2,07S, ,000,000 within tWenty-two years. After showing that Great Britain increased in wealth 27 per cent between 1865 and 1875, MT. Griffin says: "Not only must the requirements of gold using people be increased by 50 per cent, but another 50 per cent must be added for the greater wealth per head"
 Explaining the great fall in prices since 1875 MT. Griffin said Two causes have been suggested. One is great multipli- cation of commodities and diminution of the cost of production due to the progress of invention improved facilities of com munication, international telegraphy and like circumstances. The other is that the precious metal used for the standard money-viz.: gold has become relatively scarcer than it was, it's production has been diminished on the one hand and the demand for it on the other hand has been increased. The former of these causes (multiplication of commodities ard dimi- mutton of cost of production) was discuss ed lately by MT. Fowler, and a greater weight assigned to it than the latter cause. I am disposed to give greater weight to the latter, viz: the insufficient cy of the supply of gold. * In addi- ton, however, while not denying that there has been change on the commodi- ty side of the balance, would go further and maintain that what has happened to gold in the way of diminished produc- ton and increased demand upon it aris- ing from other causes than multiplica- ton of commodities must have had greater effect. In round figures, therefore there have been new demands In tba a thirteen for abOlIt X1 - GOO, 900 in gold, an amount very near ly equal to the whole production of the period, although a larger amount than the annual production of that period had been necessary in previous years to mainz tain the state of prices which then ex- isted."
 And after noting the extremely light addition to the worlds stock of gold he added: "The stock, with it's addition, has had to do more work, and 1t has only been able to do so because prices have fallen.''
 To whatever degree money is decreas- ed in volume, the value of all things measured by it will also decrease. A decline in general prices indicates an ad- vance in the value of money-all other things being equal-and an advance in general prices denotes a decline in the value of money. The total volume of the money of @ nation regulates the commer- cial prices within it. If the United States should adopt free coinage, and all of our gold should go to Europe, as the gold advocates contend, then, in that event, prices in Europe would rise ow- ing to the influx of our gold, thereby en- abling us to obtain better prices for our cereals there, even if our gold should go to Europe, as the gold advocates claim, without leaving behind any sub- stitutes or compensation for itself.
 But let us now examine our own au- thorities as to the worlds supply of gold. The report of the director of the mint for 1894 page SD shows that the worlds production of gold for 1S91-2-3 amounted to $i32 470,000. This is an annual aver age production of only $144, 11S,666 The same report (page 53) shows that the worlds annual consumption of gold in the arts is $50, IF, 300, thus leaving for coinage purposes only $93,941 .366 which, according to MT. A. J. Utley's estimate, is cents per capita annual increase in the worlds supply of money, or "A cents per capita, should only one-fourth of the worlds population adopt the gold stand ard. Senator John Sherman, who is the father of our present financial system, is on record as admitting that the United States should have an annual increase of 52,000,000 per annum in her money supply in order to keep pace with her