The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1896-08-20


served by law to the Government Of redeem
coin,' " ''N
We ARE told that any attempt upon the par.
of the Government to redeem Its obligation,
In silver would put premium upon gold,
but why should 1t? The Bank of France exer.
cises the right to redeem all bank paper il
either gold or silver, and yet France main
tains the parity between gold and silver AT
the ratio Of 151a to l, and retains In circula
tion more silver per capita than we do III
the United States. 1t may be further an
swered that our opponents have suggested
no feasible plan for avoiding the dangers
which they fear. The retirement of the
greenbacks and treasury notes would moi
protect the treasury, because the same policy
which now leads the Secretary of the Treas
ury to redeem all Government paper In gold
when gold Is demanded, will require the re.
demption of all silver dollars and silver Ger
tifcetes In gold, If the greenbacks and treas
ury notes are withdrawn from circulation
More than this, If the Government should
retire Its paper and throw upon the banks
the necessity Of furnishing coin redemption
the banks would exercise the right to fur.
nlsh either gold or silver. In other words.
they would exercise the option. Just rs the
Government ought to exercise Ii now. The
to redeem Its obligations In silver when sill
yer Is more convenient or 1t must retire all
the silver and silver certificates from circu-
ation and leave nothing but gold as legal
tender money. Are our dppQneiits willing
to outline a financial system which will carry
out their policy TO Its legitimate cOnclust IN,
or will they continue to cloak their desii us
In ambiguous phrasesf
Necessity for Bimeta1lism.
There is an actual necessity for bimetal.
lsm. During the last twenty-three years
legislation has been creating an additional
mand has resulted in increasing the purchas-
Ing power Of each ounce of gold. The res
toration of bimetalism In the United States
will take away from gold just much of
It's purchasing power as was added to 1t by
the decentralization of silver by the United
States. The silver dollar Is now held up
to the gold dollar by legal tender laws and
not by redemption I'm gold. We contend that
free and unlimited coinage by the United
States alone will raise the bullion value of
silver to Its coinage value. and thus make
silver bullion worth S1.29 per ounce In gold
throughout the world. The best known law
of commerce is the law of supply and de-
mand A reduction In the volume OF money
Will raise the purchasing power of the dollar;
new demand for silver created by law will
false the price of silver bullion. Internaton-
nj binietalists must FEST their opposition
upon one ground oniy-hainelti That tho
supply Of silver available for coinage Is tod
large to be utilized by the United States.
In discussing this we must consider the ca
paclty Of our people to use silver and the
quantity Of silver which can come to our
mints. We live il a country only partially
developed; our people far surpass any equal
number of people in the world In their power
to consume and produce. Now, how much
silver can come here? Not the coined silver
Of the world because all of 1t Is more valuL
able at this time In other lands than 1t will
be at our mnts under free coinage: Wa
will be required to coin only that which Ia
not needed elsewhere; but, II we stand
ready to take and utilize all Of 1t, other ma!
tlons will be compelled to buy at the price
which we fix. 1t is folly to refuse to tho
ran thn ,t-,fp how nnoIf fpr
fear they may hereafter have more than
they need. BY opening our mints to FREQ
and unlimited coinage at the present ratio
we can create a demand for silver which,
Will keep the price of silver bullion at SLY
per ounce, measured by gold.
Will Be No Fifty-cent Dollars.
Perhaps the most persisten. misrepresenta,
tion that we have TO meet Is the charge that
we are advocating the payment of debts In
5O-cent dollars. Under present laws, silver
dollar, when melted, loses nearly half its
value, but that will not be true when we es:
tablish mint price for silver and leave no
surplus silver to drag down the price of
bullion. Under bimetallism silver bullion
Will be worth as much silver coin, just
as gold bullion Is now worth as much as
gold coin and we believe that n silver dollar
will be worth much a gold dollar.
The charge of population comes with poor
grace from those who are seeking to add to
the weight of existing debts by legislation
which makes money dearer, and who con-
ceal their designs against the general well
fare under the euphOnious pretense that
they are uphOding public credit and national
honor. In answer TO the charge that gold
Will go abroad, 1t must be remembered that
no gold can leave this country until the
owner of the gold receives something in re-
turn for it, which we would rather have. In
other words, when gold leaves the country
those who formerly owned 1t will be bene-
fitted. There Is no process by which we can
anmnnlia1 To lnrtt tt-it nnr oypt In nst
our WILL nor Is there any process by which
silver can be forced upon us without our
The one thing necessary In order
to maintain the parity Is to furnish de;
mand great enough to utilize all the silver
which will come to the mints. That Mexico
has failed to do this is no proof that the
United States would also fail.
1t is often objected that the prices of gold
and silver cannot be fixed In relation to each
other because of the variation In the relative
production of the metals. This argument
also overooks the fact that IL the demand
for both metals at fixed price is greater
han the supply of both, relative production
becomes immaterial. If, as Is asserted by
our opponents, the free coinage of silver ii
Intended only for the benefit of the mine;
owners 1t must be remembered that fred
coinage cannot restore to the mine-OwnerS
my more than demonetiZatlon took away.
The restoration Of silver will bring to the
people generally many times as much adj
rantage as the mine-owners can obtain
coinage to especially aid any particular
lass, yet those who believe that the restora.
Ion of silver Is needed by the whole people
should not be deferred because an incidentab
benefit will come to the mine-owner.
Projects for Change of Ratio.
The argument that a silver dollar Is
heavier than a gold dollar. and that, there
ore, silver Is less convenient to carry In
arye quantities. Is completely answered by
he silver cprttneufn which 10 n oSiI
led as the gold certificate. There are some
who. while admitting the benefits of bimetal1
Ism, object to coinage Mt the present ratio.
Those who have advised a change In the
lollar be doubled. If this change were
made 1t would necessitate the recOinage Of
.00O, 100000 Of silver into 2,O00, 200. 900 Of
lollars. There would be an immediate los3
# 81, ,OOO. .OO0. 900, but this would be the least
# the injury. shrinkage of one-half in tho
liver money of the world would mean Il
hrinkage Of oRe-fourth in the total yolum5
# metallic money. The people Of the United
states would be injured by change In thJ
alto, not because they produce silver. but
because they own property and owe debtJ
md they cannot afford to thus decrease the
'alue OF their property or increase the bur-
Mankind will be fortunate indeed II tho |
nnual production Of gold and silver coin
hall Seep pace with the annual Increase Of
population and industry" change In tha
as decreased the demand for silver and lowe |
rcd Its price, and, by increasing the demand |
or gold, has raised the value Of gold when |
aeasured by other forms of property.
We are told that the restoration of BIZ |
netallism would be hardship upon those !
Who have entered into contracts payable In. |
old coin, but this Is mistake. 1t will be |
asier to obtain the gold with which to meet |
gold contract, when most Of the people |
an use silver, than it Is now when every |
ne Is trying to secure gold. The money |
rhich is by law made a legal tender must |
\ the course Of ordinary business be accept |
by ninety-nine out Of every 100 persons
Why should the one hundredth man be per-
sitted to exempt himself from the general |
ule? Special contracts have n tendency to, |
lcrease the demand for a particular kind. |
money and thus force It to n premium,
lave not the people n right to say that a; |
few individuals shall not be, |
ermitted to dcrange the financial system |
the nation In order to collect premium
4 case they succeed in forcing one kind Of |
honey to q premium?