Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-08-21

cannot complain that free coinage gives n
| benefit Is the mine owner, because inter-
national bimetallisn gives to the owner of
| silver all the advantages offered by indie
pendent bimctallism at tho same ratio. In
| tcrnational bimetallists cannot accuse the
advocates of free silver of being "bullion
owners who desire to raise the value of
their bullion or debtors who desire to
pay their debts in cheap dollars " or
"demagogues who desire to curry favor
with the people" They must rest their
opposition upon one ground only-namely,
that the supply of silver available for coin
age is too large to be utilized by the Unit
ed States
Our Capacity to Use Silver.
In discussing this question we must
consider the capacity of our people to use
silver and the quantity Of silver which can
come to our minis. 1t must be remem-
bercd that we live in a country only par
TALLY developed, and that our people far
surpass any equal number of people in the
world in their power to consume and pro-
duce Our extensive railroad development
and enormous internal commerce must
also be taken into consideration. Now,
how much silver can come here? Not the
coined silver of the world, because almost
all of 1t is more valuable at this time in
other lands than it will be at our minis
under free coinage. II our mints are
opened to free and unlimited coinage at
the present ratio, merchandise silver can
not come here because the labor applied to
| 1t has mado it worth more in the form of
merchandise than it will he worth at our
minis. We cannot even expect all of the
annual product of silver, because India,
China, Japan, Mexico and oil the other
silver using countries must satisfy their
annual needs from the annual product
The arts will require large amount, and
the gold standard countries will need a
considerable quantity for subsidiary coin
age. We will be required to coin only that
which is not needed elsewhere, but If we
stand ready to take and utilize all of it
other nations will be compelled to buy at
the price which we fix. Many fear that
the opening of our minis will he followed
by the enormous increase in the annual
production of silver This is conjecture
Silver has been used as money for thou
sands of years. and during all of that time
the world has mover suffered from an over
production. If for any reason the supply
Of gold or silver in the future ever exceeds
the requirements of the arts and the needs
of commerce, we confidently hope that the
intelligence of the people will be sufficient
to devise and enact any legislation neces-
sary for the protection of the public. 1t
is folly to refuse to the people the money
which they now need for fear they may
hereafter have more than they need. l am
firmly conyi nccd that by opening our minis
to free and unlimited coinage at the pres
ent ratio we can create demand for silver
which will keep the price of silver bullion
at Sl.29 per ounce, measured by gold.
Some of our opponents attribute the fall
in the value of silver, when measured by
gold, to the fact that during tho last quar-
ter of q century the world supply of silver
has increased more rapidly than the worlds
supply Of gold. This argument is entirely
answered by the fact that during tho last
five years the annual production of gold
has increased more rapidly than the an
nual production of silver. Since the gold
price of silver has fallen moro during the
last five years than it ever fell in any pre-
vious five years in the history of the world
it is evident that the fall is not due to in
creased production. Prices can be lowered
as ctfectually by decreasing the demand
for an article as by increasing the supply
of it, and it seems certain that the fall in
the gold price of silver is due to hostile
legislation and not to natural laws.
Our opponents cannot ignore tho fact
that gold is now going abroad in spite of
all legislation intended to prevent it, and
no silver is being coined to take it's place
Not only is gold going abroad now, but it
must continue to go abroad as long as the
present financial policy is adhered to I'M
less we continue to borrow from across the
ocean, and even then we simply postpone
the evil, because the amount borrowed, to-
gethcr with interest upon it, must be re-
] IN, . Il,
can people now owe a large sum to Euro
| pean creditors, and falling prices have left
larger and larger margin between our
net national income and our annual inter
est charge There is only one way to stop
the increasing flow Of gold from our shores,
and that is to stop falling prices. The res
/ toratiOn of bimetallism will not only stop
falling prices, but will to some extent
restore prices by reducing the worlds de-
mand for gold. If it is argued that II rise
! in prices lessons the value OF the dollars
which we pay to our creditors, / reply
that in the balancing of equities the
American people have as much right to ia
vor u financial system which will main
tain or restore prices as foreign creditors
| have to insist upon financial system that
will reduce prices. But the interests of
society arc far superior to the interests of
either debtors or creditors, and the inter-
ests of society demand financial system
which will add to the volume of the stand
ard money of tho worl@ aud thus restore
stability to prices,
A Reply To CritIcL
Perhaps the most persistent misrepre-
sentation that we have to meet is the
charge that we are advocating the payment
of debts in 90 cent dollars. At the present
time and under present laws silver dol
lar when melted loses nearly half Its val
ue, but that will not be true when we
again establish a mint price for silver and
leave no surplus silver upon the market to
drag down the price Of bullion. Under BIZ
metallism silver bullion will be worth as
much as silver coin, just as gold bullion is
now worth as much as gold coin, and we
believe that silver dollar will be worth as
much as a gold dollar.
Tho charoa ~ oo,,,oz xx,i&l,