The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1896-08-27
THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARDS.
THU TWO PLANS OF FBIMErALIsNI.
Can the United Stntes Maintain rho
Rntio ofSixtecn to One-Somcthing
Worth Reading.

A>"''" vi sixteen to One-SOmcthinG
Worth Reading.
The following article was written by
Mr.. Eicming, Of kentucky, who was one Of
Mr.. CicVclands electors in the campaign
OF 1881, and it is worthy of pcrusal by any
one without regard to political bias
In view OF the declaration of tho
Chicago convention in favor of the
free and unlimited" coinage OF silver.
at the ratio Of l6 to |, the question,
Can the United States Independently
Of the concerted action of Europe)
establish and maintain the parity be-
tween gold and silver at the ratio
named ?" is OF increasing interest.
Eastern politicians and capitalists
for the most part answer this question
in the negative. The Southern and
Western Democracy have answered in
the affirmative. Both answers being
presumably influenced by personal
may elucidate the probable truth.
The consensus OF impartial scientific
opinion may be said to have resulted
in agreement upon the following prop
OSitions:
|. Since 1873 gold has risen in value
100 per cent, and silver and all 9th er
commodities have fallen SO per cent.
2. Under the gold standard gold
must continue to appreciate and other
commodities depreciate.
3. These conditions benefit the hold
ers of realized riches, and persons with
fixed incomes, and tend to hard times,
the impoverishment of the many and
the bankruptcy of the debtor class.
i. Hence u return to the bimetallic
standard is desirable, if feasible.
Tho only plans suggested to such re-
turn are:
First-Thc Whitney plan Of intcrna-
tional agreement This includes Eng
land. Is it probable that England will
consent to such agreement She de-
monctzed silver in 1916, and has since
stcadfastly adhered to that policy
The London Economist in 1883 said
"England being the chief creditor OF
the world, it is to her interest to keep
the volume OF money us small as posi-
bic In countries from which debts arc
due, in order to get more OF their pro-
duets in payne at OF interest due to her
citizunS." In 1866 Sir Robert n. Fow-
lcr, cN-Lord Mayor Of London, mem
Der OF Parliament and a banker, said
The effect Of .,,o depreciation of sill
YER must finally be the ruin of the
wheat and cotton industries Of Ameri.
ca and the development Of India as
the chief wheat and cotton exporter of
the world" Ia 1872 the London Daily
News said 'For Great Britain, pre-
cminently the creditor among ali ma
tlOns, to adopt it would be midsummer
madness, indeed. Bime etallism
would shake to its foundations the
financial fame and supremacy Of Great
Britain" In late speech MIR. Glad
stone said of England: 'It is the
great creditor nation Of the world, and
it Is increasingly the great creditor
country Of the world" In that speech
Mr.. Gladstone estimated the holdings
OF Great Britain beyond the limits Of
her kingdom at $40, 600, 600 ,0G0, aud ad-
mittcd that bimetal)ism would result
in England making q present OF $500,
600, 600 to tho world. William Henry
Grcenfcll, chairman Of the Bimetallic
League Of England, declares that if we
wait for England to show the way VIC
will "wait forever"
Since it is the interest Of the creditor
class to maintain the gold standard.
and that class controls the policy of
England, bimetallisrn by international
agreement may be dismissed as out of
the question.
Sccond--Thc other plan is for the
United States to go it alone.
The proposition is that the United
ard by its own decree. independent OF
European action.
Can this be done? Such experiment
is at once new and old. IT is old be-
cause we had free coinage Of both
metals up to 1873. 1t is new because
heretofore the coinage OF the two
metals has been established upon q
ratio approXimating the commercial
value Of the metals.
MIR. Hamilton was opposed to 'at-
tachinG the unit OF value to either
metal for the reason that to do SO
would destroy the Office and character
of one of them as money, and reduce it
to the situation Of mere merchandise"
and he held that to annul the use of
either OF the metals as money is to
abridge the quantity Of circulating
medium and is liable to all objections
which arise from q comparison Of the
benefits Of q full with the evils Of a
scant circulating medium" In this
view Mr. Jefferson cOncurrod, saying
that Tho unit must stand upon both
metals"
1t was found that the commercial
ratio was Is TO |, and Congress by
resolution July &, 1855, declared that
the money unit should be q dollar, and
by resolution of August s, 1856, fixed
that dollar at 37ii grains Of fine
silver and 24s grains Of puro gold,
which were thought to respectively
represent the commercial value of the
metals to be coined.
At that time both metals were in
universal use a primary money.
The commercial value of silver and
gold bullion, Ike other commodities,
is controlled by tho law of supply ana
demand, and - soon as the United
States and tho EurOpean nations closed
their mints to silver the decreased de-
mand lessened the price Of silve" bul-
lion, whilo the increased demand for
gold thereby increased the price. OF
gold. thus the two metals parted
company in value as well as in money
use.
1t will hardly be questioned that in
tcrnational free coinage would restore
silver to par with gold In such case
gold, no longer having the monopoly,
but being. in competition with silver,
would fall in price and silver would
rise until parity was reached.
1T Will also be conceded that the