The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1896-08-22
AN OPEN LETTER TO "siLvER. /"
A Gold Democrat Criticises the Position
Taken by SILVER"

< | OcuiOCFGb WHO CSIlSVGS III TIC IIidl
d tenance of the gold standard, y
: claiming no iniallibility for n
2 opinions, ready always to yiYea caud
: hearing to Jhe other side, TO accei
correction from them, and ready to /
one of them whenever they can col
vince me that the principles they al
v0cate are for the best interest of OF
common country. l have read you
letter in the TINES {
Aug. 18TH with particular care and a
tensiou, since it puts forth, with calm
ness and caudor OF statement, rathe
different line of argument than ha
elsewhere come under my notice; an
desire TO submit to your criticism
some conclusions / have reached In re
gard to it.
I will say frankly, in opening. that
think if you had drawn your couclu
sions from a wider range OF facts yo1
would have seen at once that the cir
cumstances with which you illustrat
your theory are but mere coiucidencs
and not the consequences of an uni
versally applicable financial law. For
irsr, if your theory that gold. disap
peared from our circulation at ont
period and silver as another becaus:
OF the difference between our coinage
ratio and that of OF other nations, is 6
valid principle Of financs, then it mus
oe That wherever the same conditions
can be shown TO exist the same results
| should follow; and second, whenever
either metal is taken from our country
TO another to replace the other metal,
that fact should be evident In the
| financial history of that country as
we'll as our own.
might repeat facts from history in
definitely to show that your theory
has not held gooa in other and
similar cases. One is sufficient. Great
Britain and France at one period
OF their history present facts
precisely parallel to those you note as
existing In France and the United
States In the period from 1792-le34.
You say in your letter, that our ratio
being l6 TO l and that of France l5f
to l, "the result was that an ounce OF
our gold could be taken TO France and
exchanged by coinage into money of
the realm for l53 ounces of silver, and
Is ounces of silver could bs brought to
this country and exchanged again for
an ounce OF gold, thereby making a
profit Of half an ounce of silver"
In the year 17I7 England adopted a
ratio of Is II to /, and this continued
to be the ratio In that country until
17T4 fn France in 1928 the ratio OF
IA 5-s to was adopted and this con.
tinued to be the legal ratio of that
nation sill l774. According to your
theory, then, ut any time from I717 to
to IVA an ounce of gold could BIZ taken
from France and with it Is l-7 ounces
of silver could be bought in England,
of which IA 5-S would buy another
ounce OF gold in France, and there
would be a profit of 1855 ounces Of
oliver, slightly more of profit than in
the case you cite. AS result the ac.
cumulatious of the yellow metal In
France should have been large and In
creasing while England should have
used in its circulation almost exclu- |
sively silver. As matter of history !
just the reverse of this is the case.
In France all through the period we |
are considering the disappearance of |
gold from circulation was Q CHRONIC |
monetary disturbance, which was not
arrested until Calonne, In 1855, secured !
3 change OF ratio TO l5a to !, doing
this expressly to make the coinage
ratio correspond with the market ratio
and thereby secure the return of gold |
to circulation, At this time this ratio
rather undervslued Silver, purposely,
Tor Calonne had observed the adyanc.
ing tendency Of gold at that time and
believed that that tendency would con-
,inue till the mint ratio he had estab-
ished WAS reached. The outcome JUS
lifted his conclusion. For at the time
hat his Law was succeeded by the law
of the consulate, which placed France
IA the single silver standard, Soetbeer
quotes the market ratio at very nearly
l5f TO !, and there was not at thai time
my observable tendency to remove
,ither gold Or silver from concurrent
circulation In France.
In England at this time circumstan.
;es were no more favorable to your
The establishment of the
alto at Is II to in I'LL had beer toi-
owed by the almost total disappear
Lnce Of silver from circulation. Except
braided and light weight coins there
vas none at all. In l774 the legal
ender function of silver was limited
~ law to g25, all silver in greater
mounts circulating by weight ouly.
Gold had not gone to France, 1t had
eft 1t. The circulation of Eugland
vas almost devoid of silver, not flooded
With 1t. Exactly the opposite =
ondition eziste1 in each nation
rom the one that the acceptance Of
our theory would lead US to look for.
And looking at market ratios, We hnd
hat silver was slightly undervalued Ia
England. gold was slightly under
alued in France. Certainly the coiu-
ge ratios did not cause gold to
cave France or silver to leave England
light 1t not have bsen, after all, that
! w&s caused inaeach nation by differ {
nee between mint ratio and the ratio /
f the open market? Is not tracing 4
our theory here like following the !
'ill-'o-the-wisp,and If 1t is 30 here, can ,
, be more elsewhere?
think that 1t has not to you. for I
o not And in the monetary history of
ither France or England any evidence
( your assertion that their more favor
BILE coinage ratios have at ditfarentj
mes drawn away from our gold or our
liver. AS to France, the fact unfor.
lnate for your theory seems to be
lat the ups and downs of the circula.
on OF the precious mstals in that {
ountry haYe gone on quite indepen-
snt of American legislation and
uninfiuenced by IL. Gold c
'ft us in the years following 1872 aud /
Id not circulate again till 1885. But
France 1t had comeiuto circul alton,