Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1896-03-28
THE STANDARD.
Many Kinds of Money, But Only One
1 Unit of Value.

Many Kinds OF Money, hut Only One
Unit of Value.
A standard Is that by which anything
is weighed or measured.
Belief in a double standard is a de-
fusion. There may be equivalent stand
ards, alternative standards, two or more
variant standards, but not one double
standard. One might fabricate yard
sticks of gold and silver, but so long as
both were SO inches long they would
constitute single standard of length.
The Troy pound and the pound of
apothecaries' weight are differently
subdivided, but rs each is equal to 1850
grains Troy, they do not constitute
double, but q single standard of weight.
On the other hand the Troy pound can
not form q double standard of weight
with the pound avoirdupois, which is
equal to 1000 grains Troy. Nobody, If
he knows it, will take q pound Troy
when he has contracted. for n pound
avoirtlupois. The two do not constitute
n double standard, but two single stand
ards of widely different value.
Men who talk of the "single gold
standard" are suffering from confusion
of thought themselves or trying to in,
duce it in others. The standard must
not be confounded with different kinds
of money. There are many kinds of
money, with but one standard. We
have in circulation gold and gold Ger
tificates, silver and silver certificates,
United States notes, treasury notes of
1890 and national bank notes-seven
kinds of money, not to mention some
of less Importance. But five or ten dol
lars in one kind of money has the same
purchasing power at home as n cor
responding amount of any other. What
As that purchasing power? The pur-
|chasing power of dollar is the same
rs the purchasing power'of 25.s grains
of gold bullion, 9-10 fine, or 2322 grains
of pure gold. This is the actual stand
ard, as determined by the purchasing
power, the real test of the value of
money at any particular time and place.
Every dollar of our money will at pres
cnt buy as much as 23.22 grains of fine
gold bullion. Thus with all these seven
kinds of money, and some others of
minor consequence, we have but one
standard, which is the gold standard
II Is not new. Since January /, 1879,
every dollar of United States money has
been equal to q gold dollar. or the
amount of bullion necessary to make a
gold dollar. The standard is the bull
lion value of the coin of the standard
metal.
Now, the silver dollar contains 371A
grains of pure silver, or 412K of stand
ard silver, which means nine-tenths
fine. Coins, however, are rated by the
quantity of pure metal and not by the
alloy. Now, 371A grains of pure silver
have within two or three years been
down to As 7-10 cents. The same guam
tity is now worth considerably more,
but no one can foretell future fluctua-
tions. 1t is very plain that dollar can
not be at the same time worth As 7-1O
cents, in terms of gold. and 100 cents.
We may have one standard or the other,
but not both at once. Law can no more
make AZ hundred than it can make
black white. 1t may call AZ hundred,
but it cannot make it so.
The reason why five silver dollars buy
as much as half eagle is to be found
in the policy of the government, which
aims to keep every kind of dollar at
parity, that is, of equal purchasing
power. Silver is not forced on any one
by the government if he does not want
to take it. The same is true generally,
though perhaps not universally, in pri-
vate transactions. The policy of the
government takes away the motive for
individuals to force silver on reluctant
creditors.
There has never been any substantial
change in the standard. When the
change in the ratio was made from fif-
teen to one to sixteen to one, though
both gold and silver were the legal
standards, silver was the actual stand
are, the real measure of values, and
therefore the quantity of pure silver in
the dollar was not changed. The value
of the gold dollar was reduced. This
has induced some people to say why not
reduce the value of the gold dollar
again2 For the very reason that the
value of the silver dollar was not
changed in 1884; that is, silver was then
the actual standard, while gold is the
standard now. The sound-money men
stand against change of the standard
as they did in 1884. 1t is the silverites
who ask change, the degradation of
the dollar to one-half its present value,
or Observation-Disclosures Courier
journal.
GOLD GALORE.