New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1896-10-14

production of silver Il Is simply astoand-s
ing to be told that the ratio between the
/ production of silver and gold h1s been
pretty constantly dimmlshing or the
part of silver; that is to say, in 15Oe We
had 36 ounces Of silver to every ounce of
gold; in 1890 we had 81 ounces ofsllyer
to one of gold in 1850 We had 31} Of
silver to one of gold; in 1878. 90 ounces
of silver to Of gold and in 1895, f944
ounces of silver to. / of gold.
Again our opponents say that the price
of silver has fallen because the cost of
Iproduction has fallen, but it must be re-
remembered that reduced freight rates.
reduced price of fuel, redueed price of
labor and improved method Of treatment
of ores apply as we'll to the production.
of gold as to that of silver, taken as a.
whole. Therefore, there is no reason
why the value of gold should have risen
and the value Of silver fallen. Statistics
SHOW that there are very great annual
variances in the amount of gold and sill
yer produced, which overproduetion or
underproduction cannot be explained by
the cost of production.
Our opponents also call attention to
the fact that prior to 1873 we had coined
only s million silver dollars and about
1872 millions of fractional currency, but
that is easily explained by the fact that
our legal ratio was 16 to l., while in
France it was 154 to /, 90 that one could
get more for his silver in France than he
could here and it was naturally taken
there for coinage.
They also claim that it is not gold
that has advanced but that all other com:
modities lave decreased in, value, but
they admit that the price of nearly all
commodities have been nearly cut in two
since 1873 And they admit that there
is now that immense difference in the
purchasing power of a gold dollar. Ev-
en- if we should admit that the prices of
other commodities have fallen while the
value of gold has remained stationary, it
would yet have to be said, that money
that increases in value so rapidly is not
good money and that if there is Il means
of keeping its relative value on level
with other values, that means should be-
adopted, We claim that the increased
value of gold is owing entirely to the
characterization of silver and that II mon
etization of silver will bring about the
same relative values between gold and
.other commodities which the same con-
ditions produced for more than 200 years
prior to 1878,
The result of demonetization has been
that we have been on a falling market
since 1878, and that there has been no
inducement taking the entire period since
rs to invest money in purchases or in
commercial enterprises, because while
mo-ey rises in value it is more profitable
to hold money than it is to hold property.
! Thereby the prlce of all property and
products are further depressed. The re-
suit of all this is, that all real and per-
sonal property held as security for
debts has dwindled down until it is no
longer sufficient to pay the debt, and the
equities of the owners have been de-
stroyed. This dwindling down in the
value of securities has caused numero us
| failures of banks and commercial houses,
and will result in the most stupendous
crisis that we have ever had in this coun-
try if speedy change is not brought a
bout,and this change can only be brought
about by remonetizing silver, whereby
the value Of money will arpreciably de-
cline and tine value o: all other property
appreciabley rise; whereby, again, enter
prise will he stimulated, labor and raw
material come into demand and era of
prosperity follow.
q. Continued on 5th page.