Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1896-01-04
srlLLFT.
Senator Stewart CoH T" rune ovor
Freah

Senator Stewart COD ." hume ovor
FreoA
Inst now Mr. a,krt is distressed
obout tho connatH of China and
Janan with the inaSres of the United
States. He states NaSen's OF Japan
ese houses are takhorders for goods
at prices which r1nufacturers can
not meet, and thei vniha Is ABOUT to
follow suit. lama for example, is
Offering bicycles atp' out we are not
told what quality tHare' ana whether
theU are likely to M the wants of our
bicycle buyers. 1W are III would be
cheaper to board thtaakers OF our 500
bicycles at some hrelass hotel, grant
them a handsome abuiCy' ana get our
wheels from Japan.
Mr.. Stewart find IN TINS state of
things an argumeDiior cneap money.
The ,Jananese and (hinese can under
sell us because hy have the silver
standard. The arGnent by which this
conclusion is reacheis rather complex,
but it is possible . give It's leading
points. Silver has @ciined IN civilized
countries to aboutblf its value in 1873.
The silver countr9 however, such as
China and Japan d not know the diff
ference. Their vGAmen get no more
wages than they 6 before silver was
demonetized. WG1 IN gold countries,
however, have bss'golng up, not as
measured by silvG 1ut as measured in
gold. Then high ages measured in
gold prevent civiEfd countries from
competing with Cha and Japan, where
wages are at a starst Fll, as Mr.. Stewart
and his associate MAINTAIN. Their
remedy is the fre'd mage OF silver at
the ratio of sixtento one.
Suppose Mr.. sHEfrt is right, how
will free silver hsbthe American man
ufacturer? NothcT can be palmer
He will pay his VG kmen in silver in
stead of gold. thhi4, he will pay him
half the real vala that he pays now
He will nav the sne number of dollar rs
a week, but as eytr dollar will be equal
to only half .doI,f of our present cur
rency in purchasng power the labor
cost of the goods will be reduced one
half, and the Aneri can manufacturer
will again be abb t3 compete with his
competitors in China and Japan.
This is the arg1nent in a nutshell
If anyone shculdsk how cutting dowr
wages one-halfwolld enable maker o.
bicycles to sell 500 wheel for S12, w,
can only refor hin to Senator Stewart
who will doubles explain that the 81:
japanese wheel bnot equal to the S10l
American, as be night have done in hi
speech in the senate if he had though
of it.
The truth is, however, that in Chin;
the actual circulating medium is main
ly copper, alloyed with iron and tin
These coins are called 'cash," and LOO
of them are nOminally worth one tael
The latter is not coin, but weight
about 500 grains though there are dit
ferences of weights and value at differ
ent ports. The cash have, however, de
preciated until it takes 1,400 or more t
be equal to n tae of silver. If the de
probation of silver gives the Chimes
an advantage in International trade, j
is obvious that The depreciation of COZ
per increases it greatly. To head OF
the Chinese Il vii be sufficient to re
store free coinage of silver. We mus
also have the freecoinage of copper q
| the Chinese ratio, IT our manufacturer
are undone. 1t i: pity that Senate
Stewart overlookel this, but he may nc
own any coppel mines.-Louisvill
| Courier-Tourpal