Evening star., 1896-08-07

cheap money and high prices"
strange as 1t may appear, the above
statement has not only appeared frequently
IN newspaper articles, but has been indorsed
py an alleged teacher of economics Of the
University OF Chicago, and by the Secre-
tary OF the Treasury. The first proposition
Is pure prophecy, and as prophets the par
tisans of gold stand pre-eminent. In 1878
sbey predicted that the coinage Of $50,OO0.
vent the accumulation of gold for the re-
Sumption OF specie payments. In 1856 they
predicted that If the coinage of silver were
not stopped 1t would be at a discount with
IN SIX months. In 1890 they were confident
that ruin was impending as a result of the
increase IN silver. and in 1893 they assured
us That the repeal Of the Sherman act
a,. M1u,d % insure prosperity and monetary
dictions does not seem to abate their con-
hdence IN their ability as prophets.
No Silver Monome etallisln.
Bimetallism by law has never yet become
silver monometalllism in any country or at
any time That gold and silver may be
Kept at parity fixed by law is abundantly
proved by experience. If it was done when
the demand for metallic money was in
Hnlteiy less than 1t now Is, and when the
relative supply Of the two metals was
widely dinerent. what reason is there to
IL
WIN nan our population and not more than
titne OF our demand for money, main
tanned the ratio when for forty years silver
was TO gold as Il to IS, can we not main
tam II now when the production of the two
metals. is nearly equal, being about 60 of
silver to 80 of gold.
The Threatened Contraction.
We are threatened with a contraction of
over $6OO,OOO,OOO by the withdrawal of gold.
Does any one know where this great sum
OF gold Is now? Is it in circulation or doing
money duty in this country? 1t Is doubt
fui II there Is more than two-thirds of that
amount IN the country, and but little of it
is IN circulation Its withdrawal, there
1ore' would not cause a very markell
cnange In the situation. But how is it sup
posed that 1t is straightway to leave US?
WIN lts owners incontlnently ship 1t to
EUROPE Tor storage, or will they hoard it
here?
We are told that our securities will be
thrown back upon Us, as if that were a dire
misfortune. Such obligations as are due
must be paid in any event, and If we buy
securities 1t must be at such prices as suit
US. 10 nave our securities bought back on
our own terms, and held here, can hardly
be misfortune. Gold might gradually
leave the country, but only as silver was
coined to take it's place, except of course,
such gold as would go in settling balances
OF trade, whether on the single standard or
on the double. standard.
Gresham's Law.
The sadly overworked "Gresham's law
Is supposed. apparently. to possess some
peculiar power to drive out gold, regard
less of other influences This so-called law
Is but statement of the observed fact
that when two kinds of money of unequal
value are in circulation, the cheaper dis
places the dearer, whenever there Is an
excess Of money in the country. So long
as there Is no excess the two kinds of
money are of the same value; but when
some money can be spared, the better kind,
that is, the kind that will be more valuable
elsewhere will he taken.
AS 1t is impossible to coin at once vast
sum of silver, it is difficult to conceive
how gold is to be instantly driven out.
If, however. our gold goes to Europe, 1t
will relieve the demand, and so lower the
value of gold there and thus help to pre-
serve the parity of the two metals.
THE DOLLAR OF BUSINESS.
Everett T.. Wheeler Predicts It's
Shrinknse Under Free Coinage.
One mistake that Mr.. Bryan and the
silver men make is In supposing that the
workingmen of this country are mostly
debtors. On the contrary, they are all
creditors. What they have to sell Is prin-
cipally their own work, and they ought to
get for this work the best dollar that there
is. The best dollar will always buy more
than an inferior article. During the war
with the south, when we had paper stand
ard. a gold dollar. on the average, would
buy twice as much as the paper dollar. and
sometimes would buy nearly three times as
much. The government during all this time
did its best to compel people to take its
paper dollar at the equivalent of gold but
it found this impossible.
The southern confederacy tried the same
nd nsct1N fhx
armies of the north and all the armies of
the south could not compel a man to take a
paper dollar which would not be redeemed
in gold as the equal of gold. At one time
the paper dollar was worth only forty cents
In gold. The first result of giving up the
gold standard and resorting to a paper
standard was that all the gold was with
drawn from circulation The United States
ing its gold contracts. The banks kept all
they had and sold 1t at time when a dollar
in gold was worth $3.50 In paper.
Disappearance OF Silver.
Silver at that time was on a par with
gold. and the same thing happened to the
silver coin Of the country. 1t went out of
circulation in a week, and was replaced at
first by postage stamps and afterward by
paper notes for small sums Dirty things
they were, ard deprecated, just as the
other paper notes did.
never SO poorly paid The nominal wages
in paper dollars went up, but prices Of
food and clothing went up in much great
er proportion. They were constantly
changing because the value of the paper
dollar was constantly changing. The peo-
pie that did make money out of the whole
business were the rich men and the spec
ulators. They could watch the market
and sell to the best advantage The poor
man lost in two ways. In the first place.
when his wages were paid in a depre-
ciated currency he had to buy with that
currency what he needed for his daily
wants and those Of his family and nav
the inflated prices that were caused by the
uncertainty as TO whether the paper dol
lar would be worth more or less In the
next place, If he had saved money and
put it in the savings bank, he was paid by
the bank in deprecated currency, which
was all 1t could get from its debtors The
dollar that he put in was often worth only
81 cents when he took 1t out.
What Would Happen:
What would happen IL by a dreadful
calamity Mr.. Bryan and a free silver Con-
gress should be elected Is just what did
happen during the war with the south,
The banks would Immediately stop paying
gold or its equivalent. The government,
having the opportunity to pay either in sill