The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1897-09-05

often. the option was of advantage be.
cause II protected him against a corner
in either metal.
Question Gin what country does BIZ
metallism in fact now exist in it's none
tary system, where coins of both metals
circulate as money
Answcr-Giold and silver do not now
circulate concurrently at q fixed ratio
in any country where free ard unlimited
coinage is given to both metals, the rea-
son being that the bimetallic standard is
not i'll force in any nation sufficiently
important to furnish IL Use for all the
gold and silver presented for coinage.
h:mctalii5ts contend that the United
States IL great enough to do what a
smaller nation cannot accomplish.
y RATIO OF EIGHT TO ONE.
Question IF the act of 1873 instead
OF dropping the coinage OF the silver
dollar had provided the 206A grains OF
standard silver should h]cnceforth be
coined without limi. or seignoragc, and
be Il legal tendc for 81, would such
coins have circulated as money side by
side with the gold coins and been worth
100 cents In gold ?
Answer-To have constituted oO6A
grains of standard silver a dollar, the
gold dollar remaining rs it was, would
a : vi q I L.,
instead of 16 to ]. 1t would have been
impossible TO maintain the parity be-
tween gold and silver at that ratio,
because other nations offered n more
favorable ratio to gold. But When we
establish the ratio of l6 TO l, we give
gold n more favorable ratio than now
exists in European rations. and there
fore there would be no reason for gold
leaving us.
Question S-If the act of 1873 had pro-
rided. as suggested In question Z. would
our silver mines have beer worth twice
IA much. and would silver mining have
been correspondingly more profitable :?
AnSwer--While the establishment. Of
the ratio of S to /, suggested in cues
ION 4, would not lave maintained the
parity between gold and silver, it would
have continued the demand for silver as
money, and to that extent IL would have
protected the silver miners from the loss
which hostile legislation has entailed
upon them.
Question 9-Would the silver dollar
permit OF yet further impairment az to
its weight n finencss, and yet eficient-
~ fnlhl1 the Grand and function OF q
dollar?
Acknowledgements has a eight 10 coin
money and regulate the value thereof.
and this power was exercised in the be-
ginning when the ratio of Is 10 l was es-
i2blished. 1t was again exercised In 1894
when the gold dollar was reduced In size
and the ratio changed to l6 to I. There
is no desire upon the part of bimetallists
to change the ratio now existing be-
tween Sid and silver coins. Bimctal-
lists simply desire 10 restore a system
which once existed. and TO give back to
silver the coinage privileges once en-
joycd by it, and now monopolized by
gold.
COINS HAVE BEEN CHANGED.
Question 10-Could our gold and silver
coins be Ncorrespondingly reduced In
weight n hncness simultaneously and
their existing alu and efficiency as
money be maintained by statute ?
Answer-The fineness of the gold dol
lar. the nneness OF the silver dollar, and
the weight Of the gold dollar have all
been changed since 1892 without injurIng
their efficiency, but, of course, these
changes affected their value. The
amount OF pure silver in the silver dol
lar has never been changed since the
first dollar was coined. But the ques-