The advocate., 1897-09-22
A GOOD TIME TO STUDY THE MONEY
QUESTION,

The experience of the people Of thu
United States, and especially those o.
the West and South, during the pas
few years has been anything but agree
able or profitable; and the things We
now see when compared with those
which have passed out of sight though
not out Of memory, afford useful lessons
on the subject Of money.
Let us look at few features of the
situation. On the one hand, there was
an outcry last year against 5O-cent dol
lars; on the other hand, the cry was
equally loud against the prevailing scar
city OF money. Now, though silver has
fallen so low that what was then 90
cent dollar Is to-day Accent dollar, we
hear nothing on the subject-they are
all 1OO-cent dollars. Nor do we now hear
anything about the scarcity of money.
AS all dollars are good nOW-though
they are not a whit better than they
were year ago, 80 money is said to be
plenty now-thOugh there is no more
money in the country than there was
in September, 1896.
These two facts are well worth study
ing by every person who wishes to un-
derstand the money question" We
Populists have been advised by some of
cur leading men to concentrate our en-
ergles on the money question, and these
same leading men assume that all there
is Of the money question is involved in
the free and unlimited coinage of silver
and gold at the ratio of 16 to 1, sup
plemented by paper currency redeem
able in coin.
If the position of these men who advise
us be correct, they must satisfactorily
explain the changes above mentioned.
What has made the same dOllars-'real
money" dollars, tOO-that were fraudu-
lent last fall, good now; and what has
made an abundance of money out of a
scarcity without increasing the amount?
The Populist that believes in the Off
clally declared doctrines Of his party has
no difficulty in explaining these things;
but the men who insist on metallic
basis and believe that all debts must be
finally paid in gold and silver will have
trouble in harmonizing their theory with
the facts.
The metallic theory involves large is
sues Of paper currency redeemable in
coin, and it must be issued by banking
institutions owned and conducted by
corporations or by individual persons
Republicans favor national banks, and
they are now considering the feasibility
of enlarging the system to include
branch banks in all parts Of the country.
The Democrat party opposes national
banks and favors State banks Of issue
to supply the rural demand for money.
So that whatever paper currency is re-
Quired, the metallic theory would fur
nish through private agencies and 1t
must all be redeemed in coin.
Moreover, the bimetallic theory i'm
plies ratio between the market value
Of the two metals, and there is no more
room in the bimetallic theory for the
fiat" idea than there is in the mono
metallic theory. The ratio first estab
lished in the United States was l to Is,
in 1892. In 1884 it was changed to to
16, and that is the legal ratio now. BIZ
metallists are divided into two classes,
both believing in a certain fixed ratio.
They differ only about the means to re-
store the ratio and Of readjusting the
relations between the two metals. But
both classes reject the fiat theory. Re-
publicans, Democrats, and those Popu-
lists who believe that paper money must