The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1897-09-22
THE PRESENT STATUS OF
SILVER.

the present state OK the silver
mar ket, as soEae Of them profess
to do. The itope is expressed by
advocates Of the RECOMMENDATION OF
that metal that the quotations OF
silver bullion may continue to fall
until they reach a point 80 low AZ
to produce q financial revolution
which will result, by some occult
process, in the restoration of silver
to it's former standing. We con-
Tess our inability to see any good
grounds on which to base such a
hope. Silver as monetary stan
dard has been constantly losing
ground among the leading ma.
tons. Ali the great commercial
powers of the world are either en-.
tirely on, geld basis today or
they are shaping their financial
measures towards such Il basis.
What reasons have our silver
friends to believe that these ma
tons will suddenly reverse their
policy and 10y deciding to 'reha.
bilitatUo silver throw iuto coDta-
sion the worlds finances? LII the
opinion of The Free Press there is
not the slightest nope that the
gold standard nations can be III
duCcd to change their present atti'
tude towards silver. They Ger
tainly will not do so simply be-
cause the price Of silver bullion
touches point 80 low as to en-
danger its standing as precious
metal. The greater the disparity
between the two metals the more
difficult will it be to convert the
world to the sixteen-to-One theory
Nor does it seem reasonable tC
suppose that the low price OF sill
yer will ultimately produce Il revo
luton IN the financial world. Sd
yer, like everything else that Ii
used by man, is Il comm"dlty
whose value depends upon the
laws Of supply and demand, and
there is no more reason why a rev
olutlon should take place BECAUSE
silver is so little in demand rs tC
bling but forty cents per ouace
than because wheat sometime,
gets down 70 fifty cents PEI bush
Il. The question is pot a seu;l
mental one ana the people are u0'
going to rise in Indignation at tht
wrongs If silver, as though it were
something srntient, and demanC
that it be restored to its ancieuI
right and privileges.
If we look to the increasing out
put of gold as factor that may
revive the dropping fortunes o
silver we can discover little in tina
direction to encourage hope fo
the sixteen tO-One men. 1t is YER,
true that the worlds supply o
gold has greatly increased during
late years and that recent discoye
ries promise 20 make the ontpu
greater in the near future than i
has been in the past. But if til,
worlds supply Of the yellow meta
is increasing, it must be remem
bered that the demand for it, con
segment upon its larger use a
money aud the necessities of =;
growing worlds commerce, is like
wise increasing. Unless, there
fore, unheard Of discoveries shall
cnol mously Increase tho Volume o
this metal and make it IA commo!
metal like Iron, there Is 10 DANCE
Of its losing it's value rs compare,
with silver. Hence we can see lit
tie prospect Of the worlds stack Q
gold becoming SO large us to ma
terialIy affect its commercial rati
with the white metal.
Then the great stability Of gol
"A quality of vital Importance t
a standard of values-its compare
tive scarcity, its convenience an
It's universal acceptance as Il med
um Of exchange, give it an advai
tape over silver which no artifci.
eXpedient can ever overcome.
These are some of the reason
among many more that might b
! advanced which force us to the cor
cluSi0n that silver men have notl
Ing in the present situation to wal
rant their hopes for their fayorit
metal Detroit Free Press.
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The TrHc Remedy.