Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1897-10-22

mint price of gold or silver-Thl
rate per standard ounce at which thu
mint converts bullion into unlimited
legal tender coins"
So it is quite clear that under free
coinage at which coinage rate is fixed
for the conversion Of bullion into coin
there is mint price as defined by the
first of gold authorities on such mat
ters. And that Mr.. Gage is unaware
Of the accepted meaning Of the term
mint price," is not the fault OF
bimetallists.
It is very true, as Mr.. Gage asserts,
that Call the mint does with the man
who brings to the mint certain num-
Der of grains of uncoined gold, is to
give him in return the same number of
grains in coined gold, less enough to
pay for the metal alloy used by the
mint IN coming But this is equi-
valent to fixing minimum price for
gold for no man, when he can take
standard gold to the mint, that is, gold
and have it coined and returned to him
as gold coin at the rate of $3.50 for
every ounce deposited, will sell an
ounce of standard gold for less than
this, the mint price, nor will any man
sell pure gold at a less rate than $20.67
an ounce, this being the amount of
gold coin that pure ounce of gold will
make, and what is true Of gold would
be, under free coinage, true of silver.
The price Of pure silver at our present
mint ratio would be fixed at $1.29 per
ounce and the mint price per standard
ounce at 81 16 All.
But Mr.. Gage asserts that this coin
age OF silver would not make demand
for silver, that the government would
not buy silver, but would merely give
silver dollars in return for silver bull
lion The latter part of this is true; the
government would not purchase the
silver, and would not in itself make
demand for silver, but with the nlints
open to free silver coinage. every man
with debts to pay would make a
demand for silver and every debtor
would be a buyer of silver bullion or
dollars as long as any could be had
cheaper than gold, just as every debtor
would be a purchaser Of silver dollars
to-day and no debtors, save those with
gold contracts to meet, purchasers of
gold dollars, if silver dollars could be
had cheaper than gold.
Mr.. Gage asserts that debtors would
not be in general, under free coinage,
use silver in payment Of their debts,
that most debtors would prefer to
many will do so at any sacrifice" and
that only "a few will forfeit both for
the most paltry consideration. But
debtors do not consider to-day that
they are forfeiting honor and integrity
when they offer silver dollars or silver
certificates in payment of their debts,
and creditors do not hold them in any
the less respect because they do so. And
it would be the same under free silver
coinage.
It is said the the case would be
that silver dollars are now
worth just as much as gold dollars,
that they would not be under free
coinage. But what makes silver dollars
and their represen tatives-s silver certifi-
just as much as gold dol
lars to day? Nothing at all. save the
fact that debtors use them in payment
Of their debts when they are. more
plentiful, whenever the banks pay them
out in preference to gold or greenbacks.
If debtors did not so use them silver
dollars could not now be kept at par
with gold And as they are kept at par
by the commercial
demand for them, so the new dollars
coined under free silver coinage would
be kept at par
It is indeed asserted that so many
would be coined under free coinage
that they would more than fill the
demands for money, that there would
De no demand for gold. If so, gold
would go to a premium. go out of use
Is money, be exported to where it could
oe used as money. But if it did, the
7olume of money in gold standard
countries would be appreciably expand
ID and gold cheapened, while the
demand of the American people for
money falling solely on silver would
:ause that metal to rise. And as our
domestic exchanges equal the exchanges
domestic and foreign of all Continent