The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-09-18
SECRETARY CAGES LOGIC

SECRETARY CAGES LOGIC
The contribution from William j.
Bryan on the prices of wheat and sill
yer, which was recently published in
the New York World. has attracted the
attention of Lyman j. Gage, the secre-
Bryan said: cit is the contention of BIZ
metallists that the opening of our minis
to the free and unlimited coinage of sill
Yer at the ratio of 1G to l will fix a
mint price for silver, just as a mint price
is now fixed for gold. They further con-
tend that the demand thus created by
law will be sufficient to utilize all the
silver presented, and thus the bullion
value will be raised to the coinage
value"
Secretary Gage arises to contradict
Mr. Bryan and intimates that it is moth
ing short Of sophistry to use such a
phrase as "the mint price of silver" He
says there is not mint price" of either
Then he goes on to say that at the
present time the owner of gold bullion
merely takes it to the government mint
and receives it back in gold coin, less
Il small charge for alloy. Under free
| coinage, he says, the man who has sill
yer would take it to the Mint and re-
ceive it back in silver coin, less the
charge for alloy, but commercially the
silver dollars will exchange for no more
than they would if left in bullion.
We think Mr.. Gage is indulging in
hair-spitting when he talks like that.
Strictly speaking, there is no mint
price" for either gold or silver, but it
| is we'll known that the price of gold is
$20.G7 an ounce, and when silver bullion
is coined at the mint at the present
legal ratio of l6 to /, the price of an
ounce of silver when coined is $l.29.
Mr.. Bryan understands the question Of
coinage just as we'll as Mr. Gage does,
and such quihbling is unworthy of the
secretary of the treasury. The Chica-
go banker knows perfectly we'll that
what Mr.. Bryan says is true. The
closing of the minis to the free and I'M
limited coinage of silver is what has
brought the price of silver bullion down.
Open the minis and the price of silver
| bullion will go up. II the minis were
closed to the free and unlimited coin
age of gold and opened to silver, does
MIR. Gage contend that the price of gold
would not come down and that of silver
80 up? What bimctalIists ask is that
both metals get free access to the minis
and that no discrimination against eth
cr Of them be made by law.
Take India since the closing of the
minis to free. coinage of silver in 1893.
| Prior to that year tho East Indians
| could bring their silver ingots and orna-
verified into silver rupees. They can do
so no longer. When the minis were
closed the uncoincd silver fell about one
half in value, and The coined silver ru-
pee increased in purchasing power. The
raising of the value of the rupee has
caused the fall in the price of commo-
dities and a famine has ensued writ
er in the Philadelphia American says:
THE Indian people are awakening to
the fact that the closing Of the Indian
minis defrauded them Of half their saw
ings. AS they awakened to this fact
they became indignant, rcsentful, es
pecally so as many awakened to the
fact only when confronted with famine.
| and when inability to realize ON their
savings meant for them suffering and
starvation. How many lives would have
been saved in India If the famine strick-
Ell Indians could have converted their
boards OF silv,r into coined rupees.
weight for weight. as they had always
done in the past crises and as they
counted upol, doing in this last. can
never be summed up. No wonder the
Indian has laid his sufferings at the
door Of the Indian government, no won
der that his hatred for his alien ruler
has doubled since he has found that ruler
has defraudcd him out of half of his
earnings. no wonder he is indignant
and that unrest is widespread"
In the same way the people OF the
United States have been dcfraudcd by
their own government for the benefit
of the moneyed oiisarchy. The closing
of the minis to silver In 1873 and maxi
ing the gold dollar the standard Of vaue
has entailed an enormous loss upon the
producers of silver bullion and farming
commodities The creditor has had an
advantage over the debtor. Instead of
resorting to revolution by bullets like
the enslaved East Indians. the enlight-
ened citizens of this free republic will
redress their wrongs peacefully at the