Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-09-15
GAGE VS., BRYAN.

That Secretary Lyman ]. Gage IS
gifted with a certain kind of brains
and ability is attested by the fortune
he has amassed and his high standing
in banking circles. A man may ac-
comIish these things, however, and
still be grossly ignorant in every other
avenue of human knowledge and even
of true finance.
In his attempt to show that Mr.. Bry-
an Sophisticated" when he spoke Of
the mint price of silver that would be
established under free coinage Mr..
Gage showed himself either very igno-
rant of the first principles of this cur
rency problem, or else guilty of soph-
istry, himself If it is sophistry and
not ignorance, then it is sophistry of
the weakest kind. We are inclined to
give Mr.. Gage credit for honesty, how
ever, hence, we can only credit his
astonishing statement to ignorance on
his part, and it is not the first time
since his elevation to the Office of Sec
rotary of the Treasury that Mr.. Gage
has displayed this ignorance of the
principles underlying the money ques-
ton.
Mr.. Gage loses sight of the estab-
lished fact that the mint price is al
most everything when we are dealing
fnrn fo1c eli
and gold. He loses sight of the fur
Their fact that silver was deprecated
by law and that its true value can be
re-established by law. While it is pos
sible, under free coinage, for one of
these metals to rise above the mint
price, it is impossible for it to fall be-
low it. If the mint guarantees that it
will pay S1.29 an ounce for silver bull
ion by stamping it to that effect in dol
lars that are as good as gold dollars
for the payment of debts, no man will
take less than S1.29 for his silver bull
ion. An extraordinary demand for
silver in the arts might raise it above
that price, but it could not fall below
it. Gold has never fallen below the
mint price, although much more of it
has been mined than silver at the ratio
of Is to l since the demonstration Of
silver.
Secretary Gage not only proves him
self ignorant of this fundamental fact
in coinage, but incapable of appreciate
ing the facts of history as regards the
worlds coinage of money. His own
department of the government, The
treasury, has issued tables showing
the price of bar silver since 1888 and
he will see in these that in no year
between 1888 and 1S73-forty years
did silver sell in London for less than
to 1 ratio. 1t was only after demoneji-
cation by the act of 1873 when the
minis refused to coin it with gold free
ly, that silver fell below s129 an ounce.
Before that time silver was quoted as
high as $1.34 an ounce and at the time
of its demonstration it was quoted at
1892
When other governments followed
the action of the United States the drop
that followed in silver fully demon
strates that its price was affected by
law, although it is a favorite assertion
of the gold sophists that the law can
not create value nor deprive anything
of value. What is true of silver would
be equally true of gold had gold instead
of silver been demonetized. The prime
use for both Of these metals is for
coined money; take away this prime
use and demand by statute and the
price of the metal is bound to fall; re-
store this use and demand and the price
is bound to be restored unless there
has in Ehe meantime been an enormous
~ reproduction of the metal at the 1e
, &c ratio, which is not true of silver.
for gold production since 1873 has been
much greater at this ratio. This is a
simple, fundamental law-the law of
supply and demand-which Secretary
Gage appears to be totally ignorant OF
in this connection.