The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-08-12
SILVER No1-TTT,
DEAD YET. -,

slvLh y HE rccent decline in the price u silver and the rise In the
a price u wheat has caused nm of our godbng friends To
upon the bcnightcd followers of the sixteen to one hy"i". "t"'. They say
.that the rise In the price u wheat and the fall In the price Of silver proves
conclusycy that the decentralization Of silver had no effect whatever upon
the price of commodities and that its remonetizatim would be a vain act
The abSurdty 81 suh a statement is ~ patent that one feels that u would
hc IN ofcn~e to common sense To undertake to discuss the question with one
viii c par1oncd for attempting to reason even with a goldbng. Now here
is the solution The republican party and the Mckinley Aid Society, y
headed by Carlisle and Cleveland, favor the reconciliation of silver II done
by the evaporation Of the leading commercial nations Of the world. The re-
publican party has sent to Europe three gentlemen as the representatives Of
the government Of Washington, and Is paying their expenses for the purpose
f urging upon the European powers the Importance OF restoring silver to It's
ancient function ~ a moncJ metal, II II Is not necessary-f the striking
down Of silver In 1873 did not affect disastrousy the industrial anairso' this
country and indeed all other countries, why go 10 this expense and troufc*
II We have plenty Of money II the prices Of commodities, the wages labor
the happiness u mankind is not to be promoted and improved by the reha
Utilization " silver, we ask again, in The name Of common sense, why this
tins trouble and anxiety about IT. VIII some ~apicn', soulful Sound mon
ry" soldier Of the single standard answer that question: Now, as tothc fall
N the price Of silver and rise In the price Of wheat Our anricrons friends
have hardly gotten to that stage " mental d'gcncracy where they will be
willing to admit that supply and demand do not affect the prices "f com
moditics. Then, II they recognize the existence and potency Of that law the
hI in The price Of silver and rise in the price Of wheat can very readily be
accounted for. fMr. the the former, the demand has been limited by legisa
ton and the supply has not been reduced, and therefore a surplus Is the re-
suit, add prices 20 down. For the latter, the demand has increased and the
supply IL limited consequently the price of wheat advanced and silver dc.
fcincd. That is all there is to- 1t purely a question Of supply and demand
There is another feature Of the question which " c desire tocaIlattcntion to
II silver rs rcmonctNrd with the present demand and supply for wheat
do our poldbug nicnd~contcnd that ii would no. be worth a great deal more
than IL is today? We hardly think they do. However profoundly misin-
formed they may he on ,hsgrcat question they would not be guilty Of such a
soccism. But "c would scarcely he aNoniShcd at anything a goldbug would
say n the money question. They arc only JcrsiHently consistent in being
Inconsistent. They reason in spots. aud scatter In delivery. From Carlisle
dowu to the note shaver on the street corner, We have never read of OF heard
one tax thirty minutes who did not either rcutc his own arguments o con-
Wet himself of idIocy, No. the silver question is not dead. 1t is just aN
alive today as It has been at any time since 1874, and it will continue tolvcl
until 1t shall be restored to It's pristine function IS a money metal. Its
right, and We believe that in the end right universally trinmphs