The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1897-07-09

GILEE HiLirrsiAAlrAtl ~ - -tu l-SEe lA-N
business Of silver 70 be at parity with
gold than It is the business Of gold to
be al parity with silver. When by
law ratio is established between the
two at which they may be freely taken
to the minis and. not exchanged one
for the other, but coined and given back
to the one bringing them; and when,
after being coined, either may be used
indiferently for any purpose Tor which
the other may be used, the person that
has q payment to make (foE example,
the debtor) being always allowed to
choose in which kind Of coin he viii
make it, and nobody being permitted by
contract to discriminate against either
metal; the law has not fixed a price"
in the usual sense Of that teFm) upon
anything. It has simply determined
the ratio to each other at which two
substances may discharge, not a com
modify function, but a new and added
function which the law itself at that
very moment eonfers, prices" viii be
fixed by the relation between things
and these money units, as always.
Rightly viewed, then, as it seems to
me. the question Of ratio is a relatively
simple matter. When we consider how
all-dominating the money function is
and how 1imitless and constant the de-
mand is for whatever viii fully per-
form that function, it appears reason
able that the law. in the very act OF
comforting on two substances inter
ehangeably the right TO discharge this
function and respond to this demand,
may have quite a latitude in fixing the
ratio each-to-eash at which they may do
so. The law itself in granting the pow
CT to Both imposes the condition on
which alone either can exercise 1t.
When so tied together they become, IS
Cernuschi said. practically one money.
I venture to think that it has been
demonstrated that law has had incai-
culably more to do with determining
the relation between gold and silver
used as money than all other influences
combined; has been in fact the almost
exclusive factor. Indeed, believe the
incontestable data Of history prove that
this relation is susceptible Of legal fiXa-
ton for all practical purposes at any
convenient point within very wide
limits.
But can the United States alone ac-
comphsh this? have myself no doubt
of it. 1t is an established fact that
France from 1903 to 1873, with her mint
open to the free coinage OF gold and sill
yer at the ratio Of 1850, maintained
the actual parity of the metals within
her own territory and practically even
on the London markets. The London
market quotations show no wide di-
vergence from the French mint rela-
ton, the greatest being, very naturally,
during the Napoleonie wars but are so
close as to show that, making allowance
for cost Of shipment, insurance, etc, the
parity must have been maintained in
France. Indeed, correcting the mint "a
ito by allowing for the different charges
CnominaI) for coming gold and coming
silver the average market ratio for so
years i1T92-1s73), by the London quota
lions, almost exactly TALES with it, be-
ing 1850 to /. Of course, during part OF
this tire the name Of France embraces
the other countries of the Latin union
Italy, Greece, Belgium and Switzerland;
but as I remember it, they had nearly
all their coming, which was very small,
done in France and we're Of practically
no Importance in the task Of sustaining
the system.
The actual operation Of the system as
we should expect it to appear upon the
opening of our minis is exhibited in the
following words of the late William P
ST. John, a practical banker and fnan-
eier connected with affairs for many
wears. who began the study Of the coin
age question as a gold standard man.
but ended as nearly all careful and thor
ough students do end, by becoming an
earnest convert to independent bimet-
allism, and whose untimely loss to the
cause and the country is deeply to be
depIored:
'This, then, is what viii follow the re-
oDepipg Of our minis to silver: The
gold already in the treasury will re-
main there, if common sense dictates
the treasury management, that is il
the treasury exercises its option to re-
deem United States notes in silver
A premium on gold (which, let US re
member, is conceded for the sake OF
argument, as a probable, immediate
and temporary result viii not occa'
sion a contraction of the currency, banl
boards Of gold continuing to serve as
a portion of bank reserves against
their liabilities A premium on gold
viii tend to increase our exports by
causing a higher rate of foreign ex
change, that is to say, by yielding
larger net return in dollars on the sale
of bills Of exchange drawn against
goods exported. Such premium vii
tend to diminish our imports by in
creasing the cost Of bills Of exehang,
with which to pay for goods imported
The tendency Of increasing our exports
and decreasing cur imports viii be
first, 10 set our spindles running, swell
the numbers Of paid operatives, in
crease their wages, thereby adding Il
the number and paying capacity o
consumers, and thus enlarge our HON,
markets for all home products anI
manufactures with prosperity in gen
eral as the result assured. The ten
dencY of increasing our exports and de
creasing our imports win be, second
TO establish a credit balance Of trad1
for the United States. A credit balanc,
of trade means that Europe has becoml
our debtor and must settle with us il
money. EurOpe's silver money is over
valued in her gold, compared with ours
By from three to seven cents on tht
dollar. Gle refers to the Europesi
q 49, IT, - -T---.A rea---