Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-07-08
TONNE ON FREE COINAGE
Observation-Disclosures Coinage of sIExe
PraeficabIeR

SILVER 10 De desirable. For why d1S-
cuss whether it is practicable to do q
thing which it is undesirable should
be done? And IL bimetaIlism is de
sirabIe, it can be so only because the
single gold standard is undesirable.
The question also assumes that BIZ
! metallism is possible. The query is
whether independent free coinage is
practicable; the necessary implication
being that an international concert of
action on the subject would be effectu-
al. Thus the mental attitude of the
supposed inquirer is that of perfect con-
viction as to evils of gold monometal-
Iism, assurance of the necessity of the
restoration of the fuIl-money uses of
both gold and silver, confidence in the
ability of 1.-The leading commercial ma
tons to open their mints to the free
coinage of both metals and maintain
them at a parity; but doubt whether
the United States alone may safely
undertake to do it. Let it be remarked
that the argument deals with proba-
bilities and not with absolute certain
ties. 1t lies rather in the domain of
historical reasoning than in that of
fact that has. supplied the gold stand
ard advocates with much reinforce
ment of their arguments. All men are
naturally conservative. Every pre-
sumption is in favor of that which now
is. The gold standard has thus far
been upheld not so much by reasoning
in its belief as by cunningly stimulated
doubts as to the efficacy of the substi-
tute proposed, and by Iurid representa-
tions of ruin as sure to follow the rem
edy. Undoubtedly, with large num-
bers of men, these aroused suspicious
and Fictitious fears will avail to cause
submission to the existing system I'M
til such time as its rigors shall have
become so intolerable that it's victims
are ready to seek relief in what it viii
no longer terrorize them to hear called
an experiment"
The believer in the adequacy of the
international treatment must, of
course, eschew the common adages of
the gold standard cult, such as: You
cannot change value by law" ''You
can't make so cents worth of silver
into a 100-cent dollar" 1.-THE value of
For they are as valid against the BIZ
metallism brought about by interna-
tional cooperation as against that
brought about by independent action.
If law per Sc is powerless to affect value,
the law of many nations would be as i'm
potent as the law of one nation.
Law can, and does daily, affect value.
It affects value by getting in operation
forces that act upon the equation of
supply and demand. This principle
essentially true of commodities, is alb
solutely true of basic substances. The
cost of production of bullion bears an
infnitesimal relation to the value of
the full-money coins made out of it.
The sole determinant of the value of
such money units is the ratio between
the number there is of them and the
demand there is for them. No sophis-
try can elude the demonstration of
this truth. A piece of money is worth
what 1t costs to get it, not what it costs
to make it. 1t will call for more things
In exchange in proportion as it grows
scarce; and it may grow scarce from
either of two causes: Lessening the
supply of it while the exchanges to be
performed by it remain the same, or
increasing the exchanges it must per-
form while it's supply remains I'M
changed. The purchasing power of
gold has been enhanced by both of
these processes, one operating natural
ly and the other artif1cially. The
increase in the worlds population,
and the relatively much greater
increase of its exchanges, have
together furnished natural ex-
pansion of the demand for gold out of
all proportion to its increase in supply;
while contemporaneously Herewith
the nations have been guilty of the in
eXcusable and Unreasonable folly of
artiicially, that is by statute, adding
vastly to that demand by taking away,
the power of silver to respond to the
practically limitless money demand,
and imposing this magnified burden
on the gold alone. Prior to 1873 not
100000 OF people were using gold
alone for full-power money. To-day, to
use Bismarck's expressive metaphor,
the number engaged in Juggling at the
gold blanket and trying to make it
cover them is more than 400, 0OO, 900.
That gold and silver are in some of
their forms commodities and subject to
a demand for use as such, has occa-
stoned much of the muddy thinking on
monetary matters. The fact is that in
considering these metals when used as
money, we must practically neglect
their commodity aspect. As commodi-
ties. gold and silver are fitted by their
physical and chemical properties for
certain purposes, and are necessary
thereto, and will be so employed no mat
ter what they may cost. There are
some other uses where their cost I'M
doubtedly qualities the extent of their
consumption. In the great field of or
namentation, decoration and display,
however, it is safe to say that their en-
ployment viii rather increase than
otherwise in proportion as they become
costlier. There their dearness is their
chief charm. II gold were as plentiful
as iron, a very few rich mems tables
would groan under the weight of gold
service and watches and bracelets of
gold would be replaced with objects of
more precious material. Take away
from gold to-day its use as money, and
a man would not have to be moral
philosopher to hold it as ''drCss." With
at least 10 years supply, for all otner
on hand, it would become a
veritable drug in the market.
The demand for money has some
times been called an unlimited de-