The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-07-22
GRAVE HIeH PRIEST At THEV nall
FEAST or vMREAsoh Y \ thisnr

FEAST Of uMRtAsoH \ ,hIsnumtcfo Of Tnec onmonwealthoft he
paper from the pen Of Hon. Chas A. Townc taken from the July Arena
which will be found on the first page. 1t is a most able paper strong
presentation Of the facts, and an unas"erabe argument in defense OF the
cause Of bimc,aIism. IT l. long, but IT Is full Of brilliant passages preg'
nant suggestions and economic truths II VII repay a "neh readings 'n
h. worthy 10 tr placed among the great short paper by the most learned
and accune author Of modern times on this branch Of political economy
The gentle cast legation administered Ia Grover Cleveland and the ciuclda'
ton o, hi. writings and speeches On governmental questions 'h" the
master hand The crust l. brokeu-thc vail Is removed, and tue search
light Of truth OF justice and right are turned In upon it, and by this test
II prear most absurd Answering the crude aud vulgar argument employ
ed by the aippant and superficial on the subject Of al honest ""Haf a
hvn. priccd dollar ctr, Mr Towuo ~ays:
The .iupihcance Of TIN. awf nj fact ia deity obsured behind the deceptive
and ..sions plea for II dollar OF the greatest purchasing power Thsi one of
those artful expressions that are used by the advocates or tn soas an'at as "
hind of thought deterrant 1t seems 70 obvious at the first suggestion. that the
best dollar is the dollar that will buy til" most that IL is hard for a maj to get
even a hearing who asserts that N the contrary s'h I" ''"if u '' very " 'w
Idola, conceivable But a moment reflection will satisfy any zane mind that
.nch il the Az The demonstration is 50 simple that me feels like apoosiins
for makingt ietttisin respect t" principles In5'a S pam a. "S oe ' %
people arr constantly allowing themselves TO b" taken in by thu supporters " tut
single STANDARD
TIL" demonstrations this Whatever" bought b. a dollar ''et p"y' ,ne
dollar For example when q dollar exchanges fora bnsheI of wheat the dollar
bn,s the wheai and the wheat buys the dollar To say therefore that a dollar
that buys two bushels of wheat being a dollar of great purchasing power Is bet
tart than the dollar that buys IL bn-hel is to sy that thedolnr which lit requires
two bushels of wheat to buy lisa better dollar than that which can b" bought with
one tushel Consequently, t" lncrea~' the eS''''ncS !" y"n'n "n'r al u" h~a
+, A., h. to increase the scarcity NJ the stuff ont of which dollars are made 80 that
each me shall constantly stand for more and more wheat n nsing wheat more
ly as a representative Of commodities in general so that 1t 'hh constantly re
iuire more and nor Of all other things on earth to get a dollar itiS wholly
.rr.inahle that the mu with dollars should profess this philosophy but it isab
-dutly ineSptcaflc how it should receive '' supper, OF "" ".e'eS'e" ]" S'
dollar. with thing, who coInpris" about sy"uc ighths of society
Every nan with Is mach sense As a mountain goat tan comprehend the
force Of THIS argument 1t is 'tmp! nnan~"crabIe Indeed the opponents
Of silver never tr to answer it unless 1t IL one Of those tath"mlcS> fool. who
f. incapafle Of measuring the depth II his own stupidity, Touching upon
the question NJ 'intrnsir value. which tH' Ea Dug IN :" "Wy ana
ignuranty about he says
intrinsic value is IL untpnkahlcn s intrinsic distance Both distance and
vain. are relations Neither can exist or be stated except by comparison. The
vuu, al n thing is what it rs worth. and its worth what it will bring Value in
exchange ia the only value that political economy knows anything about and
what n given thing will exchange for depends m the alto oft the supply Of 1t toI
the demand tr it \ piece of money is worth what it will buy Other things
remaining The sam it will buy more when the stuff ont of which it is made Isl
rlentifnl and hs when that is scarce The proposition of the bimetaIiss rests
on only time honor,d doctrines of political economy as justified by the expert
cpe of mankind We desire o restore the parity Of gold and silver by perfectly
natural causes SIT in operation by artificial means We propose to invoke
the law tn elualne their opportunity and tom max" them Interchangeable and in
responsive to the same money demand
There is little left to be said On this subject, Mr. Townc has covered
IN. g,uIpd W. commend this paper to the thoughtful aud careful pcrusal
~ ot readers Il viii bear the ~NcrpSt test OF reason.