The Irish standard., 1897-09-04
WHEAT AND SILVER AGAIN.

WHEAT AND SILVER AGAIN.
The interview with cxCongress man
| To"ne. of Duluth, on wheat and silver,
which we publish in this issue, will UNI
doubtedly prove Interesting to the read
ers of the Irish Standard, whether they
| be oddities or silverites We observe
| that the Minneapolis Journal, which
! published Mr.. TOwnes talk in full, has
| made no effort to refute the arguments
! advanced by him on the great disparity
| In the price Of wheat and silver at the
present time. Why it has not attempted
| to expose any falacy in his mode of
I reasoning is self-evidant. The reason Is
that his calculation of the subject Is 80
transparent that 1t cannot conceal any
/ falacies to mislead any reader OF crdin-
airy Intelligence. and the Journal. unlike
other organs of Republican goldocracy.
tries to be fair and honorable in its
treatment of political opponents.
So much has been said to the discred-
1t OF William J. Bryan and other prL IL
| lnent opponents Of American bimetall-
ism by the urban and rural Mckinley
organs since the recent rise and fall in
wheat and silver that we deem it ex-
pedient to say something ourself in ad-
! dition to what has been so fcrcibly and
logically presented by Mr.. Towne in the
interview on cur front page.
Every one knows that wheat Is prin-
cipally used for food and silver for mon
ey. Nature has refused to yield wheat
In its usual abundance. The golden grain
Is scarce In other countries this year,
and the United States has a short crop.
The result is that the price of American
wheat has risen because Of the greater
demand for foreign consumption.
Now. why has silver fallen at the same
time that wheat has gone up: In the
frst place. legislation has essened its
use for monetary purposes while nature
Is yielding an average production The
result Is Il surplus of silver In the mark
cts of the world and hence the price has
fallen. The price OF silver Is one of
manipulation by about five bullion
III.
who monOpOli2c all bids for silver on
the London exchange These houses are
dominated by one firm and constitute a
silver trust. The price of American sill
YER can be raised or lowered at pleas
IRE by this giant London monopoly
which favcrs the British gold standard.
and 1t was easy for 1t to reduce the price
Of silver at the same time that the price
of wheat went up. Regardless Of The
law OF supply and demand" silver will
so up or down just as the bidders for
silver bullion shall agree upon the pub
lie quotations they shall make that are
most profitable to their private ends and
aims. The price of silver like that of
wheat IL fixed in the British market
though the British themselves have to
get both silver and wheat from other
countries and principally from this sido
of the Atlantic
Did we have a blmetalllc system of
currency instead of a gold standard the
American farmers during this year of
cur Lord would be getting two dollars
per bushcl for their wheat Argentine
is importing the cereal from this coun-
try: India is In the midst of a famine;
Russia has no wheat for export; France
and other European countries need all
they have for their own use, and the
United States only has small surplus
to supply the demand for bread of its
former competitors.
III Argentine had wheat to sell, its
farmers would get the same price per
bushel in the Liverpool market that the
American farmers get-namely, one dol
lar In gold. But Argentine being on a
silver basis. the farmer IN that country
could change the gold dollar for two
silver dollars. which have two dollars
value In Argentine. Tho American
farmer. on the other hand can buy only
one silver dollars worth OF commodities
III this country with the gold dollar he
gets for his wheat
Silver has fallen and will still fall un-
Til 1t is rcmonetizcd. IN other days sev-
cnty-tive per cent Of the silver product
was used for money. leaving twenty-five
per cent OF the worlds silver in the
market for the arts. Now all the silver
of the world goes to the market as a
commodity and it is bought by govern
ments for limited coinage and by indi-
viduals for ornaments. The supply for
silver is far In excess of the demand
and hence its value has fallen. Remcn-
etize it. and the price will so up as the
demand for coinage Increases. Previous
to the year 1873 when the American
congress demonetized silver, bushel of
Indian wheat was sold for an ounce of
silver in the Liverpool market. Up to