Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-05-15


handspring of watch No people ever did
business under the Imaginary dou BILE standard.
and every attempt to enforce it has resulted in
alternating from standard to the other.
England tried 1t for 40 years. and it was an
utter failure France changed her ratio 11S
times in II years trying to walk the double
standard tight rope We tried it and went first
to a silver basis, then to gold basis. then to
a paper basis and then back to a gold basis.
The phrase ''double standard is contradic-
ton of terms Standard means correct meas
ure, and there cannot be two different correct
measures of value any more than there can be
two different correct weights to sell by, two
different correct compasses to sail by or two
different correct thermometers to measure
temperature by. If one measure is correct, the
other cannot differ from it and be correct.
Gresham's Law.
II is an memorable law Of money that when
two metals are coined a fixed ratio and both
made legal tender. if either is undervalued in
the coinage law the undervclued metal goes
out of circulation About the middle of the
fourteenth century Nicholas Orcsue, the
father of finance in France, announced his
great law to Cha rles V; 10 years later Copper
nicus, the founder of modern astronomy, an
nounced it to the Prussians. and 81 years still
later Gresham announced it TO Queen Eliza
beth Macaulay in his History of England
shows how perfectly this law worked in Eng
land and e1oquently describes the direful
consequences He was describing coins de-
based by clipping, but still legal tenGcr. coin
is just as bad when debased by generalization
in coinage as when clipped counterfelted.
In tn one case the creditor is deceived, and
in the other he is forced. 1t is simply the
difference between theft and robbery The
law of money has never failei We know w hat
will be its operation just 5 know that the
deadliest poison will kill because it always has
killed.
We Now Have 16 to L BimetalIis1n.
The gold standard advocates believe in gold
standard with the ltrgest possible safe
of silver among the people. The Is to l
dreamers believe in the SO called double stand
ard and we driven by this law to the use
o silver alone. standard
tries large amounts of silver and no
silver standard country any gold what
ever. AS the practical question is the use
of the metals, 1T follows that the
bi1netallist. and the Is to l people the
monometallist. Hence the battle that is to
be fought to a finish next year is whether We
will remain under gold standard. with actual
bimetallism in use among the pcople-goid
and silver circulating freely without discrir-
inaticn against either-or shall we have so
called double standard at the mints and no.
where else, with silver recommendation in ac
tual usef The battle is between substance and
shadow, between those who want bimetallism
in fact and those who want it in name only
We the friends of silver money, who would
bring to its aid the power of the government
to keep it good, and they are its enemies,
who. by unlimited coinage, would take from
it the guarantee of parity by the government
and thereby degrade it to its market value.
Our government has been and is now coin
ing silver at the ratio of 16 to L. 1t is enabled
to do this, because under the law it can re-
strict the amount coined, and, being vested
dollar good money. The moment the govern
ment loses control of the coinage, confidence
in its ability to protect the money issued is
gone and a silver dollar then rests its
it and is worth 80 cents. To illustrate: A
merchant could very well guarantee the eN-
penses of his clerk if he allowed to con-
troll the expenses but if the clerk demanded
free and unlimited expenses then the 1ner-
chant would have to ''stand from under and
let the expenses take care of themselves.
We hear great deal of indignant declama-
11.-J1rf ,ft
''coin' obligations in silver. To maintain the
parity between gold and silver it is essential
that the government in receiving its dues and
paying its debts must ignore the lnfer1orlty of
silver, just mother pretends not to see the
limp of her lame child. This gives the option
of metals to the person dealing with the gov
eminent, whether debtor creditor. If the
government should discriminate against silver
by refusing to receive it for DIES. by insist
ing paying it instead of gold, that moment
the parity would be gone ard the silver in
every mans pocket would would be ! a dis
count. Its coinage being under the control of
the government, the government makes it
good at its counter, and this makes it good at
every counter in the world.
If there is anything in the double standard
stability idea we ought to work for it for all
it is worth. If two metals Will fix value better
than one, then three metals will beat two. and
four beat three, and by having eight ten
metals in the standard we can anchor it 50
that it will not crawl an inch in LOO years.
The second proposition is that gold has ap-
preciated and thereby depressed prices. The
same cause operating upon number of ar
ticleS will produce the same effect in all those
not affected by contravening cause. When
we contemplate prices, we find that since the
gold standard adopted, Feb. Il, 1873, some
articles have declined in value some have
remained stationary, while some risen in
price, and contravening causes will ac-
count for the failure of gold to depress all
alike We find that two articles have de-
clined at the same time or in the same de-
gree. nor has any article remained uni
formly depressed. This demonstrates that as
to those articles that have declined, no one
controlling cause can be assigned as having
produced these results.
The stock argument of the 16 to people is
that wheat and cotton have declined, and they
seem to gloat over the fact. / knew an old
negro who when asked how he was getting
along. always replied, Poorly, thank Godi'i
and they thankful when the country is
poorly on wheat and cotton. Since 1878 the
vast fertile prairies of the northwest have
been turned into wheatfields, that the pro-
duction of wheat in the United States has beer
doubled since then The same thing has beer
I going in Russia and South America The
wonderful improvements in machinery fol
harvesting wheat and the extension of rail
roads for transporting it to market gave al
immense impetus to the production of it. A
farmer can make more money raising it at 5,
cents per bushel today than he could at 81 Del
g hr1Sb 9l2 Th.ar ~,