The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1898-12-22
"co;r' HARVEY
Defines and simplsilss BimcsaiIis1 for
Readers Of sThe Tines"

The statement has heen niaslr to me
that not one III tea Of oar voting pop.
ulaiion knows. undersiandingly. what
blme,llli Is, and | have been asked
10 define Il.
Il Is the right TO use either Of two
metals for moaey--gold aud silver.
The supply reaches the people through
the minis OF the Government, by the
n,lnls being opeu to coin all that comes.
The option, known as the bimctallic
option, Is with the Government and the
people to use either of the two metals
10 the discharge Of thoir Obligations.
II the Government is paying It's sol
diers, is employees, ils numerous OIL
cills, or other obligations, under bi-
mciallism, Il has the right to pay Ia
money made from either metal. II
the people are paying their taxes 10
city, stats or nation, purchasing post
age stamps, OF dischargiag thsir obi
gallous to each other, under bimclal.
ism, they baye the RICH, to pay IN
money made from either Of the two
. metals.
/, thus places tho two metals In cont
petition with each other 10 supply the
demand for money. Thus one relieves
The strain upon the others one eye
relieves the strain upon the olher.
With the option with the people 90
use money made from either uf the two
melah they controlled the demand, and
placed that demand on the one tia,
was the most accessible, II silver
grew cheaper, they shifted the demand
to It, aud took tho demand away from
gold; he. CO silver rose Ia cC.amerciai
value, md gold declined. II gold
came TO be the cheaper, they, the peo-
pie, used il, thus shifting the demand
to gold, aud taking II away from sill
yer. Aud IL was the den. ID thus con-
,rollcd by the people, rs such and IA
Government, that practically MAIN
tanned the commercial parity Of tho
two metals for NIL time prior 10 1873.
Following the act Of 1873 the option
was given to the creditor 10 demand
either Of the two metals--just the re-
verse of bme,allism; aud the result Is
that the creditor demands the dcarer Of
the two mttals--and the dcareT Il gets
the more apt he Is to demand it. In
der bimctallism. the use of two metals,
the people coald be depended upon,
naturally, TO shift the demand alto
matiually to the cheaper OF the two |
metals when either was cheaper than
the other Taking the demand away
from the dcarer brought ii down in |
value, and placing Il on the cheaper |
brought the latter up In valua--thus
the commercial value OF the tvo was
maintained at a parity. The effect |
was to give practically the volume Of
the two metals to our stock Of metallic |
currency; aud furnished the basis for
an equally enlarged volume Of paper |
moncy-under redemption monetary |
system.
The theory Of tae open minis to coin |
all that came Of either meta! was u let
the supply reach the people. Close
the minis TO either aud you Shut of tho |
supply and force the use Of the other.
The open miuts 10 the tgo metals gave |
the supply, aud the people controlled
the demand. II silver rOse In value,
Il stunned the minis and was shipped |
abroad to pay debis---as |, was for a
time prior 10 lS1S--nr In exchange for
gold, and the latter was added to the
domestic supply that went to the miHls,
and vice versa. Neither could rise in
value and cx,ort tribute from th; pco.
pie 81 long as the other was In c1mpo-
tilion with it--opcn miulS and option
with the people.
The Government bought neither
metal. The mints were open 10 coiu
all that came Of either metal, and 10
give back the coins 20 those whp had
b:olgh: the bullion. Il was coined
free because il was craftsmanship for
the Government to facilitate aud pro-
vide way for money, ono Of the prin-
o.Pal functions Of society. Bimeiallism
therefore consists Of open minis and OPP
ton with Tho people to usc either.
Under binictallism there Is no such
thing as gold contracts; il is "eoiu"
contracts.
Tho reason why the demand, shifted
from one metal to The other rs cSeried
by nation like the United States, will
maintain the commercial parity of the
two metals, Is because of the worlds
limited supply Of the two metals, All II
the gold In the world, at the present
time, available for money, will 20 In
tho cube Of - feet; all the silver in
the cube Of Gs feet. All tho gold In
tho uuitcd States will go In an average
size bed room; all the silver In almost
any farmers barn.
W. II. HARVEY.