The Forrest City times., 1898-04-08
UNDER FREE COINAGE.
The United states Can Maintain the
Parity of Gold and silver at the
Ration of sixteen TO One.

Ration of sixteen TO One.
From the speech of Hon. John f.
Shafroth, of Colorado, in the house of
representatives, February ), 1896:
"Can the United States alone under
take the free and unlimited coinage of
silver and maintain that metal on n
parity with gold at the ratio of sixteen
10 one? 1t is conceded by those who
believe in international bimetalism
that if the United States can make IA
greater demand upon silver than there
is silver in the world available for
coinage that such demand would es-
tablish the parity of the metals and
that the parity would be maintained If
the demand thereafter kept pace with
the production. The question, then,
must be determined by the greatness of
the demand which the United States
can make for that metal. Mr.. Mulhall,
an eminent English statistician, in an
article in the North American Review,
last June, states that the effective force
of the United States is equal to that of
Great Britain, France and Germany
combined. Prof. Francois, French
economist, has recently estimated that
the United States contains one-fourth
of the wealth of the entire world. Such
wealth and power backing the legal
tender quality given to silver is bound,
under free coinage. to create an almost
unlimited demand for that metal. But
let us analyze the demand. II is esti-
mated by the secretary of the treasury
that there is in the United States $780,
265,023 of gold stock. The gentleman
from Maine (Mr. Dingiey) stated this
afternoon that if free coinage was es-
tablished and gold went to "A premium
of one per cent, that all the gold would
leave the country or go out of circula
ton. Let us assume, for the sake of the
argument, that his statement is true.
What would follow? There would be
created by that withdrawal of gold an
instantaneous demand for silver o take
its place. Where would the silver come
from to supply that demand? First
We know that outside of the United
States treasury there is no large guam
tity of silver available for coinage any
where in the world. If as much as $685.
100000 of silver bullion were stored any
place the public would know it. So it
is clear that hardly any part of the de-
mand could be supplied from bullion in
existence. Second-We know that the
silver to supply such a demand could
not come from the arts, because the
workmanship spent on silver articles
makes those articles worth more than
the coinage value of silver. Third-We
know that the silver coins of Europe
would not come to this country for
coinage, because they are in circula-
tion in Europe on gold vnlu-
alton at a lower ratio than ours.
The ratio in Europe is 1874 tol, which
makes an ounce of silver worth Sl.3j
coinage value); whereas the ratio in
this country is sixteen to one, which
makes an ounce of silver worth Sl.20
Coinage value). 1t cost the Euro
peans $l.33 TO get an ounce of silver
coins, because they maintain the pari-
~ of silver coins; then why would
any holder of European silver coins,
which cost him at the rate of $1.33 an
ounce, have them minted into Ameri-
can coins that are only worth $1.2o
the European coins, which constitute
the great mass of silver coins in the
world, would not be sent to America
for coinage. Fourth--The only coun-
tries from which any silver coins might
come are from those that are upon a
silver basis, namely. Mexico, India,
Japan, China and few insignificant
countries. The stock CT silver in all
these countries constitutes practically
all their circulating medium. 1t
amounts to only $i.3s per capita in
Mexico, S2.0f in japan, S3.3t in india
and $1.S0 per capita in China. Can
these countries spare any of their
coins, especially in view of the great
manufacturing development that they
arc now enjoying? Ii so, must it not
be limited to only a few million dol
lars? Can anyone with reason main
tain that as much as 5000, ,256, ,023 in sill
yer coins would be shipped from those
countries to our mints? 1t must be
borne in mind that if they bring their
silver here for coinage they must use
it here. 1t will not circulate in their
country any more than a foreign coin
will circulate here. In order to use il
they will have to buy something with
il, and if they purchase goods or prod
ucts it is so much to our advantage.
All these facts are serious obstacles in
the way of anyone sending foreign
silver u this country for coinage.
conclud=, therefore, that it is hardly
in the range OF possibility that $685.
256,023 in silver should be shipped from
foreign countries to our mints for coin
age; that therefore there is not suf-
ficient available supply of silver in the
world to meet the demand of the United
States for that amount. But that is
not the only demand which the United
States can make on silver. There are
$3i6,o00,000 of United States notes
called greenbacks, and there are $l37,-
100000 of United States treasury notes
issued under the Sherman act. The
only reason they are kept in existence
is on account of there not being suf-
ficient money to take their place. The