Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1898-03-08


yer. the mint that freely coins anc
gives to you to use the silver or the
gold when you bring in a state ol
bullion, and gives IL back to you lu
coin. What the coin shall be worth
after you get it back depends upon
what you can get for it. The mint
does not fix that. The mint fixes nc
price. We hear mistaken employ
ment of that expression "the mint
price," PhilosOphically, there is nc
such thing as mint price. There Is
mint relation between the two IN
order to make them money. But
what the value of the money is-iu
other words. what the price OF any
thing is, reckoned in mOney-depends
upon what the Joint supply of the two
| is, compared with the demand for the
two of them. That is what cOnsti-
tutes value (applause.)
THEY BALANCE EACH OTHER.
Let US illustrate it. You have gold
and silver on a parity of privilege.
Suppose represent the two with my
hands. one being gold and the other
silver, but both together like that
(showng) upon plane Of perfect
equality constituting a joint base
upon which the values and credits OF
the world repose. Now suppose that
for some reasOn-an export, for ex-
ample,in settlement of an ad-
verse balance Of trade-one of
the metals becomes scarce
as compared with the others;
it rises above the other, therefore,
like that (shOwing.)
Now what happens? At any given
moment in the United States there
are hundreds of millions OF dollars
worth of ,debts to be paid. Forty
billions is supposed to represent the
grand aggregate Of our Indebtedness
in the United States; 81, 100, 0,000,0 900
at least of interest every year; 81, lOO,-
100000 of taxes every year; 60,OOO,-
100000 or 10000, 100000 transactions,
trades, exchanges every year, making
in all grand aggregate Of hundreds
of millions at every instant OF time
that the American people are reach
ing out trying in answer response
TO this demand-fOr money.
Therefore, what happens when one
Of the metals rises above the other a
little way? Why, this tremendous
demand to which we baye just re-
ferred takes itself away from the
metal that has risen little and
transfers itself to the metal that is
relatively cheaper. What is the in
Simultaneous result? Why, the metal
that was little higher, feeling the
release Of this demand, tends to fall.
The metal that is little lower,
feeling alsC the increase of this trans
ferred demand, responds to it by ris-
ing. 1t will not rise high above the
other, for the same automatic transfer
will prevent it, AS soon as 1t has
risen slight distance above the other,
that demand Of which we have spoken
let's 90 in turn Of that metal and
transfers itself to the first, causing
the one to fall and the other to rise
again, SO that, eternally, within a
very small arc of disagreement, they
will maintain themselves at prac-
tical parity by reason Of the fact of
the automic transfer of the demand
use OF money that exists in the United
States. (Applause.l
OPPORTUNITY FOR DEBT.
My friends, the experience of the
void has shown that the man who
is expert in credits, manages to get
the other fellows property. For ex-
ample, the recent proclamation of
the gold standard meeting at Indian
apOlis, the so-called sound money con-
yention which proposed among other
things, what IL calls an extension of
facilities Of credit TO the whole cOun.
try, really meant an extension of op-
pOrtunities 70 the whole country to
get in debt with increased ease; and
when they spoke of a safe and elastic
currency they meant a currency that
is elastic this way as well as that way
(showing). (Laughter). In other
words currency that could be con-
tracted as we'll as a currency that
could be expanded. And that can
be operated upon this plan: 1t can
be expanded, my friends, prices made
TO rise; encouragement given to in
yestment and lot of enterprising
men engaged and encouraged there.
under to get into debt and TO give
mortgages TO the controllers of this
eXpanSible material, and then, after
tue crowd Of people have invested
and property has been booined enough,
these people who doomed it with in
hation'will credit their representatives
with Inflated confidence, will begin
TO draw in their credit, draw in the
reduce the sacccomo-
dation to the producer, = com
Continued on third dage:l ) -