Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1898-05-12
TT. GEER'S GOLD STANDARD
Placed Under the SearchIight of History
and Science,
Spain and Portugal Fixed the Ratio for Three
Hundred Years.
Complete Analysis and RefuatOn of His Toledo, Lincoln
County, Speech.

llDu market lot more tQa0 TWO ceQtQ-
ries."
Mr. Geer's statement that silver
has grown constantly cheaper, and
that this is due to over-prOduction, is
completely Iefuted by Mr.. Laughliu
10 his work on poll tical economy. He
shows that the value Of the worlds
production Of gold from 1893 to 1850
was s3,3l4.55O.OOO and the value Of sill
yer produced during the same time
was 81, ,35S, 40, 900, or more than twice
as much silver as gold during 357
years,
The same authority shows, that the
value OF gold produced from 1850 to
1885 was q, 425, ,525, 900, and that the
value OF silver produced during the
same time was s2,397 Az, 900, or only
little more than one half as much
silver as gold during the last named
period Of 35 years. The commercial
value and coinage ratio for nearly 400
years was not affected by "over-pro-
duc:ioD," If either metal. For three
and one ha'f centuries, when twice as
much silver was produced as gold, the
ratio remained as liked by law. For
over one third Of a century, when
there was twice as much gold pro
duced as silver, the ratio remained
virtually unchanged, until partial
adoption Of the gold standard by the
United States and other nations be-
gan to give' gold fictitious appre.
ciating value, or purchasing power.
The detailed statistics aud facts OF
history will bear out this general
statement, which completely refutes
Mr.. Geer's assertion that silver has
been growing constantly cheaper, be-
cause OF over-production,
The Sauerbeck and Beerbohm stat
istical tables of index numbers are
doubtless familiar TO Mr.. Geer. They
show that gold and silver bullion iu
the London and Hamburg markets,
for nearly century prior to the com.
plete decentralization by the United
States, maintained their parity at the
ratio of l5i to !, varying but a few
per cent either way, as The metals
were influenced by the rate of ex-
change, with silver generally at a
slight premium, owing to the greater
expense of shipment.
This commercial and coinage ratio
was undoubtedly maintained by the
free coinage law of France, where th5
mint ratio was l54 t. /. But these
tables reveal far more important
fact, to wit: The index numbers on
staple products in these markets of the
world maintained uniform bimetallic
price level during the century of bi.
metallic free coinage. In other words
products of the soil and of human labor
sold from 30 to go per cent higher in
standard money during all that time
than they now bring with the gold
standard more firmly established.
But we need not quote these eminent
10 "tO XIV IilC vi
products in the worlds markets where
the American farmer must sell his
surplus, and which, 10 the absence OF
legislative influence, fixes the selling
price at home. The constant down
ward tendency of prices Of farm pro.
ducts can be proven from the United
States agricultural reports, complied
by i've year periods, up to 1896. Ia the
report of the Wisconsin Bureau of
Labor statistics, pages l64 and l66, the
prices in every case are the cash prices
on the farm. The figures quoted on
agricultural products for 25 years as
follows, to wit:
AVERAGES FARM PRICES, BY FIVE
YEAR PERIODS,