The Louisiana populist., 1898-03-04
STAND BY THE RATIO.
SIXTEEN TO ONE" THE ONLY
KEY TO BlMETALLlSM,
Those Who Pretend That Thev Are
Opposed to the Ratio Would Not
Have Free Coinage at Any Ratlo-A
Plain Proposition.

Plain Proposition.
In the United States the battle for
bimetallism must be lost or won on
the ratio Of 16 to /. All considera-
tions require that the ratio should not
be wider than Is to 1. II it were TO
be changed at all it should be narrowed
to correspond to the ratio of the Latin
Union, 151s to l, which would make it
easier for France, Belgium, Italy, Swift
zerland, Greece, Spain and Russia to
follow the lead of the United States in
opening the mints to the free coinage
OF silver. After the battle is won in
this country, the nations named will
still be retarded by an uncertainty as
to the effect on their currency of the
one-half point difference between their
ratio and ours. America, to secure
their cooperation, may ultimately find
1t to her advantage to remint her sill
yer at the ratio named. But, as we are
not assured of the support Of those
countries, there is no reason why we
should, at this time, go out of our way
to oblige them, especially as they leave
us to fight the battle alone.
In all arguments by our adversaries,
silver Is priced in gold. Very we'll; as
words go, we can as we'll use that man
ner OF speech as any other. Remem-
ber. then, silver is priced in terms of
gold. With this for basis on which
to work, let us compare the recent
centuries and see about what the ratio
should be. in the light Of silver and
gold production Of this century.
From the discovery Of America TO
the year 1900 the world produced 80
ounces OF silver to one Of gold, and yet
the ratio was about IA to /. During
the next century the worlds output
was ~ ounces Of silver to one Of gold,
yet the ratio was scarcely more than
Is to 1. In the next century, 1901 to
1900, the production was again 80
ounces OF silver to one of gold, with
no appreciable change Of the ratio; yet
there had been variation in the ratio
OF production of over rs per cent. AS
both metals had free coinage, this diff
ference OF ratio Of production was not
able to make itself felt in the CONNER
cial ratio.
During the first ten years of this GEN.
tury 30 ounces Of silver were produced
to every ounce of gold, yet the ratio
was not thrown out of joint. In the
second ten years the worlds production
was 49 ounces Of silver to one of gold.
According to the theories of gold MONO
metallists, the ratios of all the nations
In the world should have gone all to
pieces at this sudden widening of the
ratio OF production. But the curren-
cies Of the world were not unsettled,
and the wisdom Of bimetallism was
demonstrated beyond reasonable argu-
ment AS the century wore on, new
gold mines were found, and the pro-
duction of gold increased enormously.
Thus, from 1850 to 1870 there were 51a
ounces Of silver produced to one of
gold. If the thory of some that the
ratio OF production regulates the ratio
OF commerce were true, then the ratio
OF valae between silver and gold would
have been not Is to /, but less than 6
to l. But no such change In values
took place, and the truth of the bime-
tallic theory was again demonstrated.
From 1871 to 1895 the world yielded
II ounces Of silver to one of gold Dur
ing the entire period from 1900 to 1896
the relative production was only 13 2-3
ounces of silver to one of gold.
Thus, the sixteenth century gave 20
ounces of silver to one of gold; the
18th century, 40 ounces Of silver to one
Of gold; the 18th century, 80 of silver
to one Of gold; the first 95 years Of the
10Th century gives 10 2-3 ounces OF
silver to one Of gold. We have the
lowest productive ratio of four CEN
lowest productive ratio Of four CEN
turies, and the highest coinage ratio;
and yet, in the face of all this, the
spectators in the yellow metal have
the splendid effrontery to stand up and
with long faces tell the nation that we
need yet wider ratio.
The ratio Of Is to l is exceedingly
liberal. The wide commercial ratio
is due entirely to legislation hostile to
silver and favorable to gold. The
tremendous power Of such legislation
Is seen in the effect it has had on the
price Of silver in a century of low sill
yer production as compared to gold.
We must stand by the ratio. There
can be no compromise. Nothing can
now stop the onward sweep of the army
of liberation. If traitors get in the
way they will be crushed.
H. F. THURSTON.
Good Times for Plutocrats.
From the Flaming Sword uo 1o,,,