The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1899-06-23
MORTON'S THREE QUESTIONS.
A brief Reply Exposing some Faiia-
cious Assumptions Of the
Anti-silverites.

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II by international agreement the price
OF silver can be fixed and made permanent.
In gold. why cannot the price OF all other
commodities be made permanent and I'M
nuctuating by the same processY
When the advocate OF free and unlimited
coinage declares for sixteen 10 one. does he
not give away his case and assert himself
for a gold standard as the "one' by which
TO measure silver and everything else?
Customs dues are based upon the value
OF imports computed in American or United
States currency. The law compels the sec
rotary of the treasury at the beginning OF
each quarter TO proclaim value OF foreign
coins In United States money. Now. the
English pound Is 81 So clio on a gold basis.
Importing flo0 worth OF merchandise from
England to-day. you would pay duty on
t4s5 valuation. But going to a silver basis
the English pound would be In United
States currency ~ss.72-double. Therefore the
duties on the same goods would be double.
would they not?
The queries of Mr.. Morton cannot be
fully answered in a short paper. There
are implied in them too many fallacious
assumptions for that. There is room
only for explicit statement of some mis-
apprehension as to. the ends which free
coinage desiderates, and exposure of
grave eros of elementary, monetary
and general economic doctrine. The
paramount end and aim of a bimetallic
,aluator money for m is the
restoration Of a normal price-range and
the maintenance of its constancy and
stability over periods of time. Stability
of general prices is exactly the same
fact as stability in the value of the price
making money. This stability Of price
range, or in other words, stability in
the value of money, outweighs in i'm
p%ortance each and all other considera-
tons in the legal constitution of money.
The price" of any commodity. gold,
silver, cotton or corn can be made 'per-
manent and untiuctuating," if the stat
ute will but affix the money definition
and function to a prescribed unit of
that commodity. Such a f1ity Of price
(the mint price") is, however, purely
arbitrary, statutory, nominal, static,
defnitional-the commodity named be-
ing its own price maker. Whether
equivalence among the prescribed units
of two or more different commodities
will supervene in the general market
will depend upon the direction and
amount OF force. i. e.. pressure OF de-
mand let loose by such legislation.
In the case Of silver it should never be
forgotten that free coinage will give
the old time unlimited demand for sill
YER at Si.29 an ounce, j. e., aga grains
of il will be 'intrinsically" worth one
United States dollar, the whole world
over. Free coinage does not. cannot
decree hat the zone" shall measure
the l6 or the 16 measure the N Tha'
proposition of delusion and folly Is
found only in party platforms. The
statute endows each independent,
with the price making Office in com
merce, standing each on its me
tallic merit and in no way amenable tc
the other in that Office. The beneficence
of optional dollars does not consist in
their parity with each other. That
must he left TO the free and salutary
play Of economic forces governing al
exchange relations. How they viii
work in that regard is a question OF
value in dynamics, whose factors are
first and chiefly, the gross quantity OF
dollars of all kinds on the one side. and
the total commerce of the pepole where
they are used as standard or definition
al money on the other. and second, IN
q subordinate degree. upon whether
the legal ratio is approximately con
formed TO the quantities of each obtain
able for money use. The last dilemma
of the querist betrays great Ignorance
of the dynamics of value. Itignores ths
pressure Of demand which free coinage
would take off from gold and transfer
over onto silver and the changed value
ratio of the metals which that transfer
would compel.