The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1899-09-07
IF GOLD WOULD DEPART.
and the oniy Conclusions
60 Ne Drawa.

Sui pose that a free coinage law were
enacted. gold wAs To retire frun circu-
iaiiOn, and our silver aud paper money
were to drop 10 30 cUBts un the dollar.
Such n result would he impossible, but
WE win suppose H. What would that
mean; Simply this, tina, II would take
two silver or paper dollars to equal one
gold dollar. IN Other words, gold would
stand ut a premium Of 100 per cent.
over other farms of money. hut "
silver dollar l. only worth half ~ much
"a gold dollar, then manifestly Il is
only half as hard 10 get II. II a buhhcl
Of wheat is worth % cents IN gold II
will be- worth one dollar In silver. Now.
u farmer owes gold debt Of 800, h,
must cell 1000 bushels Of wheat In or.
der 10 get II. II We are on u silver
basis aud silver dOilarA were WORTH
only 30 cruts ~ gold. bis ,npO bushels
~ wheat would bring him 200 silver
dollars. With these he could pay his
debt ay before. nj, 1890 silver dollarA
would be- The precise equivalent Of 800
gold dollaTs, and he would neither
gain nor lose. The gold standard az.
sumo, that the silver dollar II going
to drop ung-half of its present value,
and Eti,l Il will require the same
amount Of labor and the products Of
labor Ia procure IL. Then Il II further
assumed that u will require two Of
these silver dollars 10 procure a gold
one. II these assumptions were true,
II would follow that the free coinage
and increased Use of silver, and the
disuse Of gold IN this country. had In
no WY affected the value OF silver but
had doubled the ,a.ue OF gold.
This assumption shows an ignorance
of the meaning OF the word value as
well IN the principle OF supply and de.
maud. The reverse would be the case.
With the American mint open, silver
would be WORTH more than Il II now and
gold lcAs. This would br true even
though parity were not restored and
gold went TO premium. suppose that
under free coinngc silver went 10 one
dollar an ounce IN gold. This would
make the silver dollar worth II cents
In gold. The gold dollar would stand at
premium lover silverl Of 30 cents.
iIui II would not take as much wheat
or cotton or any other product TO buy
a gold dollar as II does nov. Why not?
because most OF the gold forced Gu;
" circulation here would go to Europe.
The annual produce Of the mines would
he the same. As a result Rold would
became more plentiful on that cont.
nrnt. ami the prices there would rise,
Our wheat and cnttoE and brcadstufs
Of all kinds would 20 up in the Euro
pcan market, aud that would carry
them up here. Thus W. would hc con.
fruntcd by the paradox Of gold at .
premium, and AZ the same time cheap
cr. 4 man with a gold mortgage ON
his farm could pay Il more easily than
he eau now. 4 farmer does not man.
uracturc money for himsrlf-hc buys
!; with his products, aud the higher
their price the more money he eau get
whether II ne gold or silver or paper
The creditor classes, 10y forcing the
gold standard upon the people have
driven the debtor class to eNtremitics,
making II almost impossible for them
Ia pay their debts. Having created
these conditions, leaving the debtor
almos: hopeless. ;hcy now unblushing,
~ declare that II they tihe dcbtors) al
temp, 10 relieve themselves, other and
worse conditions will arise whereby
they will net h. able tn pay at all, and
consequently viii be ruined. In short
ihcy nov have the unfortunate debtor
IN ditch from which he l. strug
CLING desperately to extricate himself,
and then tell him that II he does not
stop HIS struggles he will be pushed
In still deeper. II such argument as
that were - prevail no evil could ever
be remcdied. Illinois State Register.