Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-05-03
rN ZEE>R goplf2$
GNeNtZa(@
Question ana Answer.

"Under free coinage what is to prevent
the American who is 1000 debtor from
going to Mexico with $500 gold and
buying silver bullion at the market
value, so cents an ounce, and bring 1t
home, have 1t coined into 1000 silver
dollars. pay his debt and thereby save
$500 in gold?"
There is only one thing to prevent
such a transaction. That Is the ex-
IRENE difficulty of finding n Mexican
white, half-breed, Indian or negro to.
enter into 1t. With the American mint
open the man who would be idiot
enough to continue 20 sell silver bullion
for the same price that 1t commands
now should be an inmate of IN asylum,
for those afflicted with incurable ment-
al disease. Such man is not likely to
have much silver bullion to sell. The
very moment the American mint opens
to free coinage ut 1G to the mint value
of an ounce of silver bullion becomes
$1.29. That also becomes the New
York price. Instantly the wires are
touched and the New York price be-
SoilCS thS ptiSC III lAC Slty VI 1ACAlSO
and every other bullion market in the
world, subject only to that small frac-
tional difference which represents the
cost of transportation. No man in his
sane mind would take less than the
American coinage rate. Hence the
London price would probably be little
more than the New York price, for 1t is
n 1ftf1n farfhnp NO Gil min
With our mint open the New York mar
ket would control the price everywhere.
III England wanted million ounces for
shipment to India or China, where
would she get it for less than the Amer
lean mint rate? Nowhere. She must pay
our price or not get it. She must have
1t, and in large quantities. Every
ounce she buys helps to sustain the
price and helps to maintain the Ameri-
can ratio. The opponents of free coin
age In this country assume that the mo-
ment our mint is opened NIL the silver
In the world would be poured right into
1t. That Is absurd. The fact that II
could go there MS last resource would
lead the owners to hold it for about
tAiS anvil lNuu lutG. l1GuCC dll ua-
tons and all individuals would have to
pay the same. When the French mint
was open all the silver in the world did
not go there for coinage, but, rs the
royal commission of England said in
Its final report it could go there. Hence
others had to pay the French coming
rate in order to get it, and France vir-
tually controlled the price all over the
world. So 1t would be with our mint
open. Other nations would not only
continue to use silver, but would actu-
ally use more of 1t than they do now.
AT present they are prejudiced against
1t because 1T is deprecated Compared
with gold. Silver-uslng countries
owing large gold debts, like India,
would import very much, because the
higher silver rises the larger would be
their cash balance. The world is now
divided into nations of two monetary
classes, gold standard and silver stand
ard. If our mint were opened freely
to both it would make us the connect
Ing link, or, more properly, reservoir
between them. 1t would only be neces-
sary for us to be able to take care of
the surplus of either metal to main
tain them at n parity. If any man can
demonstrate our inability to take into
our currency and use every ounce that
would be left after the wants of other
countries have been supplied, he can
do more than any gold champion has
yet done, and we would like to see his
figures. If the entire surplus stock of
silver bullion in the world were coined
at the American mint 1t would no more
than keep pace with our increase of
population and business.