New-York tribune., 1900-08-25
he delivered In the Senate a year later. on Feb
ruary IL 1874, when he said:

Let US do as ali the people OF the worli have
been doing from the beginning. measure our
yalues bv gold. I want the gold standard, ard
no paper not redeemable in gold Gold Is the
universal standard of the world. EVERYBODY
knows what dollar in gold Is worth
PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER.
On the resumption of specie payments in 1872
gold began to circulate once more In this cour
try, and the amount haE steadily risen. until
in 1896, it was over S60oOooOoo and nov
1t is over S1,OO0OO0OOO silver. too. has beer
added to the circulation by purchase and coT-
age on Government account, until now the cour-
try's supply of silver money is over SoooVoo.VU
coined into dollars represented In clrculatlol
by Treasury notes. In spite of these enormous
purchases, perhaps partly because OF them' tfe
output has continued TO increase ana the prize
of silver has continued to decline, until now tb
commercial ratio is 80 to /, but still the silve'
men cry for free coinage at 16 to l. They sa'
that that would raise the price of silver to 1T
old level The gold standard men reply that
far from that being the case, the inevitable re
suit would be the expulsion of all gold from
circulation accordance with Gresham's law
which has never yet failed in its operation, ana
Of course, cannot fail. The silver advocates
say there is not enough gold in the world fol-
use as money and in the same breath add that
there is not enough silver produced to cause
the expulsion of gold. The gold men retort that
mines at the beginning Of this century, when
England adopted the gold standard. was 367, ,957 |
ounces Of a coinage value Of S76O6OOO and
that the average annual silver output then wa;
Il. 1855, ,755 ounces, of a coinage value at l6 to
Of 500, 40 O00 In 1884, when the United State:
went upon the gold basis de facto, the average |
annual output of gold was 652,291 ounces, Of a |
coinage value Of $13.4S4,OO0, and the average
annual silver output was 19,175,S67 ounces of
saCl4 70 49,,
of the Crime of 1873" the gold output had in
creased to 5591 Ola ounces annually. Of a coin
age value of $115.577.OOO and the silver output
to g. 317, OLA ounces, of a coinage value of $751;
S64 900. In 1894 the output of gold was S,7O0.-
$50 ounces of a coinage value Of $179,S65,6 800. |
and the silver output was 166,601 800 ounces. of
a coinage value at the ratio of 10 to l of $215,-
4O4 900. In 1899 the worlds gold production
amounted to $315OO0OOO. The addition to the
worlds gold supply in the last four years has
been more than $1,0O0O0OOOO.
The gold standard men think this shows con-
clusively that the worlds supply of gold is not
shrinking to any alarming extent. and that the
output of silver is not small that 1t may be
ignored in the light of historys teachings as TO
the movements Of the precious metals
HOW 1T WOULD WORK NOW
Such is the history of coinage and such are
gold and silver was strictly limited and the
means of communication and transportation
were slow and Inadequate the combined efforts
of all the nations failed absolutely to preserve a
steady ratio between gold and silver, how can
any sane man expect the United States alone,
with population of only one-tenth of the gold
using people of the globe, to accomplish the
miracle in these days Of unlimited supplies and
instant communication? Gresham's law is as
certain in its operation as the law Of gravity.
Common sense and experience alike prove 1t.
The adoption of the 16 to 1 ratio by the United
States would mean silver monometallsm, the
disappearance of gold from circulation and a
violent readjustment of all business conditions.
1t would mean chaos and disaster for rich and
poor alike. but. OF course. the poor would suffer
most. Law compel a creditor to accept in
payment for debt whatever money is made a ,
legal tender, but it cannot compel a person to
sell his property except on his own terms. Hence
the depositor in a savings bank for instance,
would be compelled to accept the face value OF
his deposit in dollars measured by silver instead
OF gold. or dollars worth one-half the dollars of
to-day, while his expenses would be doubled, for
his rent, his food his clothing. everything that
he bought, would double in price. Everything
would go UP except wages In time wages might
advance also. but everybody knows that wages
do not 1uctuate as quickly or as easily as other
prices, and in case like the sudden and violent
changing of the monetary standard the change
in wages would be abnormally slow, because of
the business disturbance and the throwing of
hundreds of thousands of wage-earners out Of
employment.
Blind to all these facts, either through will
fUlness or ignorance, the silver advocates not
only urged, and continue to urge, the opening Of
the mnts TO silver. but predicted the most dire
full consequences as the outcome of the gold
standard. The gold standard was "a conspiracy
of the money lenders against the human race"
a device of England to enslave the world" a
scheme Of the rich to rob the poor; IL was
anything to scare the timid, to influence the dis
contented, to array "the masses against the |
classes" And how have all these prophecies of
evil been realized? In the four years since the
the land the United States has experienced the |
most prosperous four years in its history The
direct results of the defeat Of silver in 1896 have
been increased business increased employment |
increased wages, increased savings increased
happiness. In fact, at the present moment for |
the first time in the worlds history the United
States is actually lending gold to Eng
land. But the Bryan platform still de- !
mands free silver coinage. Bryan still believes |
in it, and his election with a friendly Congress
would still bring it about. The danger is i'm
minent, but it is inconceivable that the common |
sense of the American voter will deliberately !
invite disaster.
NEGROES ARRESTED FOR BURGLARY.
SAID TO HAVE GAINED ENTRANCE TO Er At nv |