Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1900-10-27
NOT A GENUINE ISSUE.
lconsinucd f4om Second ras }

| Assume that TIE free coinage law
| would be operative IN two years
| Knowing this. the banker. having. say.
| $4,000 In deposits. could buy at the
| present marlie. price. s~y. one million
| Mexican dollars. or an amount of sill
yer equal thereto Ia bullion, each one
a little heavier and a little finer than
| the proposed silver dollars The mint
| being opened he could take his one
| million Mexicans TO the mint and re
eeiye in re- urn one million and four
teen thousand of the new American
dollars. With these IN hand. and they
being legal tender, he could pay OF
his deposits with 100000 Of the coins
and keep $4,000 of them a the re
ward of his shrewdness- His real
profit would not be $4,000. They
would be cheap dollars. and compared
with gold dollars. would possess but
half their purchasing power. so we
must divide the S5l4.0Uo by two. which
gives him a net profit OF S251 900 on
the transaction. You will ask thea.
why with such possibilities before
them. the bankers oppose the measure.
| will tell you, and tell You truly. 1t
is because they foresee. as everyone.
who understands the matter must fore
see that with the adoption OF the
measure gold would disappear into pri-
yate boards: the reserves of the banks.
now largely in gold. would be drawn
out: they would be forced 10 contract
their loans; a general and exhausting
liquidation would take place; mer
chants and manufacturers would fail
and in the general wreck and ruin the
banker would not escape. But do not
fatter yourselves that you would be
exempt from the general disaster
Shops and factories would he closed:
a sharp halt would he called on all en-
terprises; labor would 90 into idIeness;
wages would he reduced. and general
misery realized. There would be a
resurrection. no doubt. Our country
is too great. its resources too manifold
10 long remain in bankruptcy and idle
ness. With the old wrecks cleared
away, we would begin again. The
new silver money would be the money
standard and the common medium Of
exchange. and after inconcefvable dis
aSter we would have the chronic CON
dition of a fiuctuating currency now
enjoyed in our neighboring republic.
Mexico.
Value of the New Coins
Mexico has her minis open to the
free coinage of both gold and silver at
the ratio of 1872 to /; but all of her
gold goes abroad. She is hope1essly on
the silver standard. and her dollars.
heavier in weight and finer in quality
fbon ityvgfr ,-ia,
or falling as the price of silver bullion
rises and falls in the worlds market
The average value of the Mexican dol |
lar is about - cents in gold. 1t some
times falls To IS; it some times rises to
50 or 80. Compared 10 gold. the ex- |
treme fluctuations in value within the |
limits of q single year are as much n |
10 per cent.
Our free silver coinage advocates, |
notably Mr. Bryan. assure us that il |
will be different here: they tell us that |
Mexico is n small country. while we
are a great people. 10000. 900 in mum |
Der, and that the demand here will |
bring the new silver dollars up to par /
They forget that the Mexican tioiiarH
Is current money in all of China. the
Straits Settlements, the Philippines
and all the islands of the Pacific. Noty
less than 400.000,0O0 of people use |
Mexican dollars In preference even toD
gold. and yet the power of those dol
lars the world over is substantially 500
cents In gold T
No. my friends. values will not re
spond to the Bryan reasoning. Neither |
parliaments nor congresses. kings nor |
president. can change or annul the
natural laws of economic relationship |
Effect of Present Silver Stock.
There is another point, not yet no
ticed, OF che weightiest consideration
When the silver bullion now owned by
the government shall he fully coined
there will be outstanding in the form
of silver dollars or silver certificates
the sum of nearly six hundred millions.
With the free coinage of silver on pri
vate account it will be impossible for
the treasury to maintain the parity |
now existing between all forms of oui
money. The silver dollars we now
have VIII inevitably sink to Il level
with the new dollars-that is to say,
they will sink to their bullion value. or
to 80 cents on the dollar. This means
that the present or future holders of
our silver money are to be defrauded
Of not less than three hundred millions
in value. And who are these holders
not the banks, not the capitalists.
The silver money is scattered far un'i
wide-in the hands of hundreds of
thousands of our people. most of whom
live west of the AIleghanieS.
Don't let us worry about the alleged
crime of 1873 Let us look in the face
the actual crime which is proposed
that we commit in 1900.
But Mr.. Bryan waves this all aside. |
He says that sentiments are superior
to finances and that man is above Tue
dollar. His metaphor is a kind of mis- |
fit garment; but, accepting it. let Ms
cpe1a1.s.eoe-