Willmar tribune., 1900-05-30
The Currency Question.


by the number of pounds it will make
OF English money, we find it to be
$4.s66563. as the value in our money of
the sovereign. *< 80
In the same report we find the Eng
lish shilling to contain so.727266 grains
of silver, dividing the ounce 4sO grains
by this, and we find the ounce of sill
yer will make 5.945 shillings. Dividing
1.2929, the value of an ounce of silver
in our money, and the shilling is worth
but .217447 of dollar, yet 20 shillings
make the English pound, then the gold
shillings to bring to this country is
worth .24332S of dollar, or .O25SS1 of
dollar more than the silver shilling
to make into coin.
Turning to same report, page 431,
Germany, the crown (equal to ten
marks), to contain 53.311 grains of
gold, or the ounce will make nine
crowns, or crown will equal So 29666,
10 marks; then the gold mark is .22966.
The silver mark contains 77.16O
grains, or the ounce of silver will make
6.226S marks, or the silver mark will
make in our coin .207s, or difference
| of .021S between the gold and silver
| mark.
Same report, page 437, Latin Union,
of which France is one, we find the
franc the unit. Taking smallest gold
coin, five-franc, it contains 1852 grams
of pure gold (the gram equals 15.43236
grains), we find the fve-franc piece to
contain 22.4O7s grains, or, the ounce
will make 107.10556 francs, or the gold
franc is equal to 1913 cents of our mon
ey. Taking the fve-franc silver, con-
tanning 22.5 grams, the ounce of silver
will make 6.9115. or of our money 1877
its tender in the union, same as our
! silver dollar is here.
| While the one-franc piece is limited
same as our silver subsidiary coins are
it contains 41S grams, or the ounce
| will make 7.4441 of these francs, in
value of our money IT'S cents, so that
France has three really different values
of franc, as compared in our money.
RECAPITULATIoN IN THE COMPAR-
ISON
| Ounce of gold United States coin
OUNCE of silver United States col coin i"-''''
| Value 1.23
coin ...................... 4.S665
Value Of English shilling, gold..... .24s3
vaue Of Of GaEsh GeFman shiRs marR 81 81
Value of German mark, silver... .2OS
Value Of French franc, gold. .1s3
Value of French franc, silver, full \
Value Of French franc, silver, limit 100
| Gu 'eiloei ''''.''....'................ .l|o
| Yet they tell us these countries are
on the gold standard, and the bankers
in their conventions state they want
the money of this country the same as
in these countries named, so that when
they speak of the dollar they know
what it's value is the same as they do
when they speak of the pound of Eng
land, the franc of France, or the mark
of Germany. Are these great finan-
ciers SO ignorant that they do not
know that the same thing compared
with itself in value never changes any
more than the dollar that was estab-
lished in 1892. containing 371A grains
of silver, made the dollar then as it
does now, when it contains the same
number of grains, but the value of the
dollar, in comparison as to what it
will exchange for in products, changes
under the laws of supply and demand
the same as other things. In this coun-
try-or the pound in England-when
it will not buy as much of our wheat
as it did at some other the pound de-
preciated in value in comparison with
the wheat, though the pound contained
the same number of grains of gold.
and the bushel contained the same
number of pounds or cubic inches of
wheat.
The decision of the courts is in
this country as we'll as other countries
that the value of the metal or material
of which money is made as a COM
modify has nothing to do with the
value as the currency of a country
illegal tender decision May 1851. IL
Wallace, page 547): ''The constitution
does not ordain what metals may be
coined or prescribe that the legal value
of the metal when coined shall corre-
spond >at all with the intrinsic value
in the market" Page .54S: ''But the
obligation of contract to pay money
is to pay that which the law shall rec
ognize as money when the payment is
to be made. If there is anything set
tied by decision it is this, and we do
not now understand it to be contro-
verted." Judge Bradley in his opinion,
page 565, referring to mixed money in
England, the decision is found in Sir
John Davis report (page 49,, holding
the same views, and there was not
judge dissented as to the value of mon
ey coined from silver and gold.''
| The gold standard is used to induce
the money grabbers to join the con-
spirators in getting the people into
their hands, as well as they have got
the control of the government and
most of our legislatures to enact laws
for their benefit, knowing if they can
control the amount of money and is
sue the currency they can regulate
the value of money through the law
of supply and demand, thereby con-
trolling the value of labor products
and all property.
! One of their tools in congress told
me that if we opened our mints to un-
limited coinage of silver it would raise
the prices of products and labor, but.
said he, when you raise the price of
labor and products to the masses,
what are you going to do for those
! who live IN the interest of fLo;r