Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-30
His Answer to a Working Mans Two
Inquiries.
FREE COINAGE And A TRUST REMEDY
How the Parity of Silver and Gold
is Maintained.
MIR. BRYAN'S PROPOSITION

Secretary Gage has sent detailed an
swer to some pertinent political questions
asked him in a letter by James DEM,
laboring man of Boston. The letter Of
Secretary Gage Is of much interest at this
time. 1t is follows:
II have your favor of the 2Sth instant in
which you ask several questions, to which
1 will endeavor to make reply.
You ask, first. would not the free COIN
age of silver at 16 to place the silver dol
lar at its intrinsic value, say about 80
cents, and if so, would not our people have
to pay two silver dollars for one dollars
worth of goods, and would not the export
ers have to pay two silver dollars to every
one they now pay to carry freight to for
eign countries.
Your inference that such would be the
case is perfectly correct. Values of things
are fixed, not by law, nor DEGREES Of par
liaments, kings, congresses or presidents,
but by the exchange Of things between
men in their dealings with each other. The
eAchangeab!e value of the silver contained
in one of the proposed free coinage dollars
is equal to about 80 cents in gold, and
there is nothing and can be nothing In the
mere act of stamping a given quantity OF
silver dollar to make 1t worth more
than the commercial value of the metal 1t
contains.
How Parity is Maintained.
at is true that the government is now,
and has for several years, been coming Sill
yer dollars, the commercial value of which,
measured by the value of the money metal,
is so cents or less. Mr.. Bryan points to
this fact and says that our action in this
respect justifes the opening of the minis
to the free coinage of silver for everybody
at the old ratio of Is to I; but the cases are
entirely different. The government bought
silver bullion just as it buys nickel bullion
1t stamps the nickel bullion into o-cent
pieces and pays them out only when 1t gets
) cents value in return, and stands ready
to redeem, and always does redeem. these
nickels in their face value in gold when
presented at the treasury. The real value
of the metal in the nickel is about six
tenths of one cent. The present practice OF
coming silver dollars is perfectly analo-
gous. The government bought silver bull
lion and stamps certain quantity of 1t
dollar, but nobody gets one of them except
from the government and upon delivery to
the government of one dollar in gold or one
gold dollars worth of services rendered or
goods delivered.
The government, thus having received
the value of one gold dollar in exchange.
| can afford to give back a gold dollar, or
gold dollars worth of value. in exchange
for the silver dollar, when presented for
redemption; and thus the parity between
the nickel coins and gold and between the
silver dollars now coined and gold is main
tanned. But If the minis were opened for
the free coinage, either of n:ckels or of
silver dollars, for everybody that pos
| Sessed the metals. without any guaranty of
parity with gold from anybody. it is plain
to be seen that the value of both when
coined would soon sink to the exchangeable
value of the metals they respectively con-
! tanned.
The democratic proposition is undoubted-
| ly the greatest fraud upon wage-earners
| and salaried men of all classes that it ever
| entered the mind of men to conceive by.
The advocates of it are probably not moved
| by criminal intent. but the consequences OF
| the action would not for that reason be the
| less disastrous
Mr.. Bryan's Trust Remedy.
! you further ask whether Mr.. Bryans
| proposed remedy to check the extort!on OF
| trusts would be effective. He proposes to
! put all goods manufactured by trusts on
| the free list, and you inquire whether this
! would not operate to close factories and
| suspend industries here. | think you are
| quite right in your conclusions. There are
! two elements to successful trust-trst
| the ability to manufacture the goods with
| little or competition. and, second, to
! command or control the market. If they
| can command and control the market 1t is
| not necessary that they should manufac
! ture, and if they could buy goods in foreign
! countries and import them here cheaper
! than they can manufacture them on Amer
| lean soil it would evidently be for their in
! tereSt, Seifishly considered, SO to do. Con-
| trolling the markets through numerous es-
| tabshed agencies and importing in enor-
nous quantities, they could shut out com
| petition.
| Mr.. Bryan I am sorry to say, evidences
| a serious lack of economic Knowledge. His
! remedies are hasty inventions. good enough
| perhaps to catch votes, but not good
| enough to undergo the test Of close and
! careful analysis
! You have subscribed yourself a working
| man. 1t is gratifying, indeed, to know that
! you are one of those who study and think
! for Themselves 1t has hppn amazing
| thing to me to see how many wage-earners
are caught by the sophistries of Mr.. Bryan.
| blindly shut their eyes to the awful cOnSe-
| quenceS which threaten them and loudly
clamor for their own undoing by supporting
| the proposition to open the mints for the
free and unlimited coinage of silver at the
! ratio of 16 to /. without waiting for the
| consent of any other nation