The Penn's Grove record., 1906-08-24
4 absss ~


TItEfAfHA 2 HfeN NHHtAtaHFA TfHfH 81 ~
tnaast0oa ais8 anticipating slssa SIS
t-eaimeasaaoa as i purchases wight sesMz
t%Y6iaailF disttab She aaar6es ahat'N the
t-aeasait has obtained control Of eth-
siaevable amounts fot future delivery
so tl,ai Il is Eli p0sition to drop out 6f
the market ior several months IL aesir-
able"
Why is Secretary Shaw so afraid Of
disturbing Che silver marketY
Is he afraid that The price Of this
great American commodity win Under
go AN increase when the government
enters the markets
Members of the republican admins
tration are not so disturbed when the
price Of American wheat, American
wheat, American corn or other COM
modities goes upward. They are not
so disturbed when the price of Ameri-
can manufactured goods goes upward
because of new demand, or even because
of the fact that representatives of the
republican administration are willing
to pay extortionate prices for American
made -goods-steam vessels for instance
for use in the Panama canal.
1t will be well for every Commoner
reader to note the great pains taken by
Secretary Shaw to avoid any material
rise in the price of silver. We are told
that lie has Hobtained control of con
siderable amounts for future delivery,
so that the government is in position to
drop out of the market for several
months if desirable" The government
does not seek to put other American
products to this disadvantage, but it
would never do for the American peo-
pie to obtain a common, everyday de-
mOnstration of the correctness of the
supply and demand law, such as it has
obtained with respect to the quantita-
tive theory of money.
In 1896 one of the arguments used by
the republicans against bimetalism was
based upon the existing price of silver
and we We're told that the free coinage
Of silver meant that the United States
would become a dumping ground''for
all the silver of the world. No consid-
Grafton whatever was given by repub-
lican speakers to the suggestion that
should the minis be opened for silver
us they are for gold, the price of silver
would increase, although we were told
that the market provided by open Uni
ted States minis would not operate to
materially increase the price. But
when it is necessary for the United
States government to use a compare
lively small amount of silver for small
coins, great precautions are taken lest
the entrance of the government into the
silver market send the price of the met
al upward! Are these gentlemen afraid
that even with a small portion of the
demand for silverfor monetary purpos
es restored, the price wo nld goso high
as to remove the 'deEased metal'' ar
gument?
In discussing the extraordinary eff
forts made by the treasury department
to deprive the silver metal of it's COM
mon advantages, let us look at il en-.
tirely apart from the question of bimet-
alism, OF the money question i'll any
I ~ rT 1aniop. IIoI, =, -, .,o; -. o.o
modify, the production of which at a
fair price helped the commerce of this
country for nearly a centur Y. For years
this country has received comparatively
little benefit from silver production,
n all this has been due to the fact
that men interested in contracting the
volume of money, have habitually leg
islated to the disadvantage of the silver
metal. Whenever political parties have
found it necessary, in response to popu-
lar demand, to make even the smallest
concession to silver, the effect has been
felt, instantly and advantageously, in
the price of the metal. But now when
it is found necessary for the govern
ment to enter the market for the pur-
pose of purchasing a quantity of this
metal, the representatives of the poll
tlcal party claiming to be deeply inter
ested in the ''protectiOn of American
induStl les, " adopt unprecedented meth
DDS in an effort to prevent silver from
obtaining the common benefits in ac-
cordance with the law ofsupply and de-
mand.
In 1896 the republican orator denied
that the opening of the American mints
to the free and unlimited coinage of
silver would make a material increase
III the price of that metal; yet, by his
recent action, the republican secretary
of the treasury gives the lie to that
claim and confesses that even the pur-
chase of silver in a limited quantity for
subsidiary coins would send the price
of the metal so high as to give to the
American people a striking object les
SOD of the fallacy Of all present day re-
publican arguments with respect to the
position of the silver metal either as
money CT as commodity.
South Jersey News.
Lincoln Park, once a popular pleasure