Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-11
THE text Of the address Of Sena-
tor william H. King on 1.-THE
Question, of Silver" in the Ma
Il tional Radio Forum arranged by

| LOT William n. hllS OH i ne
Question, of Silver" in the Ma
Il tional Radio Forum arranged by
The Washington Star and
broadcast last night over a Nation
wide network of the Columbia Broad
casting System follows:
For a number of years the American
people have been living in FOOLS para
disc They are intoxicated with the
thought that they were enjoying I'M
exampled prosperity. They have been
rudely awakened and now perceive
q that their fancied prosperity was wholly
illuSory
Fortunes have been wiped out and
homes and all forms of property have
been lost. To meet the demands Of
creditors, millions of stalwart American
citizens are searching for work, and
want is found in every part of the land.
Public and private debts remorsely
press upon the people, and no avenue
of escape seems possible. The National
Government owes more than II bill
lions of dollars; corporations of the
United States have bonded and other
Indebtedness aggregating more than So
billions of dollars, and mortgages and
trust deeds encumcer real estate to the
extent of more t'lsn 35 billions of dol
lars There ale other outstanding
obligations, public and private. totaling
more than 80 billions of dollars. All
these obligations are payable in gold.
Taxes, Federal, State and municipal,
wrung from the people, have been in
creased several hundred per cent during
the past 10 years, until they now
amount to approximately Is per cent
of the total earnings of all the people
Of the United States.
Gold Has Become Tyrant.
During this period Of so-called pros
perity the people have lived upon Dor
rowings, and they now encounter
able demands to meet the day of
reckoning.
In all the world there are less than
II billions of dollars of monetary gold.
to met the obligations of more than
400 billions of dollars. which press so
heavily upon the people Of the world.
There has been lack of craftsmanship
in this and other countries, which has
materially contributed to the serious
and deplorable conditions existing in
this and other lands.
The devotees of the gold standard are
discovering that gold which should be
only a symbol, has become a tryant;
a cruel and ruthless master. People
everywhere are beginning to inquire
why silver was robbed Of its monetary
status in the world. and gold enthroned
as the supreme monetary power. The
gold standard as the sole measure and
standard Of value is being challenged
and demands are heard in every
quarter that silver be rehabilitated and
accorded monetary status.
Prof. Cassel, one of the outstanding
financial and political economists OF
the world, stated that the relentless
struggle for gold has brought fall in
prices the extent of which is unique
!. and that the crisis has resulted in q
general depression resulting in heavy
losses on the stock exchanges, and ir
economic difficulties and has produced
, industrial unemployment which has as
!, sumed disouieting proportions.
Sir Henry Strakosch states that the
. deficiencies of monetary gold is vel
: over one hundred per cent and this ha.
caused sharp fall in prices.
Sir George Paish declares that the
| financial situation is one of unprece-
dented difficulty and that the worlc
since 1914, particularly has, "lived upon
credit and is indebted, both nationally
land tionallys for fabulous sums
of money"
Britain Paying Penalty.
A recognized financial authority, Sir
Josiah Stamp, states that the industrial
depression is largely due to the in
stability of money values and from the
relative insuff1ciency of the worlds
stock of gold and its converse-the
weakness of the commodity markets"
| Great Britain, which more than any
other country, is responsible for the
demonstration of silver, is now paying
the penalty for its unwise and indeed
destructive policy.
AS humanity advanced from primitive
conditions 1t was perceived that a
medium of exchange was a necessity;
that when there was division of labor,
the need of money became imperative,
and that gold and silver were, of all
metals, best adapted for that purpose.
1t was discovered that in their produc-
ton there was a uniform relation or
ratio. For thousands of years the ratio
of production was approximately IA to
THAT is, IA ounces of silver were pro-
duced to / ounce of gold. Naturally
the ratio of production determined the
relation of value to be ascribed for
monetary purposes to each Of the
metals.
Aristotle declared that money ex-
lists not by nature but by law; the use
Of money was by necessity devised
Money is the medium of exchange, and
whatever performs this function and
does the work. is money, no matter
what its nature. Ardent gold mono
metalists claim for gold, that it pos
SeSses intrinsic value which silver does
not have. This is a fallacy which in
part accounts for the Sacrosanct char
acter attributed to gold The fact is
that gold is commodity subject tc
changing values in relation to other
commodities. Mr.. Keynes, the emil
nent English financial expert, in his
treatise on Money" states that gold
as the sole standard of purchasing
power is almost a parvenu," referring
to the fact that for thousands of years
the two metals had been standards of
value and purchasing power, at an ac-
cepted ratio of value. He further adds
that of late years an attempt has been
made to have gold 'envelop itself in a
garment of responsibility, as densely
respectable as was ever met with, even
in the realms of sex or religion" He
further states that whether this gar
ment of responsibility was put on as
a necessary arnor to win the hard-won
fight against biretalliSm (and is still
worn as the gold advocates allege be-
cause gold is the sole prophylactic
against the plague of fiat moneys, or
whether it is furtive Freudian cloak
, We need not be curious to inquire" He
also states that, except during brief
intervals, gold has been too scarce IL
serve the need of the worlds principal
medium of currency" Gold fuctuates
!, when measured by labor and commodi-
ties. If gold were to be demonetized as
silver was, its value measured by COM
modities would have only that value
which it might possess for use in the
arts. Certainly measured by any stand
ard Of value or by commodities il
would possess less merit or value than
silver would possess. Value simply
! means value in exchange, and it arises
! out of relations which exist between
things. Money intrinsically has nc
, value. Purchasing power is of value ir
: economies. Paper money with no in