Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-11
WORLD SILVER FARLEY
URGED BY SENATOR KING
Radio Forum Speaker Declares United
States Should Act Because Of
Nations Standing.

Hldke IdCIO. 4LSAelOIe value SlIlPIJ
means value in exchange. Human esti-
nation placed on desirable objects
whose quality is limited, determines
value.
AS stated, for thousands of years
gold and silver circulated as money
possessing purchasing power in sub
stantially the ratio Of II or IA to l.
Credits and paper currencies, whether
issued by governments or banks, rested
upon a metallic base consisting of gold
and silver
1t is apparent that such base had
greater strength than if it consisted
of but one of these metals. Senator Jones
of Nevada, who was an outstanding
authority upon money frequently COM
pared the use of gold and silver to two
reservoirs connected by a pipe from
which water could be drawn for the
irrigation of the thirsty soil Obvious
ly, he stated, the farmer would be
| advantaged by having one instead Of
| two reservoirs. If water were drawn
from only one, the same level would
| be preserved in each.
Gold Made Standard.
The use of gold and silver furnishes
to the world more units Of purchasing
power, more vitaliZing elements for
/
supplied by either gold or silver alone.
Until 1916 these metals walked side by
side, carrying the trade and commerce
OF the world. In that year Great
Britain, largely at the instance of her
| creditors and bankers, denied silver &C
cess to the minis and made gold the
sole standard and measure of value.
The effect in Great Britain was d1sas-
| trous. Sir Archibald Alison, in his
History Of Europe" describes the ap-
pall1ng consequences upon trade and
commerce and the entire social and
economic structure. He states that the
capital which had been acquired dur
ing the Napoleonic wars had been SO
great, 1.-THE interest of the money
| classes SO powerful, that Parliament
became affected by the desire of its
possessors." He further adds that the
demonetlzation of silver within a very
lew years thereafter added so per cent
| to the value of money and weight Of
oeDt and taxes. Small land proprie-
tors were ruined from the fail of
prices, and the magnates stood forth
in increased luster from the enhanced
values OF their revenues. Distress was
universal, and it seriously affected all
branches of industry" When the bill
was passed there were more than
100, persons land owners in Great
Britain, but the ruinous consequences
OF the fall in prices reduced the num-
Der In seven years to 10000. and Is
per cent of the population became the
OBJECTS OF support by organized charity,
That picture is paralleled by the stu
alton IN the United States today. Sir
/ IhomaS Gresham, speaking of the same
/ PERIOD. states that because Of the fall
IN prices for every less sum ow-
/ ing, a greater shall be paid; that with
/ the ian IN prices farmers have no
{ q 1nTd 49,
facturer no customers and the laborer
no employment; revolution of property
and the disarrangement of the whole
frame OF society must necessarily en-
sue
Germany. after the Franco-Prussian
War. exacted ST 600, 0OO.O of gold from
France and then adopted the gold
standard The Latin Union followed
It's evll example, and the United States
IN 1873 reversed the policy Of Wash
ington. Jefferson and Hamilton and
followed obsequiously the gold mono
metallic policy OF Great Britain and
Germany.
Decentralization of Silver.
The first financial measure enacted
by this Republic declared that 37l14
| grains of pure silver should be the dol
lar and unit of value" and that 233
/
value. Thus our fathers gave to US
gold and silver as the units Of pur-
chasing power, and provided metallic
base of gold and silver upon which to
rest our currencies and credits.
The characterization of silver in 1873
was surreptitiously accomplished It
was denounced as a crime committed
in the interest of bond holders and the
| gold standard 1t was designed TO de-
stroy substantially one-h3lf of the
money Of the people and TO make more
valuable the units of geld, to increase
the value Of governmental and private
obligations and to affect injuriously
commodity prices as those prices were
expressed in gold
The demonstration of silver in '73
produced dis strous results. There
were more than $4,000 failures in bust
ness during a pericd Of five or six years
| with losses aggregating S1,500,000,000.
| Banks failed commodity prices sank
| to low level, and ruin overlook farm
ers and business men everywhere. So
serious were the consequences of this
| 1ndefenSible measure that Congress en-
acted within a few years the Bland
! and Sherman acts which it was hoped
might relieve the situation and arrest
| the catastrophe decline in commodity
! prices. In the meantime gold mono
where waged an unrelentinl and fierce
warfare against silver with t.ie avowed
purpose Of destroying it a5 primary
money and of enthroning gold as the
sole standard and measure Of value
| throughout the world.
| Great Britain. pursuant to this pur-
| pose, made war upon the financial
structure of India for the purpose of
forcing her to accept a gold exchange
policy. Before 1916, when bimetalism
prevailed throughout the world the
! people of the Orient almost exclusively
used silver for monetary purposes and
it had substantially the same value
measured by gold and commodities as
that possessed by geld The savings of
nearly a billion people in the Orient
consisted of silver accumulated during
hundreds, if not thousands of years.
When the Occidental nations demone-
tized silver they not only robbed their
own nationals of savings and property.
but they robbed the people Of India
and China of billions of dollars 1t is
estimated by competent authorities
| that the silver holdings of China and
India amount to approximately 1000
! 100000 ounces.
Forced Price Down.
Before the demonstration Of silver,
the silver of the Orient as well as the
silver of the Occident constituted part
Of the foundation upon which rested
world currcncies and credits. Silver
had a value expressed in gold of APP
proximately S129 an ounce. The gold
standard policy and Great Britain's as
saults upon midas financial system re-
duced the price of silver, measured by
gold, not only in the Orient but in the
Occident to the low level of less than
81 cents an ounce. 1t is obvious that
the purchasing power of the Orient
| hoe bae,, ra6uppd almost the vanish