Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1932-06-02
TELEPHONE NUMBER NINE
SILVER ISSUE COMING BACK

The continuance of the worldwide depression many
months longer than its normal expectancy is reviving the
interest of many economists, not only in our own country,
but In Europe, too, in the question of silver as a monet
airy unit. Many Of us can remember the great free silver
battle of 1896 when Bryan, the silver tongued orator,
came near to winning the Presidency on the slogan of
free and unlimited coinage of silver at sixteen to one.
The Democratic party was then in power and In the midst
of a depression so that the cards favored the success of the
Republican national ticket. But despite the tendency of
everyone at that time to blame the depression on the
Democrats, Bryan's persuasive oratory and silver theory
came near to winning and it took all the organizing ability
of a Mark Hanna, coupled with the schism in the Demo-
cratic ranks to defeat the orator from the Platte.
Now interest in silver is reviving again and there are
many economists, not all of them radicals by any means,
who think that a restoration of the purchasing power
of silver would help in the present crisis. They point to
the fact that silver is the standard of money for the pop
ulous countries like China, whose purchasing power has
been cut by the great decrease in the price of silver. There
have been proposals designed to increase the price OF sill
yer ranging all the way from restoring the silver stand
ard in the United States 'without the consent of any
other nation, up to the proposed calling of an interna-
tional convention to deal with the problem of restoring the
value of silver.
The other day Senator Borah, in the United States Sen
ate, raised his voice for those who think that something
ought to be done about silver not in the interest of the
silver industry but of the great mass of the people of the
world. In his speech Senator Borah declared:
81 venture the opinion that unless ornaments are re-
duced so that the burden is lifted, unless separations are
settled so that Europe can start on economic recovery,
and unless silver is restored to the place it occupied prior
to 1925, to restore to some extent the purchasing power
of one half of the world, there will not in my judgment,
be any ready return to prosperity"
If the depression continues, and deflation continues
along with it, as it has continued during the past year,
then it is a good bet that the country will hear more and
more about restoring the purchasing power of silver. just
what shape the movement will take cannot as yet be
stated, but we will doubtless hear a great many of the
arguments pro and con, that were used back in 1896.
The fact that Great Britain temporarily at least aband-
oned the gold standard without dire results has strength
ened the hands of the silver proponents in this country.
Senator Borah sensed this when he said:
ENGLAND was forced off the gold standard last Sep
tember. Dire prophecies were made before that occurred
of what would happen. 1t is the only bright spot today
on the horizon. That great nation which was committed
to the gold standard since 1849 departed from it and
it is the only nation today that seems to be on the road
to recovery
Of course it can be added that the return to sound
methods of government, the balancing of the budget
and the stimulation of home industries thru the protect
i've tariff, had a great deal to do in making Great Bril-
tain a comparatively bright spot. But the fact remains
that going off the gold standard did not Immediately des-
troy the nation and the silver money advocates in Am
erica will not lose sight Of this fact in their arguments.