Year: 1877




from the tendency OF silver coin TO flow into local post
Offices and stay there and the Pacific coast the use
ofconed silver beginning 10 be regarded as an in
tocrabc nuisance. government contractors refusing
10 take IT, while the banks OF that section threaten 10
send the drafts oi The government 10 protest unless
the postmasters honor them some other than silver
money.


Again, II 1t is proposed to do business with all the
world on terms OF equality-and the great trouble
with us as nation to-day Is that by reason OF various
circumstances ablo and therefore cannot
make use o those OF trade OF every
KIND (ships. engines, railways, forms o account and
more especially money! wnich the experience OF the
commercial world mas proved TO be the most economic
and the most convenient. Now, the money OF tho
commercial world o al! international trade Is manly
gold and the United States has itto commerce with
any country when uses silver standard To somo
this may appear US matter oil very little I'M
portance; but this opinion will long be enter
ianed II II Is remem bcred that so sharp the
petition OF various countries for trade, and so
completely have the barriers OF space ami time been
broken down by the steamship. the railroad and the
Telegraph that the question as 10 who shall take the
lead in supplying the world with certain great COM
modites gong TO turn IN tho future not on CENTS
but ON fractions OF cents per yard, pound or busnel;
and that the opportunity tor employment and tor tho
thousands by the apparently lrinng fluctuations the
purchasing power OF the which the country may
% may noe use N making us exchanges ns n
world with cotton iaDrcs is considerably within the
limit OF hall cent yaru on the cloth woven; ana .
certain advantage OF an eighth Of cent per yard would
probably be determnativc OIL immense commercial
transactions


And II the American laborer--if the masses OF
people now distressed now seeking employment and
painfully realizing that IN the midst OF abundance we
cannot market our abundance, and because cannot
market II production stops and poverty increases
could also realize how much ol all this trouble Is
nected with The attempt TO make the United States
adopt and use forms ol money, media OF exchange,
which our own experience anu the experience Of other
nations teaches we should not use the advocacy Of
anything but most stable, Notwithstanding and COM
merciaiiy valuable currency would be anything but
popular


enable the nation 10 carry on future war. foreign
domestic, offensive or defensive--a uli supply oI the
most valuable coin that Is purchasabe ana salabe
without discount in other countries (and so available
tor settling international balances is moro necessary
than iuli supply Of arms, ships or orts. And the
safest depostores OF such coin are not The vaults OF
banks or OF the federal Treasury, but the pockets Of
the pcopie and the convenences OF the people would
prompt them TO employ more coin. and 30 keep up
greater supply OF the essential munition OF war; II gold
the standard, than If the standard exclusively
commodity SO cumbersome as silver.


But the RECOMMENDATION OF silver, or the proposed
restoration OF the s'dollar oil the fathers " silver
continues deprecated would be equivalent to abolish
ing the OF coin to any large extent US circulating
medium; or in othor words, natural laws have
ordained that the use Of silver in any highly prosper
GUS commercial community, snail 80 '"s's.sA 20 It's
use as subsidiary token coipcze; while sound policy
asaAnea,:stes OF natics-,( interest require tnat II
smonTs not in excess 81 S. ior any one spec dc
I payment; Tor money slat Is really true-that Is,
really worth what II purpors TO be on It's acecanLo
be made any better by being made legal tender Such
money is always legal tender by universal consent, /,





legal tender Is good deal as II the butcher soould
afix to every joint he sells the motto ''lhs Is good
mea or The @ grocer TO hs packages This is good
REMoNETIzArIoN or SILVER NOT QUESTION OF poLlr-
ICAL ECONOMY


REORGANIZATION oil silver Is not, therefore, question
of political economy, but one OF convenience OF
mage OF gravity, use aud cost OF transportation, The
kind of COIN country should have and use must do
pend upon The value Of it's TRANSACTIONS the prices of
It's labor and the rapidly and magnitude OF It's
changes. Iron was not Iadapted TO Sparta metal
M "a mi hnra aulfE Ehtro, .onA
everybody In Chicago and elsewhere who will take
the trouble TO understand why 1t would not suit will
fathers that want, but the dollar Of the that
the country requires and hat it ultimately must and
will have II it proposes to prosper


THE FALLAcY OF A CHEAP CURRENCY.
But the advocates OF the reconciliation and
tended use OF silver as currency plant themselves
what they regard as fundamental axlomatic prnci-
plenumcy that 1t is necessary and desirable 70
u cheap currency. But. as matter Of fact, no COM
modify currency (gold, silver copper, iron cab
bages OF kind be relatively cheaper than one
Of another kind. The value OF each will depend upon
amount of labor embodied in 1t. or that will be
required ~ purchase IT. and legislation eau give 10
H. any other value. II gold dollar al average
one days labor and silver dollar nIne-.enths OF
days labor, dollar and len cents OF nominal silver
will soil Tor the price a dollar 10 gold. What
nominal value therefore, legislation may give to
gold or svcr will have NO influence on the price OF
any commodities In the open market Neither gold
silver be made fiat money to future
TONS and the amount OF labor expended their pro-
duclion will establish their final and permanent value
II this value should la to be recognized labor will
go into other channels, ana the production these
metals Will cease until their labor value again recog
nized.
NATIONAL ECONOMY IN RESTORING THE DOLLAR or


THE FATHERS.


As these truths are, however, persisently ignored
by the majority OF those have undertaken TO acl-
tate renewed use Of the dollar OF the fathers
and. the force OF the argument against the use oi
snver by reason OF It's cumbcrsomeness may bc at
tempted to DO met by assuming that It is proposed
use silver as basis Tor tho issue Ut (paper) crcu-
latng medium. and not as medium directly, 1t Is de-
sraole TO still further elucidate this subject by illus
tration


Thus II requires $780, 600 0U0 to supply an exclu-
svey gold currency for this country, ana silver
precnted ten per cent IN comparison with gold It will
require 5000, 900 600 IN silver 10 perform the
work; ana 1t viii require the same amount oil com.
modiiies embodied labor to buy the exclusively gold
currency that Will to buy tho exclusively silver
rency. Whatever may be the dollar unit OF coin
adopted by any country IL will have effect lure
lions, for prices will adapt themselves to the
amount Of labor embodied in tho new coin, in.
whether y be or great or small value nom.
inal or real No one VIII be deceived by
bodied labor than the real dollar IL will dcprecate Just
IN proportion 10 The difference the amount OF labor
kind will advance just proportion the depreciation
OF the coin unit that Is used II the gold dollar should
be made to contain double tho amount Of pure gold
contained in the present dollar, prices, In
dollars, would Immediately depreciate half and 10
would require only mental operation 10 reduce the
prices OF commodities to the new standard. On the
other hand, If a deprecated silver dollar currency
should be adopted II would only require ike meatal
effort on the pact OF the seller OF property advance
his prices in proportion 10 the depreciation OF the now
coin and no one would be deceived iu either case Tho
aggregate nominal silver circulation ~oud, however
be increased IN proportion TO the comparative dcprecl.
alton Of silver, and would cost In exchange other
products just Tho same amount AS an aggregate gold
circulation would cost la otner words, exclusively
aggregate gold currency be bought chcupy and
with little burden TO the country exclusively
aggregate silver currency, Tor they both nat
they tuibody OF labor-no more or any less the
average


When the Connecticut Yankees countcriei,ed the
wampum which Peter stuyvcsant made currency in
Now Amsterdam IL continued 10 deprcc!ate IN value
until It sold AT prcc which barely remuneratcd tho
cOunter.eiters for It's manufacturer and nterIctng
only ceased when the prce or exchangeaDle value
reduced below The cost Of It's manufacture IL we per.
mitted counterfeit notes 10 pass legal tender they
would finally como down to represent the OF
the OF which they arc composed and Of their
manufacture, aud would then become modify
currency.


From tncso considerations, therefore, IL would
clear that there Is nothing TO DO gained 10
future transactions by having the coin currency Of tho
country composed Of one or the other OF tho Two
meta,s-god or silycr-cxccpt lar as one may have
an advantage over tue other respect To convenience
adaptation TO the business OF the country, domestic
fnrn nd on