Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1896 — Financial Catechism. [ARTICLE]

Financial Catechism.

1 What is bimetalism? The equal legal treatment of the two metals, gold a-id silver, as money, at a given latesf coinage. 2 What is meant by 16 to 1? That iu coining tLe two metals into money 16 ounces are to be deemed equal to 1 of gold. ' 3 What is the present commercial ratio of silver and gold bullion? It is about 30 to 1. 4 What has caused the diverg - once between the coin and bullion value of silver? The demonetization of silver in 1873 by this country and some of the nations of Europe. 5 Why was silver demonetized? It was demonetized because of the desire to limit the supply of money, make mo ey dearer, thus increase its purchasing power, and therefore to tlie advantage of money lenders, bondholders, creditor class and all having tixed incomes. 6 Was not the demonetization of silver in 1873 due to ite overrjr.ro duction as compared with gold? It was not due to the overproduction of silver, because (a) for many years prior to i>-73 the world’s pro duction of gold had been about three times as great as that of silver and (b) in ’73 silver bullion was at a premium of 3 percent over gold. 7 How does the world’s production of gold and silver for the last 100 years compare with each other Between the years 1792 and 1892 the world’s production of gold ex-

ceeded that o£ silver about 600 millions of dollars. 8 What is the ratio of the two metals'as thev exist by weight in the world today (available for money? It is about 15$ to 1, whioh mean 3 that there are only about 16 times as many tens money silver in the world as there are tons of gold. 9 What,therefore;is thenatural ratio between silver and gold? 16 to 1 is the natural ratio between silver and gold bullion and would manifestly be the present commercial ratio had not there been legal interference. 10 To whose advantage is it that nations have been induced to adopt the gold standard? To the advantage of all creditor nations, especially England. Two hundred million peop e now use gold alone as redemptive money who in 1873 used both gold and silver; hence the constant rise in the power of gold (and money based on gold), which riseshowß itself in the fall of prices of commodities. 11 if we hail free coinage of silver would not this country beoome the “dumping ground” of silver from all nations? There are, it is supposed, about four billion dollars ofysilver coin and bullion in the A\orld, and if all of this should come here it would only give the United States a per capita of about #SB, whioh is only a little more thau we had of all kinds of money in the North at the close of the war when times were exceedingly prosperous. France today has this amount of money per capita, and is one of the most prosperous countries in the world.

l‘J What is there to prevent this silver from coming to oar mints for ooinage? There are three conclusive reasons (a) Other nations have no more silver thau they need; (b) Europo annually uses about twice asmuoh silver as shv produces; and (o) the great bulk of ihe silver now in existence is already coined at ratios more favorable to silver than 16 to 1, some being 15 to 1, and some 15$ to 1.

13 If silver ooiu should not come to our mints for recoinage wo’d not Europe continue as at present to depress th i price of silver bnliion ? North and South America produce 76 per oent of all the silver now being produoed in the world, and ten times as much as Europe does, so that the United States and other countries of the western con* linents could easily control the price of silver bullion regardless of other nations.

14 Why not put more silver m oar silver dollars so a a to make the bullion and face value eqnal? Because this disagreement is due to Adverse legislation, which, when corrected, will restore the parity by reducing the demand for gold and increasing the'demand for silver. Besides we would e foolish to undervalue our own products. By rights wr should demand 16£ instead of 16 to 1. 15 It silver should come to our mints for coinage faster than their present japacity, would not that prevent the full rise in the price of silver bullion? The capacity of our mints could easily enlarged to meet demands. 16 Will not the people object to usin" so much silver on account of its bulk?

Silver certificates, as now used, will easily float all the silver that muv be preseute i. 17 Would there be vault room for the starago of so much silver? All the silver coin and bullion in the w:>rld could be put in a room sixty-six feet square and s xty-six febt high. All the gold coin and bullion in the world can be put in a room twenty-two feat square and twenty two feethigh, which shows how easily it may be “oornered.”J 18 Would not the free coi age of silver stimulate the production at the mines as to create a flood of the white metal? The annual output of gold and silver is small and is hardly five per cent of the present supply, so that it would take twenty years be. fore the present amount of metals is doubl d, and that would not more than keep pace with the increase of the population and wealth of the world, and especially of the United States. 1 9 What then is really the only problem that we as a nation have to solve regarding the free com j ago of silver? We eave practically (jnly to take care of and absorb our snare of the annual production of silver which is for the whole world only aoout 5 per cent of the present available supply.

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