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It would be impossible withia the compass of a few ptij4e3 to do full justice to so vside a subject as the relative merits of tiie gold and silver standards. Nevertheless, I beg to lay before the reader a few reflections on the monetary questions now cummanding so profound an interest in the United Stales. It is now s )me years since 1 penned and published ilia following sentences :— " It needs no great acquaintance with monetary science to perceive that it is impossible for a nation to secure itself against anticipated losses, by proclaiming oulv one standard of value and practically demonetizing the other. Tne rejected metal, whether sil- ver or gold, has a power in such circurnstan&es, to take revenge as it were, on the pei)ple who have placed discredit on it. The inrtuence may be slow and silent, but it will be very sure and powerful. The discirded metal may come to bleed tiiat nation at every pore through its foreign trade and exchanges, and the evil will augment as foreign coaimerce and competition with fjreign workmen increase. There may be a subtle and effective drain upon industry, and the secret • auss of it all for a long time escape observation." In the same treatise, (International Coinage and Standards of Value) I used the following words, and i think they are worthy of being pondered over in the liglit of recent events;— "The l me will come when circum- stances, and perhaps serious losses, will cnrapel both England and America to reconsider the whole question of the silver currency, and to accept at last of what nature teaches on the subjec(." Canada, some years since, when the American coins were driven out, thought she had settled the silver question, and that it wouhl be heard of no more— it is thundering at our doors. England thought she had settled it when she degraded silver in 1816, casting otf this silver wheel as useless and dangerous— England has since that time been famed the world over as the seat of monetary panics and fluctuations, and the silver question is at this moment one of th<) burning ques- tions of the day. America thought she had settled /orcver with sil- ver when, in 1S74, the final act of decapitation quietly took nlace— the silver question is to-day shaking her ..o aiiH £iano{>ia{iir iirncnsTst ibclr for6!?!i bosd- koLdtn^^he question of tue remon^tisEatton of silvr>r has got mixed -.i«A- 4kCiiUK^.iaB!?^iK^-,v,_ W/, np with the manner of ultimately paying the bonded debt of the ^"'^p.V..'^*'*^*'''- ^''^''"® '8 DO real couueclion beiwoen the two Tlifv are different tliinj^s. ' ^ With regard to the payment of the bonds little need bo said The eastern press the newspapers on the sea-board, have apparently made up their minds that the boi.ds must be paid in gold, and tiiat every- thing in the way of timt conclusion must be swept aside, so that there an enquirer will fail to find material to guide him to a richt conclusion. The facts are these. ** The Acts authorising ti.e issue of the bonds maybe briefly stated in BubstHnce as follows :-Tlie Secretary of the Treasury is empowerej to issue, to a certain amount, coupon or registered bonds of the United States in sums of $a() or multiples thereof, bearing specitieil rates of interest, and "redeemable in coin of the present standard value, (1870) and bearing interest in such coin, payable semi-annu- ally, andredeemal.le, after c.Ttain dates, at the plea.sure of the United w,' ,.•''*'' ;'"m^' ^",!"l^ '^^"'''^ '"'f''''" tl'C Act (*f February, 1802. are payable ' in (lollars " the customs untie? providing for tlie interest to be collected ',n com." The Act of 18G3 makes the bonds issue.l under its authorily j)avable, principal and interest, "in coin" The Revised Statutes of 1874 declare that they may be paid in either aoUi or silver coin. 'I ho standard legal tender coin referred to in these Ac s consists of s.l vet! doliar. of 412,1 grains standard metahaiid gold dollars of 2,r8 grams same standard. The subsequent demonetization of silver by Congress, in its adoption, in June, 1874, of the Revised Statutes and into whicii Statutes, it is said, a clause of demonetiza- tion (section :!.)8 verv n.irnoi of removing any duuhin or difficulties, oit),er i^ the min.isof he on U holders or the pnbl.c, as to how the bonds werr to be T.n!d T e speeches m Congress n.ay also he referred to. Thou-rh' U e word god " was nu.8t frequently used in debate, it was use.f.H ur. e.ic UTin, go d being,«8 to b.ilk. the n.ost valuable of the wo mH.Us a d he word counng on that pround most frequentlv to l" li . ' Ve Nanous speakers often used the phrase, ./,>//,,;• .v,7tv,-. and ' sH tie words interchangeably, with reference tl, the bonds. K "J \ Ir Sher! man himself, the present Secretary of the Tieasurv, ,.n • he is nds- reported, spoke of the maUer in dm way, nnd in su •!, n a, ner n" to h?,!^,*,"^'?'?.-'"^'"^ "^ "r ^""'^^ i"i'iil.or metal was , t^e^t to his mind as the thing expre.-..ly ugre.d on. If ti'ere were a iv io.ibts or Io,,.eness about the bond.s, the veiy /.-..,/.;, of the mm! '\lS -' AU)uld go a long way in favor of the silver, for the silver doHar moved a great porti.vu of the world's commerce 'long before its g en brother was born. Were any mereha u, or agcu nnUi^r f„r .i hers to prorose to pay me on the principle advocated by the aT.ti- i - 'r it , he bond lynig on the de..k before us, I would c.>rtainlv ne ed i m" 1 reflect >yheth..r to tlu,.k him a knave or a fol. If'he hul p en y money thus to throw awny there can be no doubt he won d keen in his credit, and plenty money would flow to such a liberal intcrp et t of contracts, e..,ec.allv if ,i were known that he had the broa. Ks of America at his back, with millions of toiling hands to bring i tie need ul. Ikit h it not also just possible that I might come t*t think that the m.n who was thus careless of the millions entrusted to lini by the peop e whom he represented, might come to be equally care- less about the millions he r-ceived on loan? The letter of he bar gain^ IS the only safe road for all parties. With the plain facts of he case, before us, for any man to seize his pen and deliberately write dovvn a great and generous nation as a'^ parcel of swiudl.rs a d robbers, because thoy propo.^e to act up to the strict letter of t it hi w whatTerwHl'in.r^^'" ^'"''"'^^ ''"' ^' ''"^"'^ ""''''"^' *^"^" If it would be unreasonable and dishonest to sav thatgingle-^tandard England, in the settlement of her sterling bonds.'should r^pudinte her gol.l then It IS equally unreasonable and dishonest to compel ri)l(l cr silver for the bonds — the stn-Hni of »hy yrc- c'ioiis metals has been ail the otiior way. Kvory jrreat loan of KiiKlish capital, so called, is simtdy an inscription of credit in Knjrlish ledgers ; and, in the case of a powerful and industrioiia nation like the United States^ proves a mighty inipuL^e in the exportation to that country of Knglish manufactured goods, pnraIyHit.fr native produc- tion, and throwing against it the course of oxchnnge. Lei it nut be forgotten that, in the case of flu; bonds under discussion, tliey were to an enormous amount sold at Lio, :{(», and 40 per cent, discount, so that the holders reap, for ma-iy long years, rates of interest on money they never paid, and will eventually receive 20,30, or 40 jht cent, of money they never advanced. In fact, the United States seem to have shut fuemsclves up by the terms of their contract to redemp- tion in g(.ld; for, at the ratio of 16 to 1, that on which the bonds mnst really be paid, gold is the cheaper of the two metals. (Jf course [ assume that the statesmen who hajipen to read these lines know better than to be carried awny by the silly clarniour about a !»<) cent dollar, or a temporary ratio of 18 to 1, or 1!) to 1, or 20 to 1 in the Lontion market. They are too wise, I doubt not, to mistake a gambling ratio, or a ratio the fruit of combined vir)Ience and folly, for a value or labour ratio, l.*")^ to 1 may be accepted as the labour ratio of centuries, and will in'all probability be the ra'io for centuries to come. The labor ratio must, sooner or later, command obedience to its behests. To compel the Mint of the United States, an institu- tion associated in one's mind with all that is solid and substantial, to abnegate its high functions in relation to industry, and to become the mere creature of European governments actuated by insane feara as to the presence of silver, would indeed be an act of stupendous folly. The ratio on which the public bonds of the United States must be paid is an incorrect one. The bondholders are, therefore, all but certain to get settlements in gold, or on a basis of gold. After all said and done, they will get the cheaper quantity they so urgently demand, namely the gold. But this does not alter for the better, as viewed from one side, what is sought to be perpetrated upon the United States by the at- tempt to rob them of the option of payment as set forth in the bond and defined by law. Considering tne magnitude of the interests at stake, it is an attempt at spoliation which I suppose has hardly ever been equalled in the history of our race, even going so far as to threaten the people with pains and penalties if the national govern- ment dares to re-open its mints to silver coinage. Though the actual payment of the bonds be as now set forth, let it not for a moment be supposed that the real interests of the nation lie »>» *ny other direction than the prompt restoration of a full weighted and full standard silver coinage. The Americans mutt pay 23.22 grains of pure gold, or 371-25 grains of pure silver, for every dollar they owe on the bonds— there is no getting out of that. Jt it, there- fore, throuffh pricet and the restoration of the currency on a proper standard, that they will best fight the battle of the bonds. Let me now make a fiew remarks as to the double standard and tho demonetization of silver. The stibject is deeply interesting, yea, of world-wide importance. To do full justice to it would reauire a lireaiise by iteeif. Nothing is more absolutely certain than that the Almighty hag H proviili'd two K out inrtnlM, Hilvcr nml jr«.|.|, fur the oxchnnpt'n nt tlio wurld'H (MimiiH-itH). |( \s iirt o( riuiii us Unit lie )>m (mm«»iii| asnod «iiir kIoIh' wilh iiir or irnvi I.mI h pair of Ifjra tor the liiirnnii rnvv. Tho niCK would not |M'rii«h i-vimi with one Itjj — nciilM-r will coiiiiiH-nM' with oil*' iiH'tiil ; tlip nn'o will liiiivi- far liclicr with two Io^js—ho will coiii- tiHTci' with lilt' iHo iiii'IjiIh. Thfic ai<> two \»tscs in Scripdirc which ftliply cmidiiilicMlly to BJIvrr jinil ^mld : — "Two aiv iM-iicr Ihun duo; l)(-(aiiHt' ihi'v liMVt' a jrood ri'wniil for their hthmir. For if liny full, tho Mil,, will lij't ii;i \\\a fellow : IhiI wn(. to him thai is al)iiu wlieii lie falh'lh ; fir hf h.illi not aiiollptr lo hclji him up." Alllio iirh . niutiilatioiis as to Ihi' amounts, or rela'ivc amounts, of silver and irold now in existiMiee miist ever parliike niiieh of the chnraen'r of irncss woil<. yt't it is a faet wfll cHtahiished llml the valnc of th. silver in tlit- w^rid. or railnr in hi;man h iiid-, is not tar short of ti.e viiluf of jr(dil. f'ay alioiit (our llioii-and iniilions of silver dollars a> it;^'' >inst siioiihiiii; over ."> thonsMtid millions if ^ri^\l\ dollard — or in eoiii uud iMillioii, silver !SJ;;,r»(i(»,()oo,oiesent and past generano isol nien has lieen securely iu\e-|. d. to he Ik Id there with an indi'srue'it'le jirasp till al)r>;y of millions of once t»»ilinjjr hands now mouiileriiij; in the dust. Tliis silver liaH not become valualde because it is money, m g,) liian.v suppose — it Iims It^eoine nu) ley because it is valmilile. Associat- ed witli the mass of fjrold, it represents u labour value which, f.T every practical purpose, may be pnmounced permiinent. This mass <>f treasure is destined in the better years to come l«) exert a powerful iiilliience on the industry of the wlrilc world when permitted, like •he life l»h)od, to cmirse through every industrial hand. This jrreat labour fund is the most jrenerally and widelv distributed of nil product,«i, iiui its very nature impels it to follow clonely on the liecls of every true worker, keepinjj him company, and ready to pa.ss into his hand the moment he hu.s {jfot nnythiop: to part with calculated to minister to human wants. With rejrard to the supjdy of our cereabs, the labour of our face may be said to bepiii of necessity anew every spring. Hut it is dillercnt with retrard to the supply of *tlie precious nietald. Of these, when coined, we may say that jmictically there is no consumjt- tion. What a wondeiful xlafnlili/ is tliig fxiven to the money of tho world I lt,s miifhty nms-^, in acconimodntinjr itself to the wants of in- dustry, is as lluenl'as water, and yet stable as a rock. (u)ld and sd- ver have had a true industrial tleseent, an imposition, a "layinjr on." of industrial hands. It is not too tuueh to say that tiny seem to have the power of lifiinqf all human 1 dionr on "to a common jdane, of inarslialiiifx it into line, and of s^'cnrintJ iind preserving for future use the fruits of onr daily toil. There is u conservation of energy, silent nnd un»feii, but yet most real and active. We need not here jinuse to enqnire why tirn nvtals have been given. They are there, and we have only to accept ftie fact. Throw either oveibi'ard, and tho vessel will not «)nly lurch but lose propelling power. To itrotect labour in its toil ;'to reward it equitably in iis exchanges ; lo halList na it were the entire industrial world ; to be eminently iisffnl as well as t)recious to man, and yet nseful only when passing from liis grassn ; to form a reserve connnodity in which every toiler may invest for the time being with absolute security; to be of the same value rrnm tl„> u, '•notion i<> «1.<> ,...1..^ «..,1 4l.,,, _ ...,:,.»»,.; «.. m. .»..».. . t.. -i. .11.... ,!,. . .|. .,(,!., ^y, ,,,. j-vtvc, atn.t tiiu; a titiit n -til vl:i ict-vj , ".u StUlC i V, HP the Inhnur of tl,o pust so ns to net willi honoliciiil infliionpo on tlifl iHboiir of tl». pn-scMl >iM wis- dom hiiH provi.h'.l in Kold nnd silver. And liiose nrt' tho nohh- nicfal-i, ono or othor of thorn, wlii.h icr^n. rant moti, with almost inconcoivaldo llioii^'htlossmMH and follv Hlill •eok to do.Hlrov ! j> " ' rraclically, in tho hn«inpss of rommoroo from voar to yoar the ironons motals, truo monoy. novor vary a sinjrlo iota in Ihoir val.io If tho hakor^, tins yoar, pay dmihlo what th.-y did lar th.-ir tinkerinfr, „i| " flnctmitions" wonhl cea-e. It 13 .>-aid that wilhiii tho past two or three years there hiis been A fall in t!ie value of silver, because -Jilver ha- boon bonjrht al a very low price in the London market. It is all u i -take There has been no fall in the value of silver. (Jenininv ih 1 inonetizinjr her silver- several European mints are closed a»<|iunt dinioralizHlion of all valiieH, in brin|;in(; Hi lust ii|)on tlic niitionH a roninuMciiil distrofifi s«) long and fierHiHtcnt that jioople i-vcry wlu-ro nn- confused and ixTplcxed what to think abont U. The da^u'of "[uinic" stem to have paHsed— we aro now to all appoaranoo in days of dissolution, a veritable drying up of Eii|ihi'ale8. These are aonio of the ellects, and they are inevitable. It IS beyond hiiinun nowir to arrest this down\viir:^ervirnt{o the retail. Genu- ine commerce is ever present in the retail trade— gambling and specu- lation in the wholesale. And yet we attempt to demonetize and de- grade the very money which sustains the trade on which wholesale and foreign are alike built I The adoption by all nations of a common monetary standard, or rather of a common ratio between silver and gold, that ratio brought as closely as experts could manage to do to the true market value, wotild secure the metals from divergence or fluctuation. Probably they would not need a readjustment of the ratio for a century to come. Concerted action will Anally secure the desired end. I do not believe there is anv pnneiple involved in what is known as "legal tender." I do not Hnd such a thing within the range of political economy. Until all nations come to adopt the double standard and mint at the same ratio, I believe legal tender is expedient, nay absolutely necessary. It U the duty of legislation to mint coins of sold and silver whose legal and market ratio shall be, as near as can be known. In concord. And it is the duty of legislation to provide, by legal tender, that neither of the metals when so minted and handed over to indostrj shall be allowed to be depreciated or have their usefulness destrojed by individuals, merchants, companies, or corporations being peraoittad to refuse them when tendered in payment. If three or four of the leading commercial nations agree to sdopt the policy indicated above, it will settle all difficulties aa to the relative values of silver and gold. The argument so often used by the monometallists, that practi- cally it is an invariable rule that the bad money displaces the good^ is a capital argument against the use of bad money and in favour of the use of good money. It is an argument against cooferrinff a false value on either silver or gold, but no argument at all in fovour of castinff either of them out. Silver will behave like a good boy if we let it alone. We must not complain if he criee when we whip him for doing good and being good. If, as has been so often urged, the gradual departure of the gold from tlift fu'ld of (•iifiiliiiidn in Anu'ricft tliiritiK •'"? f"f^y yarn aflor 1 T'J'i I rtivcil tiiiil >//r/r wiik IhhI intdit v ; llnii it \^ ri^flil to iii^je thill (Im' (Irimrttiri! of llic xilvtr Holliir Iniii tlif gnme field of ciioiilH' tiun afUT tlie yvnt \h[',-\ (wlii-n tlu' relation of 8ilver to tin- unit «»f gold wad cliRiijft'd from 15 to 1U.0<'2) I'rovcd t hut «/<»/(/ wiis hiid nioni'y. Are wi; poing lii'yontl the record when we Hiiy llmt audi argnuients prtivo tin- luoiiuinctulliitts, us related to our coins, tu be ulrto nioiioniuniarH ? The ratio of 15. r> to 1 is the Enroiieun ratio. It Iiub been «< for about a century. The varinlionH in value huve been (jnite tritlinjf, for twenty recent years in London, not over 2d per ounce of silver, and these yeurrt end)nicin){ thu exciting limes of the gold discoveries in Cnliforiiiu and Austialiii. The more recent •' fall " in silver in the fiOndon market, accom- panied as it has been with considerable fluctuations, has bei n caused, Hs I huve Huicl, by (ieiniany and other nations casting awuy their sil- ▼er and adopting the single standard of gold. Hut the flow of silver to the Kast still continues, even in an augnieuting stream, and Asia will not fail to lake off «»iir hands niiicli of the silver we please to throw away. The Kast will simply profit by our foll^. Europe and America gave Asia lastyear 1()5 millions of dollars in stiver, an iucreuiie of 22 millions over the largest annual amount ever before scut It is held by some that if the (dd latio of 15.08 to 1 is retained, the silrer, though it should depart from Anierica as bullion on account of this over-valnufion, will return to it in the shape of gold and merchandise. It will return in neither shape. So long 88 there is a dollar left to be drained it will go Jrotn our neighbours in the shape of itnported English merchandise received l>y them, and paid for bj them, at 3 per cent, more than it is really worth, or more than the price at which it would be sold on a correct ratio. Thej will not only penult their silver to be drained, but pay their correspondents 3 cents on every dollar they coin, simply for taking it away. The profit on the imported goods will be swollen by the 3 per cent. addU tional profit on the exportation of the silver. There is no Bucb thing as a standard of value. It is an impossi- bility. Nothing can measure human labour, but labour itself; and human labour in its railHons of exchanges from day to day is con- stantly measurin)^ itself. Every toiler nvbo brings a produc t to market is measuring and being measured. Even gold and silver, stable though tbey are, have to submit to this law. The imaginable standard, like the philosopher's stone, has been long searched for. but never will be found. It has troubled many a statesman's head in the past, and is likely to trouble some in the future. If an^ man should deal carefully with language, it is the political economist. In anything I have written on the subject I have ^ver felt the pressure of a great responsibility. I have come to define political economy as the tcience of human well-being. Anything be- neath that exalted rank, I dare not accord it. I think it safie, then, to say in this connection that, though there is no standard of value, there are two monetarv standards, gold and silver. In dealing with golu and silver, one prime fact must ever be kept before us, that they are two commodities in which multitudes of our fellow men have invested the fruits of their toil. Their production is a most important branch of human industry, probably ranking next to the providing of food and ciotbiog. ^ever in tliemselves producing a single iota of value, and their vast service to the human 10 noSr«b^ru';;ornor,:i,{,":iV,rc:i;';Lr'"^' ""^ ^"^ ^"^^ -"' Jt a nation demonetizes itd silver, t not onlv practicallv de^frovQ TM.Pnrir i^'f oil "^ «^^"^':«.«f «'l^er lose-tlie owners of gold gain 1 lie prices of all commodities will fall, in other wrrds the niirK capaci o?hft- thi'\..T;''''^ '' '''''^^' '^'' ^'^''^ beyoiid its naturS as whi >U Fn L f "I?' ""' '" '' perpetual fever about their gold, as w 1 1 ( ^g hngland for tliese nianv vcars nast T^'Enslish stitofmpn won d butor>en their eyes, they might see'that t, e vefv gold itseSTs fo/hs^^irowTrs^;^?-"^'''"- ^'"'^ ^^""^^ '' "-'- ^^^ thi^'wnvT"'''^ '"^''■^' ""^ ^''° demonetization of silver may be seen in Dw^nin'^Tf.dl^l""?,""'^ America enter into international trade, each rin"ald^rnnf-"^*".'''^V^'^'? ^^ ^'"^ amount of S(JOO,()00,0(K), and that a I other nations stand aside for a f<>w years. The barrel of flour "e''sver'',"mriVf "'?;■'; ''I TT' '^"°'^'^^ -dd'nly .letol^S b^Tt ,f F.li " \''L'^™^i'\1 "^ ^"^ ^'"' ^'^stor elsewhere. The Dairci of hnglish-made flour falls to three dollars. The labour value flou?'fWiIt7'''-;'"*'' '"T^' bealtered-aud abar?xVof-Zerh.an rSa d ° >nt^'?r-' r-""ld f^arter for a barrel of English flour la ltl\TL^Y\'^^ Hiternational trade is carried on through prices e.tablisiod by the amount of value monev set ao-ainst the amount of l^n;;-';;'''^-^ ^° be exchanged. The barrel of flour in America would inlv tlioo Yfl'l'''^"'U" ^'^"^^'r-'^' ""'^ ^'^^^ half currency, it would be l^er n n „ ^ l*";'- ^i"^ »*"'^'' "'^'^^'^ ^^ ^^"g'^"^ «'0»li'nf! -i *>-- i > • ^ and material condition of its people in general. ^^^«i, ^ t * i i4 ' n How ptniloiig then is the coniiition of America at this momont with her silver domonetizr-il ! Is it any wonder lliitt Enf^luud ia so anxious to seduce her to tlie :5am e broad rond lo ruin? Most earnestly do I plead with the people of the Uiiiud Statt-s, not only to restore their silver, hiit to restore it on a basis secure against ail assaults. The New York Nf//hant air, how they would like the ]«roposition that silver "sliould be a lejTiil tender at its bullion price in gold." It would work finely for the schemers able to corner ff( \<\ ; it would work badly for the New York Mation if it held silver and liftiired to i>ay its debts. If the Nation, or the men of either standard, ever seriou.-ly propo.-ed such a thing it would shew that they understood as little of the real function of coins as of the nature of legal tender, is it wise or pru- dent for this Natton within a Nation to ])rop(>se that the Americaa coins, after being made legal tender, should lo.on the silver t'-umpet. Let us hear what the London Economist has each us on this question of demonetization of silver. "Coal mercliants," savs the Economist, <' if peat were cheap, would welcotne enthusiasticully a law competing consumers to pay as much per ton for peat as for coal; and in the country subject to such a law there would so(tn be no coal tires." This from an " Economist ! " Let us see if we cannot reciprocate. Joha Bull has good digest! n. It is holiday times, and he has leisure to chew the cud of rtflrction. Siippuse we send him the following, with our best wishes :~G()ld merchants, if silver were dear, or even at par with gold, would welcome eiithusiasticallv a law compelling consumers to take payment only in gold; and 'in the country subject to such a law there wouhi t-oon not even be silver change. The co.il merchants, in the iirst illustration, would have overshot the mark, and woul i soon hnv(» no business at ail. But, in tlie other illustration, the gold men, more nciite, would soon have the whole field to themselves. Now, John, we ask you to look squarely at our illustration, a id not shut one eye. I have said that there are two morietary standards. As provided by nature, as brought to hand by labour, as sent forth from the mint, there are two. |'riictiea1!y, a-i employed in exchange, they form but one standard. There is not a gold jirileand a silver ])rice for commo- dities. If a barrel of flour is worth five dollars in gold, it is worth live dollars in silver. The aggregate ( f the i>reeious metals is a vast labor fund being consta ifly offered in exciiauge for all other pro- ducts of toil. Human labor, it may be said constantly filters through' both metals, (utiless one or other is demonetized) and appears on market as one price, equ^illy afl'ected by both metals. The reason for all this is, of course, to be found in the fact that you can do nothing with money but buy. Therefore, the destruction of one of the stan-' dards practically leaves only half a standard. Under the pretence or delusion of keeping prices stead3\ it destroys tiie integrity of all prices througliont the vast fields of commerce, and gives opportunity —in fact creates the market— for gamblers and speculators to manip- ulate our gold find silver coin and bullion. To complete the evil work, it rohj Mm ailyer /^riina if uiiirr.i. Kn *U^ .«„f,.l l.„!^ :„ ;__ —of a portion of their substance, and sends them forth with a lie 12 stamiKj.l upon their face, overvahmtq thorn by leiral tondor to the extont they are , epn.ciuted.-a fulsehood and a^rand n He Tnto one! The great metal in the hands of industry, passine and renassinff con- f 2."d^ 1 3';n"rT^^^"^"''^^• '-^ cL;.eiiod^toMtSr:iSe tl.onnfl.l-f ♦"'*'''' ^''''^''^ "I' '" ^"^"''^ '^"d hardly ever seen in itself an L 1 1"' ««!"'ri''' S"ITl«"ts its elder brother and takes to Itself an inheritance in labor and purchasing power to which it has linp 'LnTi-r"'' "^''*- V'^ controversy niw raging acre the Iv «nrl ?. J"''^ ^ ':."test between Wall street and t7ie entire Indus- try and comn.ercc of America. God forbid that in suoh a struggle the Nation should be doomed to go to the wall ♦ «""goie wrannod nn^^'^fl*" ''"'"? °^' !}'^ ^""^"'""^ "'«''^'s '^ the human labour Tevi/wLr'v nf VT' ""^ r/'*'"!J^ ''^^'- T''e London economists are never v^eary of telling us that demand and supply are the source of Jo, r^; of . v,^ ^"''"' ''"'^ '^"^"' *-''■'■"•■• J^^^'»«nd and supply are the source of exchange never the source of value. As to the quantilv of j»ure metal, gold is fifteen or sixteen times more valuable than silver, because on the whole it has taken fifteen or sixteen times more inuJj? F««l»ce tl'e gold than the silver. I agree fully witl?Ric3 Say's TaCr'of^Csa:^^^^^ ^^'""^ "' "'-^'"^^ '''''' ^'''' '^^''' ^ /,, .l^!/-'''^^^ ^"^ "'^ -^^""^^ ^^ surprised when I tell him that money, 0(1 used in commerce, is not a medium of exchange. His first impulse will be to reject a statement so completely at Variance with iu^hat he has heard and with all that he Ls been accustomed to believe. «nLiJ f^?'?!"*^'^ ^"^ entirely true. Money exchanges nothing f^^fiflfr^i'^'f' ""l^ ^^^^ T'"^'' exchanges nothing can never be an instrument of exchange. It exchanges, in every act of buying the ?«T?.°r^-^°"'' '^ '"."*?l"' ^'^^'" ''''^^'' «>"^ a»d nothing mo/^T'here 8 tharS;VT"°*°/*'"""^*°" wrapped up in every loin, and that SfTnnti ^.I'^^^^'Sed or made over in every purchase, nothing ad- dional nothing outside. Money must ever be bought as a commo- aity. If sold as bullion, or in the shape of bullion, it is just the same, IheTi^h?' I'/^iP^M^f .^'^ ^""^^ *^'^- The mint stJmp does Sot Snln«V°Tu®^''?^,*^?* ^^^''^e. That only certifies its weight and nneness. . The metals become money because, primarily, they are com- modities of value ; and, secondarily, because they possess those well-known qualities which impel them to assume the place of what IkEP^ ^^ ^i^!?°''°,^^ ™?I^'* of exchange. They are simply merchant- able commodities, like all other merchantable commodities, but only "^o^.-fWently bought and sold than other commodities. we still occasionally meet the argument that silver is too heavy to tarry. One would think that an argument so stale would long since have rotted out of existence. But error dies hard ; it seems to take a natural liking to some men, or else some men take a natural llkiDir j^i „«5°° 18 heavy ; so is topper and tin, and marble, ar 1 bales of «y its goods, and to c.n.2,«. i goS! by the aid of a clipped and debased coinage? Will there be found a statesman in our free Dominion so insaae as to urge that because ^"f ril ^^^t,''* *^' precedent, this young and pi?m inrnroa must follow the same path to ruin? " ° ^ 'fa imuuit ^ I devoutly hope^hat the Silver bill now before Congress will nasa ' in Its original integrity. Great and important questions Tre Sow shaking the American nation, as well thoy may. It is the finU? ol Providenre pointing on the good vonA to trutir .ind equity ll^felv took the liberty, through the columns of a leading joi.rn tl-thJ - UHaf.^0 Trihune-of ^ounsmufi,l5iio 1 as f'le ratio on wh ch the bright new coinage should go forth to the people. But an alieratioa in either the weight of thn o-nl,! ,,n =:i,r->r .\..nl q..| i , • "*^1*^"?'^ requisite ratio. On the whole, I think i. be'tterVo raake'thealfenuion on the side of the silver, and reduce the silver dollar some twelve i K^ Ti^TiTirrnraTi 15 grains To coin at the old rntio of 15.98 to 1 would d-Iva « J,;„i,« lines, tliat they ivill cue. ra™ tl„ (i, l^f .. '""''™'?"' "t'oss the stream, and tUat, if the s v"f„mes tluf.l^t, ''u°"'^i lifc-gi-dny proteclionof Br'itish law aro^.^d I e see , „TlV5^ d doH?." ''^^ now done a,-oi|nd the unseen and ,ml,aSd soverS °"" "' '" thrSSW^il'^.Tir ^^l'^^^ ^-o,atTS"aro„nd ns than I would say ,0 all Ca^admns, ve^i' o1 ViritrTon" m/'I™'';- "'" that, If they encourage and hVlp tl"e silver tliev will ifel^i'i™'' s 1 [if ratzrs ?i; ra -IJ i?x¥r "- -'- ™ Srs^'ofni^LTt^^'- '» "' '■"-«-»'* -^--o-So-i^ .'ie piV s«^!i^'UT'srcririrs '„i&s^ ■' :f^l?».»ap8!«iji»Miiwi.jMi Aiiimiii-iiii'ifiinmiii 16 Bui some there may be halting between two opinions. If long years of patient thjugbt aud investigation sliould add weighi to a man's Words, then may I not, with all the energy lean command, appeal lo all such, yea. to every true-hearted American who reads these lines, north or soutn, east or west, to take no rest till this great monetary reform is accomplished; a reform which will place m the hands of every toiler throughout their vast domains a true and substantial recompense for his labor, and which will raise America, now foremost in so many things tending to amefiorate humnn toil, to the proud position of being the first nation in all the earth to accept to thf. full the teachings of political economy in regard to the precious metals. For few reflect to what extent this question of coinage, simple though it may seem, stretches its roots away down into the heart of industry. May God grant to all who have a voice in the halls of legislation wisdom suited for the solemn hour. Let them remember that as they now do right with tlie money of industry, toiling millions in after years will rise up and call them blessed. Montreal. 7th January, 1878. Copies of this parnphlet can 1)p had from Lovell Printing and I'lihlishing Compary, Montreal,— single copies, 10 ceiiti. /! ' I K p ''"' "■*'■ " ■Jg if 1 MWi ■tl lilIEHl'*'kIi'^lXL n ,.;-.)■ ■ •'4 JH ^^^ . • /{',',; -'ililil ^^B . , *f «is iiiwi ^^^H .^1 I i