Effect Of Free Coinage

The advocates of the free coinaee of silver would have the country believe that those in favor of the gold standard are opposed to the use of silver s sooney. They say that as there is not gold enough for the coinage of the world the discussion is ended. They would have everybody believe that the advocates of the gold standard are the enemies of silver and of the silver aiiner, and of the laboring man wno reseives silver coin in payment of his daily wages. They make erroneous statements, answer their own statements and say the discussion is ended. Now, what are the facts? The director of the mint, in one of his latest tables, estimates tbe amount of eold coin in the world at 83,727,000,800, and the amount of silver cohi in the world at 3,820,000,000. So it seema there is S100,000,000 more of silver coin in the world than of gold coin, and that the free-coinage silver men are wrong, and that there is no prejudice against ilver coin, and that those who believe in the gold standard are not engaged in a ïiarfare against silver. Ii the east, ■rchich contains 1,000,000,000 of people, prefers all silver and no gold, the west eertainly, which containsonly 500,000,000 of people should have a right to prefer a gold standard, when it is the pleasure of the people of the west to use with the gold millions of ouncesof silver in subsidiary coin. England, Germany and the United States today use more than $700,000,000 of silver coin, and yet maiñtain the gold standard. The Latin Union, also, which has long since closed its mints to the coinage of silver, but ïeeps them wide open for gold, uses $30,000,000 of silver coin maintained"at the valueof gold by the high credit of the French governmentand of the bank of France. The silver miner, under the present law, has a sure market for $00,000,000 worth of silver every year, for the government buys it all at a priceabovethat of the London market. Under a freocoinage law the government will cease to be a purchaser of silver. Every holder of bullion cantake it to the mint and have it manufactured uto stamped dollars. The result will be the silver Standard. Then these stamped pieces of silver will have a purchasing power of the value of the bullion therein and o more. Our neighbor, the republic of Mexico, enjoys the beneflts of freecoinage, and their dollar piece s a legatender for all amounts. The purchasl ing power of the Mexican dollar at home and abroad is exactly equal to its ïraliion value. If the result of a freeMinage act is the silver standard, the silver miner will [lose his chief puror, which is the government. Silrer will be wortheven less in coin than Jine silver bars. In brief, the siïver coinage act, so far as the silver miner is concerned, will "kill the goose that lays the golden egg." The back of France holds $250,000,000 af silver coin, which manufactured years ago, when the price of bullion was at least tvrenty per cent. higher ;than bow. It holds this silver at a loss of 50,000,000, and other European banks all hold large amounts of silver at a great loss, which was purchased many fears ago. If the advocates of free coinage are correct in their theory, that we can open our milita to silver and yet maíntaín gold payments, then the banks of Europe will have the opporttinity.as silver advancesin valué, gradaally to transfer their silver hoards from their own vaults to the vaults of ur treasury, and recoup a large porion of their loss. It will be evident to the foreign banks that hold large amounts of silver coin that, if they sell their coin to our government at ten per cent, or twenty per cent, adice, when we are upon the silver standard they can buy other silver bullion at a great profit. It is plain, thereíbre, that, as silver advances in valué, the foreign bullion will cross the ocean to realize the har.dsome profit, so long as the tempting offer is held out by such foolish statutes as an act providing for the free coiDage of silver.- John Jay Knox in the New York Telegram.