414 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



coinage of copper free, everybody owing a 

 dollar would buy ten cents' worth of copper, 

 have it coined, and pay his debts with it. 

 In this way a man owing $1,000 could pay 

 up with $100, and pocket $900. Were the 

 coinage of nickel free, and legal tender for 

 the same unlimited in amount, he would buy 

 $200 worth of nickel, pay off $1,000 of 

 debt, and pocket $800 profit. The same 

 thing, with diminished ratio of profit, might 

 be looked for with the free coinage of silver. 

 Now the question is. How long can the 

 Treasury issue certificates for silver without 

 destroying the force which keeps it on a 

 parity with gold ? This depends on the 

 amount of necessity there is for currency. 

 The moment that the daily pressure of cur- 

 rency is such that a considerable portion 

 may be conveniently withdrawn and held in 

 safe-deposit boxes, or sent to Europe, that 

 portion will without doubt be gold. If, 

 then, 550,000,000 silver dollars or certificates 

 should be suddenly put forth (that being ap- 

 proximately the amount of gold in circula- 

 tion), gold would no doubt disappear, be- 

 cause business transactions are adjusted to 

 the existing amount of currency, and the 

 surplus amount thus made would be un- 

 available here, at least to a large extent. 

 Now, how long can the silver certificates 

 be issued without a corresponding result? 

 Several facts are required to answer this 

 question: 1. How great is the natural ex- 

 pansion of the demand for money per month ? 



2. How great must be the preponderance of 

 silver before gold is hoarded in quantity ? 



3. When the hoarding begins, will it accel- 

 erate, from alarm or panic ? 



Without trying to answer these questions, 

 upon which the best informed differ widely, 

 it may be granted that there is danger in 

 the continued issuance of so large an amount 

 of currency based upon silver. Assuming 

 this to be a fact, what is the probability of 

 a modification of the law ? The opponents 

 of silver having failed for twelve years to 

 repeal the Bland law, will they be more suc- 

 cessful with the Sherman law ? 



Upon this point I hazard the suggestion 

 that the silver movement, which seemed so 

 dangerous a year ago, may have been a 

 blessing in disguise. It led directly to the 

 insertion of the gold clause in contracts, as 



before stated, with all the consequent effects. 

 It led to the division of the Democratic 

 party ; to the justly famous silver letter of ex- 

 President Cleveland ; to the defeat of Gov- 

 ernor Campbell in Ohio ; and to the necessity 

 of choosing an Eastern man, or one opposed 

 to any form of fiat money, for the presidential 

 nominee of the Democratic party. Thus the 

 recoil from the silver agitation has far ex- 

 ceeded in importance of effect the original 

 momentum. The continuous effect of the 

 "gold clause" goes marching on to an irre- 

 sistible issue in a stable single standard ; and 

 it would not be surprising if the final result 

 of the silver movement of the past year 

 would be the relief of the country from the 

 dangers of the compromise law made in the 

 fury of the recent silver agitation. 



Charles S. Ashlet. 



COLOES OF NAMES. 

 Editor Popular Science Ilonthly : 



Sir : An article in a recent number of 

 The Popular Science Monthly, by President 

 D. S. Jordan, on The Colors of Letters, as- 

 signing colors more or less pronounced to 

 the different letters of the alphabet, reminds 

 me of a childish fancy of my own, of which 

 I have often thought, but to which I had 

 never before attached any significance. The 

 days of the week were as distinctly marked or 

 colored in my early conception as the objects 

 about me. Sunday was red ; Monday a light 

 pink ; Tuesday gray, with irregular streaks 

 of a darker hue ; Wednesday was green, 

 with interstices of a dull white ; Thursday 

 was yellow, but not of deep tone ; Friday 

 was pink again, and of deeper tinge than 

 Monday ; and Saturday was green. What 

 is there in these names to suggest colors ? 

 The associations of the days do not seem to 

 offer any explanation, with possibly one or 

 two exceptions, and, if it be a mere freak of 

 imagination, it would be interesting to know 

 the experience of others touching the same 

 matter. Again, as I think over the names 

 of the months and the seasons now, there is 

 a suggestion of color in each, but more, I 

 think, the result of association than in the 

 days of the week. J. H. Chapin. 



St. Lawkknce UsrvEBSiTT, Canton, N. Y., I 

 November, 1891. ( 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



EVOLUTION AND ITS ASSAILANTS. 



THE doctrine of evolution teaches 

 that the changes which take place 

 in the universe both of mind and matter 

 follow an orderly sequence, and that 

 each preceding stage potentially con- 

 tains the succeeding one — that every 

 succeeding change can only be explained 



and understood through a comprehen- 

 sion of the preceding one. It incites us, 

 therefore, to a study of cause and effect, 

 and encourages us to believe in the pos- 

 sibility of a rational interpretation of 

 Nature, Strictly speaking, evolution is 

 nothing more than a generalization of 

 the idea of cause. Every man within 



