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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 163 



not be so great. All agree that we have not yet found 

 an ideal standard in this respect. Every material 

 which has ever been adopted as money varies in 

 value continually, either falling or rising, and thus 

 causing a consequent shifting of property from the 

 hands of one class to another, and practically pro- 

 ducing the same results as a contraction or infla- 

 tion of the money-supply. We must choose, then, 

 between an appreciating or depreciating standard, 

 between a policy of contraction or one of inflation. 

 This is purely a practical question, and is one 

 mainly of degree. A high degree of inflation may 

 be more injurious than a low degree of contraction. 

 But as between a ten per cent contraction, for in- 

 stance, and a ten per cent inflation, of the world's 

 metallic currency at the present time, I have no 

 hesitation in giving it as my opinion that the 

 former would be of enormously greater damage to 

 our modern society than the latter. This is, of 

 course, a very different question from that involved 

 in the contraction or inflation of the paper cur- 

 rency of a single country. 



A system of contraction, an appreciating world 

 currency, means, under ordinary circumstances, 

 a world-wide industrial depression. It means an in- 

 creasing burden of debt, "the cherishing of a for- 

 tune made at the expense of a fortune making," the 

 encouragement of the non-productive at the expense 

 of the productive classes, the injuring of those 

 who live by current labor for the benefit of those 

 living on past labor, the giving to the past a firm 

 grip on the throat of the present ; it means, in a 

 word, stagnation of business, idleness and poverty, 

 to the full extent of the influence of changes in 

 the currency on trade and industry. 



4. It is claimed that such an inflation of the 

 currency as would result from a return to the 

 double standard would injure the wage-receiving 

 class. There is little doubt that the laborers 

 would be among the last classes in the community 

 to adapt themselves to the inevitable change 

 incident to an inflation of the currency. Wages 

 would be among the last things to rise. Still there 

 are worse things than a failure of wages to rise 

 correspondingly to rise in cost of living ; as, for 

 instance, falling wages, and diminishing oppor- 

 tunity to receive any wages at all, which has been 

 rather a characteristic of the last dozen years the 

 world over. 



5. It is sometimes said, that, if we are to go 

 back to a double standard, we should at least take 

 the market ratio now prevailing, and increase the 

 amount of the silver in the dollar proportionally. 

 This would not be advisable, for the simple fact 

 that it is highly probable that much of the present 

 depreciation of silver, if we allow that it has depre- 

 ciated at all. is owing to the fact that it lias been 



discarded from the circulation. Eestoring it to its 

 old place by the side of gold will tend to restore 

 its value, and to adopt the ratio now prevailing 

 would be likely to prove a gross mistake. Neither 

 a due respect for pecuniary obligations, nor a 

 proper regard for the facts of history, would allow 

 any such compromise. 



6. Finally, we may say that the whole question 

 is discussed too much from the supposed immediate 

 effect of a restoration of silver, and not enough 

 from its permanent tendencies. It is claimed that 

 a return to a double standard will end in a com- 

 mercial crisis, in which values will be enormously 

 disturbed, and the whole industrial world will be 

 thrown into confusion. Even if this be granted, 

 it does not by any means prove that we should 

 not return to the old system, since the evil effects 

 of continuing the present policy may be infinitely 

 greater. Stagnation of business, increase of bur- 

 dens on the productive classes, by a continued 

 appreciation of debts, are likely to prove more 

 ruinous by far to national welfare than the specu- 

 lation, disturbance of value, and scaling of debts, 

 incident to the comparatively slight inflation 

 which would follow a restoration of the silver 

 standard, even at the old ratio, provided it were 

 general. E. J. James. 



III. 



1. It was supposed by many people that the act 

 of Feb. 28, 1878, by the terms of which the pres- 

 ent coinage of silver dollars is continued, would 

 keep up the price of silver, which by that year 

 had fallen from the old and normal price of about 

 60d. per ounce (English standard, 37-40 fine) to 

 52 9-16d., indicating a change in the ratio of gold 

 to silver from about 1: 15.5 to 1 : 17.92. Of course, 

 the Bland bill was not passed solely by congress- 

 men who had this opinion, 1 since it was also advo- 

 cated by inflationists and silver-owners. But I pro- 

 pose to address those who, without any improper 

 or pecuniary interest involved, believe that the 

 use of silver on a large scale by the United States 

 is desirable. These are honest people, and deserve 

 something else than invective. They believed 

 that the action of the United States would aid 

 somewhat in restoring the value of silver, and 

 they felt, and still feel, that the disuse of silver 

 was a great calamity to the vast world of industry 

 here and abroad. 



Now, what has been the effect on the value of 

 silver, of the coinage of $24,000,000 a year by the 

 United States since 1878 ? Has it raised the value 

 of silver ? No, not in the least. On the contrary, 



1 I have given somewhat fully the reasons which brought 

 about the passage of this act, iu my History of bimetallism in 

 the United States, chap. xiii. 



