Under gold monometallism. Money which must be redeemed. 10 billions of dollars. 4 billions of dollars. Real money with which to redeem it. The situation in the United States will not be as unfortunate under the proposed gold monometallism as it will be in the world at large. But the change will be most unwise. The gold in the United States, including bullion in the United States The silver money in the United States was $476,201,341 and The total metallic money was.. The total money in circulation, less the gold and silver coins, was.. Leaving a surplus of real money of. $1,016,009,857 555,845,062 $1,571,854,919 1,215,348,972 $356,505,947 The situation under gold monometallism would be $1,016.009,857 Gold in the United States, as above estimated We have thus a total of $20,240,000,000 of debt upon $65,000,000,000 of assets, or a proportion of $1 owed to every $3 owned. It is true that the valuation of the wealth of the country, if it were made now, would probably be much more than $65,000,000,000, so that the proportion to it of the above total of debts of $20,240,000,000 would be less than 1 to 3. On the other hand, the debts enumerated in the table do not include those of private corporations other than railroad companies, nor the innumerable little debts owing to individuals for money lent on personal security. Making allowances on both sides of the account, it is, therefore, safe to assume, approximately, that the property of the citizens of this country is incumbered by debts to the amount of one-third of its value, and to that extent does not belong to its owners. How marvelous it would be if, under these conditions, the United States should join Great Britain and Germany in the effort to make the four billions of gold the total real money of the whole world. What a preposterous proposition it is which the gold-standard nations make to the silver nations and the double-standard nations, when they demand the demonetization of the four billions of silver, in order to make the four billions of gold grow more and more valuable for the benefit of the few and the injury of the many. It is true that it is claimed that as we now have what are called good times and prosperity in America, it is apparent that no harm has happened so far to this country from the demonetization of silver, and that all the apprehensions and the predictions of the bimetallists are to be ridiculed and disregarded. It is, however, easy to understand why we have not been suffering in the United States during the last two years from the effects of demonetization. It is simply because the balance of trade has been so heavily in our favor. The dearer the money of the world is, the better off, for the time being, are the money classes of the nation to which other countries owe large quantities of that money. The figures as to the balance of trade are as follows: Our excess of exports of merchandise since 1889 has been as follows (eleven years and six months): EXCESS OF EXPORTS OF MERCHANDISE SINCE 1889. EXCESS OF EXPORTS OF MERCHANDISE SINCE 1889.-Continued. There should also be added for 1897, excess of exports over imports of silver.... Making a total of. $31,413,411 24,177,458 25,643,999 9,935,566 $577,627,908 $2,986,687,833 In 1897 we began to receive gold again, imports over exports.. 1898, imports over exports.. $44,653,200 1899, imports over exports.. 1899, imports over exports, 6 months to Jan. 1, 1900. 51,442,517 Making a total for deduction of excess for 3 Total balance in our favor, merchandise and .......... 211,052,108 $2,775,635,725 SENATOR: It was a fundamental discussion intellectualized. Its solidarity is marvelous. The prosperity advocate represents only the carelessness of an untrained thinker without facts or figures on which to base his war-whoops. Permanent prosperity is undoubtedly as uncertain as the flight of larks. PRESIDENT: Prosperity is a queen of the air. Prosperity or no prosperity, it is plainly to be seen that the firm of Messrs. Bonded Debt-National Bank-Gold StandardTrust-and-Taxation Company, Limited, can only thrive upon national ruin. The ignorant flippancy and the one-sided theories of pig-philosophers neither analyze nor comprehend broad economic conditions which are the foundation stones of substantial prosperity. SENATOR: I grow so weary of those indolent, languid, shabby, small-type editors, if I may so speak of paid-for illuminations of prosperity. Our prosperity phenomena lack the illumination of knowledge. We are face to face |