n made by the silver propagandists out of this groundless charge
than by all of their legitimate arguments.'

* * * * *

The gold standard, it may confidently be asserted, is practically
far cheaper than that of silver. I do not insist upon having the gold
standard, but if we are to have but one, I think that the best. The
expense of maintaining a metallic currency is of course greater than
that of paper; but it must be borne in mind that a paper currency is
only tolerable when convertible at the will of the holder into coin--and
no one asks for more than that. A metallic currency is also subject
to considerable loss by abrasion or the annual wear; and it is quite
important to know which metal--gold or silver--can be most cheaply
supported. A careful examination of the subject conclusively shows that
the loss is nearly in proportion to the length of time coins have been
in circulation, and to the amount of surface exposed, although small
coins, being handled with less care, suffer most. The well-ascertained
result is that it costs from fifteen to twenty-five times more to keep
silver afloat than it does to maintain the same amount in gold. To
sustain the silver standard would annually cost about one per cent. for
abrasion; but that of gold would not exceed one-twentieth of one per
cent. This is a trouble-some charge, forever to bristle up in the
path-way of a silver standard. It must also be borne in mind that the
mint cost of coining silver is many times greater than that of the same
amount in gold. More than sixteen tons of silver are required as the
equivalent of one ton of gold. As a cold matter of fact, silver is
neither the best nor the cheapest standard. It is far dearer to plant
and forever dearer to maintain.

A double standard put forth by us on the terms now proposed by the
commission or by the House bill would be so only in name. The perfect
dual ideal of theorists, based upon an exact equilibrium of values,
cannot be realized while the intrinsic value of either of the component
parts is overrated or remains a debatable question and everywhere more
or less open to suspicion. A standard of value linked to the changing
fortunes of two metals instead of one, when combined with an existing
disjointed and all-pervading confusion in the ratio of value, must
necessarily be linked to the hazard of double perturbations and become
an alternating standard in perpetual motion.

The bimetallic sc