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Show Now interest in silver is reviving again and there are many economists, not al! of them radicals by any means, who think that a restoration of the purchasing power of silver would help in the present crisis. They point to the fact that silver is the standard of money for populous countries like China, whose purchasing power has been cut by the great decrease in the price of silver. There have been proposals pro-posals designed to increase the price of silver ranging all the way from re-storing the silver standard in the United States "without the consent" of any other nation, up to the proposed pro-posed calling of an international convention con-vention to deal with the problem of restoring the value of silver. The other day Senator Borah, in j the United States Senate, raised his j voice for those who think that some-! thing ought to be done about silver not in the interest of the silver industry indus-try but of the great mass of people of the world. In his speech, Senator Borah declared: "I venture the opinion that unless armaments are reduced so that the burdrn is lifted, unless reparations are settled so that Europe can start on economic' recovery, and unless silver sil-ver is restored to the place it occupied occu-pied prior to 1925, to restore to some extent the purchasing power of one-half one-half of the world, there will not, in my judgment, be any ready return to prosperity." If the depression continues, and deflation continues along with it, as ;t has during the past year, then it is a good bet that the country will hear more and more about restoring the purchasing power of silver. Just what shape the movement will take cannot as yet be stated, but we will doubtless hear a great many of the arguments pro and con. that were used back in 1896. The fact that Great Britain temporarily tempo-rarily at least abandoned the gold standard without dire results has strengthened the hands of silver proponents pro-ponents in this country. Senator Borah sensed this when he said: "England was forced off the gold standard last September. Dire prophecies pro-phecies were made before that occurred occur-red of what would happen. It is the only bright spot today on the horizon. That great nation which was committed commit-ted to the gold standard since 1849 depared from it and it is the only nation na-tion today that seems to be on the I road to recovery." Of course it can be added that the return to sound methods of government, govern-ment, the balancing of the budget and the stimulation of home industries through the protective tariff, had a great deal to do in making Great Britain a comparatively bright spot. But the fact remains that going off the gold standard did not immediately immediate-ly destroy the nation and the silver money advocates in America will not lose sight of this fact in their arguments. SILVFR ISSUE COMING BACK. The continuance of the world-wide depression many months longer than its normal expectancy, is reviving the interest of many economists, not only in our own country but in Europe, too, in the question of silver as a monetary unit. Many of us can remember re-member the great free silver battle of 1S9(5 when Bryan, the silver tongued orator, came near to winning the Presidency on the slogan of free and unlimited coinage of silver at sixteen to one. The Democratic party was then in power and in the midst of a depression, so that the card; fe.vored the success of the Republican national ticktt,.' But despite -the tendency ten-dency of everyone at that time to blame the depression en to the Democrats, Dem-ocrats, Bryan's pursuasive oratory ( and silver theory came near to winning win-ning and it took all the organizing ability of a Mark Hamia, coupled with the schism in the Democratic ranks, to defeat the orator from the Platte. |