The fear of a sudden fall in the value of the dollar, as a result of free silver coinage, is not justified. The value of the dollar would fall gradually as the volume of the money increased,--as would be made manifest by gradually rising prices,--except that this fall would be more or less counteracted at the start by a hoarding of gold, which would decrease the supply of money, and perhaps by a disturbance of credit, which would increase the demand for it. The first effects might be, therefore, an increase instead of a decrease of money value. It would probably not make so very much difference whether bi-metallism or the single silver standard was the final result. The value of the dollar would not be greatly different in the two cases. Before we reached a silver basis we would have exported some five or six hundred millions of gold, and bought its equivalent in silver, securities, and commodities, and the result would necessarily be a great advance in the value of silver, and a corresponding fall in the value of gold,--the reverse, in fact, of what happened when Germany and other nations changed from a silver to a gold basis. Whether, therefore, this country were able or not to restore the parity of the two metals at the present coinage ratio, the departure from such parity would not be nearly so great as it now is. Provided that the volume of the uncovered paper money remained the same as now, and that, when the change was finally accomplished, credit were used to the same extent as before, the value of the dollar would be somewhere between the present bullion values of the gold and silver dollars, and probably nearly as high if the result were the single silver standard as it would be if bi-metallism were accomplished. The merits and demerits of the plan may be summed up as follows:-- The change would necessarily cause a great disturbance of business, which might result, at first, in a lowering of prices, but would eventually result in a gradual but considerable increase of general prices, and a stimulation of industry. Debtors would be benefited considerably, and creditors wronged considerably, especially in short-time obligations; though the long-time ones--those that had run for a number of years--would not be affected so much. Once established, the money value would probably be less variable than gold has been, and rather more variable than silver has been in the past, but this could not be said with certainty, as the money value would continue to be the result of a variety of forces, of which no one could predict or control the strength.