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Proponents of free silver wanted it minted at a 16-to-1 ounce ratio to gold, despite the actual value being closer to 32-to-1; the 16-to-1 ounce ratio would have caused inflation.
Inflation would greatly assist the debt-covered farmers who made up the People’s Party, as their debts would now be half the value as they once were.
NOWADAYS, of course, we are no longer on the Gold Standard. The Federal Reserve Act basically hijacked the circulation system and President Nixon tried to create inflation by taking us off the Gold Standard.
