The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-09-27
SiIyerCOjsl.


Those who have bought and have hoard
ed up the silver coin must now find them
selves in situation Of considerable embar-
rassment. What are they TO do with il ?
I will not answer to settle balances due
abroad, for tits intrinscally about Eve per
cent. below gold in value, as tested in the
markets of tie world; consequently it will
not be accepted by foreigners in payment at
its nominal worth. Then again. it's so
very bulky thatis cannot BADLY be stored
away in large amounts ke the syellow
dross." A million doll in silver bullion
will occupy about eghty yl6ne cubic feet, or
three enbic yards. In shs shape of coin it
will reqnire nearly fifty per cent more space
If, therefore, the silver currency of the coun
try is to be salted down in our bank vaults
tits evident that larger safes and more of
them must come into requistion Did
those who proposed to enrich themselves by
speculating in the precious metals take this
circumstance duly into account at the out
sets e
The "gnm backsn have had their day as
substitutes for silver and copper They an
swered Temporary purpose, but the public
soon got heartily tired of them, in spite of
their adhesive propensities. If not shin
plasters, they threatened to become finger
plasters. The task of keeping them strictly
by themselves was not light, consuming
time and drawing on patience They were,
besides, liable to be cut, torn, or otherwise
rendered unservcaable as genuine postage
stamps. They are gone, after having had
their day, and the worst we can wish them
is never to look upon their like as currency
again.
The new stamps authorized by the Gov
ernment to pass for fractional parts ofa dol
lar, will be found to answer all purposes
much better, though being by no means
free from objections. The worst of these is
that they swell the volume Of paper money
to still greater extent than before But
they will have good effect of letting hoard
ers fsilver see that the public can get along
in some measure without that description of
coin in making change. The Mountain will
not come to Mahomet consequently the pro-
phet must foot it mountainward. Hence
we are pleased to learn that the panic about
silver has in measure disappeared by the
reappearance Of that commodity. 1t is CON-
modify. 1t is coming back into the chan
nels Of circulation once more, and, if the
public act judiciously, will continue to flow.
What we mean by acting judiciously is this:
Let no man be so mean as to make small
purchases for the sake of getting silver
change to sell; but provide himself with
specie, at small loss if necessary, to pay
let the keepers Of restaurants, hotels, gro-
ceries, and other places of public resort, ar
range among themselves, and then announce
to their patrons that they are ready opay
specie as change for balances not exceeding
fifty cents. Even ifa general moveme mt to
this effect cannot be got up, one individual
might take the lead on his own responsible.
ty, announce the fact publicly, and he would
find it profitable by drawing customers to
his establishment. Others would for their
own preservation soon be under the neces.
sity Of following suit.
We look upon the restoration of I" the sil-
yer age" as being not very remote Let the
people only come to general understand
ing that it Isl not honorable to ask for change
in specie for more than half dollar, and the
shining quarters and dimes will be quite
plentiful even now. Although gold might
still continue worth ten per cent. more than
silver, this would not hinder the later from
going its rounds for the reasons stated above
As for the suriferous article, we must con.
tent ourselves with getting an occasional
glimpse of it in the windows of brokers for
the present, and reading abou. the tens of
millions stored up in Wall street.
General kvarney was not a West Point
graduate. He entered the army as volun-
/ tesr in the cavalry.
Major General Sumner entered the army
as private, and rose through All r.nks IA