The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-03-20
THE DECLINE IN SILVER.

As the que,tion of silver for fractional
currency is becoming n question OF uni
verssl interest and is therefore frequently
discussed, tho following article in the
Baltimore Sun of the 18th inst, concern.
| ing the recent decline in silver, aad the
! -esson therefor, will be road with inter
| est:
The sometimc-promised issue OF silver
| as u substitute for fractional currency Is
held in suspense, it appears, BY the de-
| cision OF The Secretary Of the Treasury
not TO sis1 ueorder Tor that purpose, un-
| less specifically directed t. do 20 By the
| President or hv resolution OF Congress.
IL further appears that the stock OF frac-
tlonal currency in tho treasury mas run
down 10 about million Of dollar, aud
| when it !, exhausted there will be no alter
native out 10 issue silver or set the small
change presses in motion again. Accord
ing to ss4.ements recently published the
Secretary OF the Treasury has $4,000
eco of silver coin and S4.O00,QG0 OF silver
bullion, with The ability 10 buy any
quantity with four and Il half per ceat.
bonds. The mint ran coin 100000 4
month, sn thst it would not take a great
while to turn ont dimes, quarters and
halves enough to supply the place OF the
entire S37 1000 900 OF fractional currency
now atioat And silver naii dollar now
being actually worth considerably less
than a fifty cent note, there seems 10 be
no practical difficulty in tho way
OF making the substitute. The value
of one ounce "G pure silver, which
IS fixed by the Londou quotations,
is less than "a pence. But an ounce Of
silver, which vt the coinage standard
will make one dollar and thirty two
cents, can he bought in che market for
one dollar ana less than lbi-ty. one cents
IN greenbscks. Perhaps majority Of
people would rather carry the note than
the com. The wsv that silver came 10
ne drug in IN" market, 1t seems, was
that Germany and Japan and other ns-
tions became to busy, prosperous and
enlightened to employ the money which
we are anxious e. adopt, and adopted
gold as 4 standard of va.ue instead of
silver \ writer in the Graph,e esti-
mates thai Germany, in view Oi the pro-
posed characterization of silver, there
has t,-nwr s20O,OO0,oO0 Of silver on the
market, and Japan $4,000 600 more Dy
substituting gold as the national stand
ara OF currency. lie further adds that
Holland and sweden and Norway haze
cease ed 10 use silver, and that the transfer
of Engiand's cotton supply from India to
the United States has cut off an annual
demand Of 100000 OF silver, which
paid tor las. India cotton. Germany,
alarmed at the deprecated silver, it Is
nov reported in the cable dispatches,
the postponemen; of the
period for its decentralization 70 obviste
u loss Of several millions nf marks.
Whether II mere postponemcnt in Ger
many can nos help the cause 70 any
prscticsl extent remains to b. see The
London TGWe'. j It's inanCial IT iCle OF
yesterday, SAY, that at seems to be
evident that silver 40 n standard of
value. either IN combination with gold or
by itself. has had its day in Europe"
While the demand for silver has thus
fallen of, the supply has increased, and
the consequence is the decline in price
which has made the silver dollar of
standard dneness worth less than the |.
green back dollar of standard raggedness.
As .ver has been dlscredited BY the in |
creased commercial activity of the world, !
the probability is that with the progress
Of thst activity the discredit must in
crease. Russia, India and China will /
probably follow France, Germany and |
Japan, and If such should prove the case |
1t Is likely that twenty years hence the |
gold value oil silver will be less than half !
its present value. To represent tina.
specie payment means silver payment
is an obvious absurdity. No doubt the
best reason for the substitution of silver
coins for the fractional currency is econ
pmy to the govern ment. The notes soon |.
wear out and have TO be renewed on an /
average every year The cost of renew. /
ng them is found to be Sl,4l0, 100 per !.
Innum. The coins would last fifty ,