The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-12-20
SILVER.

the country ut this time. All our Industrial
and commercial interests will be vitality of
fected by the action of Congress on this
measure. All party lines are giving way
under Its influence, and 1t Is threatening us
with new political organizations as sectional
and fierce as those which grew out OF the
slavery agitation, and which lead to the War
OF the States The East has little or no po-
litical doctrine, except that the bonds shall be
paid In gold, and the West, upon the other
hand, Is equally solid In favor OF the repeal
of the Resumption Act and the remonetiza-
ton OF silver.
Heretofore the South has not been excited
on this question. But with emancipation from
military rule. and restoration to constitu-
tional government, this great issue is natu-
rally assuming as much Importance to her
people as it possesses for those OF the East
and West. Her statesman, merchants and
working people must decide indeed whether
they will join with the great West In the
movement to impart renewed life to trade
and industry, and to relieve the financial
stress under which the country Is laboring
or give their support to the money and
bond holding power OF the East, which has
IL moving heaven and earth to keep 1t there.
The gold men and their organs have very
grossly misrepresented the case when they
allege, with 50 much pertinacity thatthe pro-
position OF the remonetizationists Is to make
ninety cents worth of silver equal to one
hundred cents worth Of gold. When the now
notorious fraud, through which Congress
demonetized silver, was perpetrated In the
interest of the bondholders and gold sharks
of the East and against the people, the silver
dollar was worth 1903 cents. The demonetiza-
ton deprived IL of its usefulness outlawed It,
az It were-and of course destroyed Its value as
a circulating medium when it necessarily fell
In value If gold dollars were deprived. by
an arbitrary act of Congress. of their legal
tender character, they would fall In value rs
the demonetized silver did Indeed, any
measure impairing the use Of, or destroying
the demand for, any commodity would inn
pair its value.
The act of Congress demonetizing silver
having destroyed q part Of it's value, an act
repeating that act and restoring the legal
tender character of 1t will, of course, restore
to a great extent the former proportions OF
gold and silver. Indeed, the simple PROPOSE
ton in Congress to remonetize silver has
already caused an advance in that metal and
the London Times, in Its financial column,
quoted In the DEMOCRAT this morning, esti-
mating what loss the English holder Of Amer
lean bonds would sustain were his bonds paid
In silver instead of gold, thus concludes:
ut Is not for moment to be supposed That
the difference would remain so great Tor
single day were silver again 'monetlzed.
We should probably see It at once Jump to
fully IS. per ounce, at which price the above
loss would be nearly obliterated."
The error OF the charge, that 1t is the pur-
pose of the advocates of silver to make ninety
cents worth of that coinage legal tender for
dollar of debt, has already been fully ex-
posed in the East and West; but as it ia being
reproduced with great learnedness here, 1t
was proper for us to go, very cursorily, over
the argument.
There are very many OF our people who are
strongly disposed to oppose this great finan-
cial measure, who, we are satisfied, DO not
know that the first idea Of demonetizing sill
yer originated in false estimate OF the fu-
ture supply Of gold and silver, The
proposition was first made when the vaults
of the great European banks were filled with
the gold from the newly discovered and pro-
life mines of California and Australia. The
immense supply of gold, it was believed,
from these mines would be sustained, II not
increased, and there developed great
desire to discard silver and adopt
gold as the sole standard of value.
But the calculation has not been verified. OF
late wears there has been considerable de-
crease in the yield Of gold from those mines,
while the increase of population, the still
greater increase Of trade and industry, and
the vast extension Of financial and CONNER
cial affairs have created a greater need than
ever existed before for both gold and silver
coinage.
| England has made gold the single stand arc
OF value; Germany has done the same, infiu-
enced by the immense war indemnity re-
ceived from France. Thus, as the needs OF
the world for more money have grown the
tendency has been to unwisely restrict the
standard of value to gold alone. Should other
European nations follow the lead OF England
and Germany, and the United States adhere
| to the single standard and the purpose to pay
it's immense debt in gold the civilized world
must inevitably fall absolutely under the
mower of banks. bondholders and gold rings
The money power in short, always arbitrary
merciless, short-sie hted, will impose upon
the commercial and working people despot'
ism such as the world has seldom seen; {
despotism which working men and business
men are feeling in this country now; agains
which the riots of last summer were feeble
protest, and which will finally work its owl
destruction by provoking revolt and violence
in every direction.
The demonstration of silver at this tim
would be a measure Of great wisdom and jus
tice. It would have upon the trade industrie
of the country, to great extent, the stimu
lating effect which has in every instance beer
produced upon those Of the civilized worl
by the discovery of new mines OF the pre-
cious metals Civilization has, in one or tw
instances, been imperiled by the failure 9
mines which furnish nations with the preclou
metals. The magical effect Of the discover
| .;I,,or ,.,pac in, South America mo