The New York herald., 1877-07-02

of certain OF the govern merts OF Europe demoneiizng
II and forcing IT'S sale commodity upon the worid's
markets From 1851 TO 1873, the years when the
German government announced the demonetization OF
silver the varalons the market price ol bar SILVER
~ the London market were between the limits OF
90 5l6 and 6l lille per standard ounce Al the pres
ent time the ual proiucton silver Is probably
less than the annual p oduct OF eod whie the amount
OF silver IN existence ~ the world Is conceded 10 oe
greater measured In dollars than the stock OF gold
For 1915 the product OF the OF the United States
was $50 500 900 gold unJ $685. silver From 1860
TO 1916 inclusive. the total product OF our mnes as
S6d III 900 gold and $3.50 S5i 900 silver All OF the
forty TO iortysx par cent OF gold in connection With
silver aud the improved machinery Tor working ores
OF silver are equally applicable 10 The worxrg Of ores
containing gold while process, largely profit
able Tor the working Of goldwashng under hydrauiic
pressurc--is not ut all applicable 10 the working Of
silver Of course II Is not possible 10 forcell with
certainty whether silver may not be hereafter PRO.
duced more aouldantly ami with less labor than ut
present. formerly, and less la proportion than IS
now required The production Of gold But be this
as may the amount Of labor expended in producing
either metal IN tho uure must, as ia the past rcgu-
late the relative value OF oach
THE pnosrEcrIvs lxcoxvExrEScEs OF AN ExoLusIvELY
SILVER STANDARD OR si-hErALLIc STANDARD
AS already pointed out the principal or Vniy cause
OF the present depreciation OF siver has been the dis
cardpg and sale OF its silver currency by Germany.
and the great commercial nations of the world did
not require II would purchase Il Tor any pur
pose depreciation has been The inevitable temporary
result The foreign commerce OF the East Indies, 10
which countries the German silver ultimately be
exported Imited aud these sections o the world,
and pay Tor large quantities o It, They must
pay they with their exports, and these
be suddenly increased. But, AZ tho same time, II s
not improbable that the East after whe, Will absorb
all the present apparent surplus silver OF the West.
Ii tho UnIted States shouli ally lis destiny 10
silver currency and should find at any time that
we had excess OF silver should be IN the present
predicamcnt OF Germany, with no Immediate pur-
chaser RESERVOIR in tho commercial world with
which have intimate relations 10 receive It. and
should be under the necessity OF trying to force IL OF
We should be not less embarrassed II for
any reason We needed suddenly Increased amount
OF silver tor then we should be Obliged draw back
through the same narrow and distant channels, re-
curing both time and expense.
Again. for dhe Uniled States 10 now abandon the
single and present exclusively gold standard and adopt
the bmetalc standard doth metals being made legal
amount to practically giving to all the world the PRIV.
egc of taking all our gold at nominal prlco in
in gold. For, arbitrarily dx what relations
OF value we will between gold ana silver
there viii always be liability 10 such changes in
these relative values to create opportunity Tor
profit by interchangiag We one sur te nher IN Tho
by mas wa
the people Of the United States have giving TO
the rest of the world such an option, when none OF
| the commercial countries with whom inti-
mate commercial relations propose 10 extend 10
such privilege? Tho creating OF conditions whereby
such option can be given TO foreign countries will
unquesunably entail upon US as nation great neon
venepccs in the fusure, as II has IN the past At
times IL Will sphon out OF the country much Of
cntire circulation may DO silver and replace 1t by
gold; and another time, by the change OF tempo
rary market values or changes in the legislation OF
other countries. tho gold viii be- slphoned out
and the silver return. Any sudden influx Of
foreign coin-gola or silver-would not. however be
readily at practically avaiiable the people
would not at willingly receive and admit the coins
of foreign nations into general circulation. But as the
capacity Of mints will bc inadequate to meet these
extraordinary demands that may tho necessities
OF tho people may compel them TO receive foreign
coins Tor a time, whose value they are incapable OF
suddenly apprecatng thereby producing endless con-
fusion and uncertainty. as was the case previous
1888 WHOM tho country was Hooded with old Spanish
American coinage OF full legal weight flowed out OF the
country fast the mints could issue It. II France
should admit Tree coinage and unresraned circulation
OF silver and silver continue deprecated, she would
have to Immediately mint anew not less than
S7U0 000 900 OF silver which, by the petition OF bull
brokere, would be sent to her in exchange and for
the supplantng OF $700 O00 900 Of gold which
possesses This vast sum is more Than sufficient for
all the available silver In world cushion upon
France should again adopt unlimited coinage Of silver
and maintain her standard OF l5H 10 l. Nor could
such circumstances retain In this country sin.
gle dollar OF silver II II remonetIzed here according
to the standard OF l6 TO !. In fact with biinetac
will have In circulation Tor other countries can ut
their will draw from either all silver all
gold, and substitute the one metal for tho other Long
before wo nominay demonetized silver was pracii-
cally demoneiized and banshed from territory.
and II any debtor has grievances it is not against our
government but aKuinst the governments which really
and practically demOnctized our silver dollar. Pru-
dencc therefore. would to dictate that whether
we have or have not a grievance we should
not again, by adopting the bi-metalic standard,
permit the practical demonstration monetiza-
tion OF either silver gold In this country TO
be absolutely under ihe control other governments
We cannot be masters Of the with m
lic standard We can only control the kind OF coin we
VIII use by utterly refusing to give tho option which
the bmetac standard implies, and the real question
OF the whole controversy s "Sall we have the Of
choice, the coin which other may select
10 dole out to us as their caprice or interest may from
time 10 time dctatef"
with which We are IN intimate reations and which
cenze the single gold standard, have great reservoirs
OF gold and ability through their foreign commerce to
either receive our surplus gold and pay for IT, send
us their surplus gold aud receive products in cx-
change These great reservoirs OF gold, furthermore.
Immediately respond 10 any deficiencies demands
Tor gold in the various commercial countries using gold
as standard, and so, by the law of supply and
demand keep the volume Of gold equbro with
the volume OF commodities to be measured, and
greatly aid in maintaining, IN respect 10 most art-
clos, uniformity of prices. II would seem to be
apparent therefore, from these considerations alone
that Tor this country 10 reject the coin OF the
great commercial nations as standard value, and
adopt another standard, or two standards, would n
evitaby entail upon 1t great incalculable loss aud
onvenicnce. and powerfully contribute to arrest
our future industrial and commercial development
THE DOLLAR OF THE FATHERS rHE PAYMENT OF
DEBTS.
The question OF next and final importance TO be con-
sdered is, Is II desirable 10 provide by legislation
that debts Incurred prior to 1874, when silver was
demonctized, may be paid IN either gold silver
the law authorized before that perodf II silver Is to
be permanently and largely deprecated relatively to
gold in consequences OF dminution the amount OF
labor required TO produce silver, this is practical
aud important question OF constitutional law
and morals; but II the present price Of silver
Is owing 10 the action OF Germany, and If
within few years II is reasonably certain to re-
suine its old price in the MARKERS OF the world,
II the adoption on the part OF the Unite States OF the
b-mctac standard Will Immediately restore silver to
par or nearly par with gold the question is compare
lively unnporiant; Tor the debtor cannot show that
he has injured unless he can prove that silver as
merchandise, would be deprecated relatively TO god
after restoration OF the bi metallic standard as 1t
isled al the time his debt was contracted. Let US,
therefore, examine the question from the STANDPOINT
oil constitutional law and morals
Deots payable in are, in effect, payable In CONS
moditics A coined dollar before 1873 IN this country
was not AN imaginary unit, but physical actualty,
composed OF 4l2H grams OF silver, % grains oi
gold. In all commercial transactions honesty
also requires thar the dollar shnl always be treated
commodity; nat is, that Its shall aways ndi.
cate given nneness and weight OF metal. bushel Is
not an Imaginary measure OF capacity; yard Is
Imaginary measure OF length; pound
aghsry measure Of weight, and dollar ought not
be regarded as In any Imaginary measure OF
value.
Again, debts payable in coin dollars are stipuated
rights TO specific property, and in both and
hA hall