The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-08-16
VOL. LII.

this can be attributed to other causes, but
still the facts to which he has appealed do
not sustain him. Again: 1t is trne, as he
asserts, that the safest repositories OF coin
arc not the vaults OF banks or OF the Federal
Treasury, hut the pockets OF the people;
but it is not true that there would be Il
greater supply of coin il gold was the eX-
elusive standard than IL the standard were
both gold and silver. 1t has been tried IN
this country, prior to 1860. to bring into
general use coins Of a value az low az one
dollar in gold. The experiment slgnaily
failed, and yet silver was used as coin IN
values rs small az five cents. This silver
was the universal medium for change for
the masses OF the people. Silver found Its
repositories in the stockings OF the people
land Il profound financial observer has re-
Gently said that this stocking demand was
an element in the discussion oi such tinaIl-
cal questions not to be disregarded); it
found its repositories also in the pockets OF
the people, and such is the case every
where. 1t is not right nor Just that
this currency OF the masses should be mere
tokens. such as Mr.. Wells speaks Of when
he saws that ''there can be no objection
to the use OF silver as i subsidiary or token
currency. not made legal tender, or legal
tender in excess OF q small sum for any one
specitic parment. to any extent the people
NAV DESIRE When the pockets OF the peo-
ple are the repositories OF token currency
no strength Is given TO resist or mitigate the
force o; a financial panic. Besides, in what
resDcct does such token silver, confcSSedly
OF less value than the gold currency, differ
from the clipped silver coins OF England
that Nacaulay says produced such incacu-
liable evil to her commerce, trade, and manu-!
features:
Macaulay, in speaking OF the deba>ed or
clipped currency existing in England in
1906. SAYS: "Thc evils produced by this
state of the currency were not such rs have
generally been thought worthy to occupy IL
prominent place in history. Yet it may be
doubted whether all the misery which had
been inflicted on the English nation by Il
quarter of century OF bad kings, bad min
istcrs, bad DarliamentS, and bad judges,
was equal to the misery caused in single
year BY bad crowns and bad Shillngs."
And vet Mr.. wells thinks there is no obiec-
ton to the use OF 4 subsidiary token, not
made legal tender or legal tender in excess
OF 4 small sum.
There IS no escape from this argument.
General Andrew Jackson instinctiyelv spoke
profound truth, which observation and
experience teach rs the result OF the wiseSt
deductions from political economy, that
"thcrc should not be two currencicS-onc
for the people and the other for the office
holler.' Far less should there be a gold
currency for one class and Il subsidiary
silycr-tokcn currency for the other.
II gold be adopted as the only legal cur
rcncy, then either this token currency must
be adopted or the small shinplaster notes
divisions Of 4 dollar must be
used to supply the wants OF the people 1or
small change. The conclusion is inevitable.
Neither this token silver nor the small notes
would furnish :; depository OF coin in the
pockets OF the people.
The other points IN Mr.. Weiss letter it
is hardly necessary to notice except for the
that are made, and the attributed
motive to the advocates OF silver cur
rency. that their zeal proceeds from their
being the debtor class, and therefore desire
Il cheap currency in which to pay their
debts. He argues against the fallacy OF
cheap currency when no one contends Tor
it. We know that the value OF silver will
depend upon the amount OF labor embodied
in 1t, or that will be required to purchase
it. We know, too, that the relative value
Of cold and silver is determined by natural
L
disturbed, but is restored by natural laws
in process OF time. We argue with him
that "silver is more deprecated undoubt-
edly by temporary causes. The drift of
opinion with political economists and those
who have made the subject study is that
he present depreciation is not permanent,
md has been produced exclusively by the
,ction OF certain Governments OF Europe
lemonetizing it. and forcing its sale rs Il
commodity upon the worlds markets.
From 1861 to 1873, the years when the
,ierman Government announced the de-
OF silver, the variations in the
market price OF bar silver in the London
market were between the limits OF CO JIG
md 81 11-l6 per standard ounce.) Al the
present time the annual production OF silver
S probably less than the annual product OF
rold, while the amount OF silver in exist
,nce in the world is conceded to be greater,
measured By dollars, than the stock or
rod. For 1876 the product OF the mines
IF the United States was Si6,SJO,0U0 gold,
md S3S. 5000 silver. From 1860 to 1876,
inclusive, the total product OF our mines
vas S7GG, -, 900 gold and S2S9,S54,000 sill
;er. All the more productive silver mines
ire now producing from forty to forty-siN
Der cent. OF gold in connection with silver,
md the improved machinery for working
,rcs of silver are equally applicable to the
working Of ores containing gold, while one
new process, largely profitable for the work
ng OF gold-washing under hydraulic
not applicable to the working
OF silver" and we conclude with him that
:. the amount OF labor expended in pro-
ducing either metal in the future must, rs
in the past, regulate the value OF each"
Every argument that he uses against an
exclusively silver currency can be turned,
7n,;tdtiS mutdndiS, against an exclusively
gold currency. We must pay for what we
receive by our exports, which cannot be
suddenly increased. The great demand OF
the advocates OF specie-paymcnts is for gold
or silver, or enough OF either to resume
We are tired Of the rag
baby. We have outgrown all that. Can
anv one hesitate as to the course to be pur-
sued i'm order to facilitate the restoration Of
specic and all its attendant advantages, be-
tween recurring gold alone, or silver and
gold, in sufficient amount to Justify reSump-
ton. The able treatise OF Senator Jones
has carried conviction to every mind that
il is impossible to obtain from Europe gold
enough to justify resumption for many
years. II this be so, why should
men who have been the able adj
vocates OF the resumption act oppose the
only policy that can make resumption pos
sible in any practical time? 1t is admitted
by Mr.. Wells that "there can be no oblec-
tions to paving debts contracted prior to
1873 with the dollar Of the Fathers but
he adds that "debtors generally will find
no advantage will accrue to them from this
rr;y;Iopa 'rhnn law iuStjcp honor are