The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-12-07
An Open Letter ON Finance
BIZ HON. SCHUYLER coLrAx.

To THE EDITOR OF THE ADVANCED
NY DEAR SIR:-To your request to
write you q brief letter for publication
on the silver question Cor TO allow an
unsigned one / wrote for your paper
last TO be reprinted with my nancy |
cheerfully summarize my convictions
on the subject in q few propositions
that seem to me almost automatic.
1. This Is in theory, and should be in
practice, ga government of the people,
for the people, by the people," where
the popular will should be Obeyed.
2. II to-day gold and silver were
both equally legal tender, as when We
incurred our War Debt and suspended
specie payments temporarily, prOpo
sition, as a preliminary to resumption
In 1879, to now demonetize silver and
pay all debts, public and private, in
gold alone, could not carry the pOpu-
lar vote in any district in the nation,
North or South, East or West, and ii
submitted TO popular vote would be
voted down by millions.
8. No canvass was ever made in any
district of the nation prior to 1873, for
the demonetizing OF silVer-no popular
aseemblage or convention OF the peO-
pie, of any party, ever asked for 1t; no
political platform of any organization
demanded it; no petitions from the
people of any section of the Union
sought it-and of the hundreds of fl
nancial plans for the relief of the ccun-
try, for the payment of the debt, or for
coin resumption, which were published
and advocated, none of them proposed
such an act for the ameliOratiOn of our
financial ills; not one.
4. The demonetizing act Therefore
was passed, not at all responsive to any
demand or desire, or petition of the
people, and was so ingeniOusly con-
Icealed in coinage act that neither the
President who signed it, nor the pres
ent President who has to execute it II
It is not repealed, knew what had been
done till long alter it had gone into
effect.
5. If this is really ga government OF
the people, and by the people" an act
thus passed, though it may have legal
effect, is popular wrong that should
be corrected by the servants of the
people promptly and cheerfully, not
haltingly or grudgingly, or reluctant
~, or evasively.
8. II the explicit language of our
National Constitution means anything
lgold and silver are equally the consti-
tutional coin of our land.
i z. 1t the explicit language of the
first act Of General Grants administra-
ton, "the act to strengthen the public
credit" and which did strengthen il
with our creditors and the world
means anything, the nation pledged
itself in March 1869, to pay it's debts
sin coin or its equiUGlent;" not in gold
alone.
8. If the explicit language of the
Funding Act of June, 1870, means any
thing, the nation again pledged itsel
TO pay the Bonds funded under it In
"the standard coin of that date" which
was gold and silver, and not gold alone
8. If in 1851, 1869 and 1870, corn and
oats were both and equally legal ten
der for debts, between man and man,
as the phrase is, no consideration Of
equity, honor, or conscience would re-
Quire that debts incurred, under and il
lull view of such promise, should be
paid In the dearer of these products
because the other happened to be
cheaper from over production or any
other cause whatever.
10. II the demonetizing act was s
popular wrOng-if it was neither de-
manded. desired, nor petitioned for by
the people-ifit could not now toere it Z
neio and original proposition before TIL
IpeOple, who ought TO be the ruler:
Of the land, command even a quarter
of their Votes-ought it not to bt
promptly corrected? And, then, wher
the status quo is thus restored. would
it net be an excellent time afterward.
to propose an international commission
of European and American nations Il
determine what should hereafter be thG
relation of the two coins to each other
1 haVe .endeavored, as briefly anC
tersely as possible, to submit PROPOSE
tons that, to q candid mind, would
seem to demonstrate themselves with
out weaTisOme argument, and hence
!, omit all extended reference to the op'
tional plan of resumption. l have sew.
eral times in the past years submitted
as sure to avoid runs, unsettling of val
ues and paralysis of business-namely
for the government to redeem at IT.
, ot0n option, in gold, or silver or a ma
tional bond, as proposed when thu
greenback was first issued, apprOXima
ting but not quite equal to coin in val
ue: and using the greenbacks thus
funded in the purchase of our six pei
cent. loans in the open market, thu
avoideing present contraction and ulti
mately reducing all our government
interest to three or four per cent. Thi
plan seems to have but little chanc
of success in Congress; and as it is no
necessarily connected with the right
ing of the wrong done in abolishinl
silver as money and legal tender, Oml
any extended reference to it.
On the Cars, Nov. 26, 1877.