The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-11-10
SILVER.

SILVER.
: The house on Monday having passed III
Bland silver bill with rush and by an ovci
whelming majority, speculation is rife as
what will be its fate in the senate and at tn
Whitellouse. Somewhat minute inquiry on tina
subject it is said, has satisfied the friends OF tn
measure that it will meet with no serious obstn
Gle in the senate, and that the President vii
readily approve it. 1t is fair to assume, then
that within month or two at the utmost, III IL
coinage Of the old silver dollar will be author
lied and that silver, equally with gold, will bt
a legal tender in the payment Of all debts due
to individuals or owed to or by the govern
ment.
This is simply placing silver back 10 WHERE
it stood in 1873, when the further coinage OF
the silver dollar was prohibited That act did
not dcmonetize silver, as is generally alleged
the silver dollar remained as fully Il legal
tender as ever-but by stopping It's coinage il
left the country without dollar on hand; for
at that time silver was worth more than gold
and our silver dollars us rapidly as coined
left the country. Stopping its coinage, there
fore, had substantially the same object IN view
then that is now sought by its reconciliation
to wit, the keeping of our silver at home for III
innate general circulation among our own pco-
pie. 1t was not the law of 1873 that was Il
fraud, but the great fraud and outrage in regard
to silver WAS committed in 1875, and in this
| way: Congress had appointed a committee of
It's own members, who, with the aid of experts,
were charged with the duty ofrevising and codi-
flying the laws of the L. s. They were to be
mere compilers and had no authority to intro.
duce new matter Yet this committee, now
that through the demonstration of silver in
Germany it lad fallen to or 10 per cent. be-
low gold, fraudulently interpolated clause
in the revised statutes demonetizing silver, and
the revision was struggled through congress
without one member in twenty really knowing
anything about the fraud that had been com.
mitted.
The Bland bill restores the old dollar of
4121a grains of standard silver, making the
proportion between gold and silver as 10 to I,
and provides for its free coinage. At present
silver in that proportion is about Gi5 per cent.
below par with gold A year or two ago the
difference was 10 per cent, showing that its Vi.
client depreciation had a temporary cause, arts
ing out of the glut of the silver market by the
Germans, and that the appreciation of silver
since then has been so steady and reliable, that
little fear need be entertained but that, after
the Bland bill goes fully into operation, the eff
feet will be very soon to bring the old silver
dollar up very nearIyif not altogether to par
with gold
The effect cannot be otherwise than salutary
II will be an instant and real addition to the
actual circulation of the country, steadily in
creasing as the new dollars are turned out by
the minis. Every effort for the last two years
10 add to the paper money circulation of the
country has failed. With every temptation of. !
ered the national banks by the free banking
clause to increase their issues, they have large
y reduced their circulation, while the consti- |
utional barrier in the way Of issuing legal ten.
Ter greenbacks in time of peace must forever
prevent an increase of our paper circulation in |
hat direction. Silver will do it steadily and
surely
We attach no importance whatever to the
'ry that putting silver into general circulation
It a rate per cent. below gold will at once
lrivesall our gold out Of the country. Gold
las stood in precisely the same relation to the
est of our circulation for the last fifteen years
md yet the country has always had all it need.
ID, having really no other need for it but to
,ay customs duties, interest on the public debt
md settle balances with foreign countries, and
hat much will stay here if needed always un.
Ter all circumstances. Besides though no gold
has entered into our circulation for the last
fifteen years and the country has had no other1
lse for it except AS an article of commerce, the
quantity on hand has been rapidly increasing
or the last year-we are now actually import.
ng gold, and we doubt whether it involves
ny violence to predict that before another
ear gold will be down to par with greenbacks
nd silver. Such appears to be so strongly the
elief at Washington that 1t Is SAID that many
members of congress who came the strongest
dvoeatcs OF repeating the resumption act, are :
rowing perfectly indifferent on the subject |.
clicying that with the reconciliation of sill
er resumption will come by 1879 in spite of !,
orty repeals of the resumption act
III
THE NEW YORK CIGAR MAKERS t
One of the most noteworthy strikes this O