Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-08-29
$76,25O.OOO
Total

produced in our country, we CRATE
fully accepted both from abroad.
The mineral wealth of California
was developed Immediately after that
territory was coded to the United
States. The acquisition of that ter
ritory, with the immediate discovery
Of its treasures, was alike seasonable
and suspicious. 1t seemed as if this
vast deposit Of gold and silver had
been providentially reserved until il
was most needed and then SO dispens-
cd as to promote the prosperity and
happiness of the American people.
But now, because Latin Governments
have discovered that a double stand
ard is inconvenient, shall we volun.
tarily impoycrish ourselves by reject
ing boon which has so long been
held precious throughout the world
The idea that silver should cease to
be standard because our mines are
too productive is unsound. Silver
has various other uses. There is an
unlimited demand for it. 1t enters
largely into the domestic require
ments of civilized society. 1t consti-
tutes large proportion Of the deco
rative habits and tastes of the world.
In ancient times it was so abundant
that Polybius says the tiles upon the
roof of the temple Of Egbatana were
of solid silver, and the beams of the
temple were covered with plates OF
silver and gold. Not then, or in the
days of King Solomon, when it is
said to have been still more plentiful,
did silver cease to be standard. 1t
was reserved for an American Con-
gress to pass a law demonetizing sill
yer, and for the American press to
maintain that the payment Of our ma
tional debt upon the terms agreed to
between the borrower and lender is
"repudiation."
! alluded in former letter to the
fact that gold as medium or currcn-
cy has no international character
that even between England and
France, divided only by a narrow
channel. there is no common gold
standard. The English and French
gold coins bear the "superscription'
of their respective sovereigns, and
are restricted in their circulation to
their respective countries. English
gold coins that come to New YOri
when the balance of trade is is oul
favor, 60 not into circulation, but re-
main temporarily or 60 to the Mini
for lecOinage, Nor do any of the
American gold eagles or half-eagles
exported to England or France, en-,
ter into the circulation of those
countries. Until the Latin Govern
ments capriciously demanded q sin
gle standard, silver coins enjoyed an
International character. The Spanish
and Mexican dollar formed part o.
the circulating medium of England
Europe and America, and were almost
exclusively the currency of India
China and Japan. But now, without
any public necessity or for any reason
affecting the rights of nations or thu
| welfare ofpeOples, we are arbitrarily
required to discard a monetary stand.
ard with which the whole world il
familiar, and which has furnished ia,
cilities for conducting the various
business interests of all nations of the
earth with convenience and safety
for more than twenty centuries. And
as ! have before stated, the grounds
upon which this demand is made
stripped Of verbiage, are, first, that q
double standard ia announcement; and
second, that America is too rich in
silver. Will it be seriously urged
that these objections are sufficient ia
beguile us into a betrayal of vital in.
terests-interests protected by our
constitution and laws? The embar
RAISING and Notifying Circumstance
is that the pressure comes not SO much
from abroad as from ourselves. In
1873, Congress, with very Imperfect
understanding of the question, passed
d law demonetizing silver. And now
with q better knowledge of our duty
and interests, when the repeal of thai
law is demanded, vehement and de,
mandatory opposition is made by the
leading and most influential journals
of our city! The advocates of con
stitutional currency incur the same
reproaches and epithets applied to
those who are avowedly in favor Of
an irredeemable paper currency
For insisting upon the payment OF
the public debt in the precise currcn
cy nominated in the bond" we are
flippantly stigmatized as regulators
This gratuitous imputatiOn will lost
its power as soon as silver is restored
to its proper use. Both gold and sill
yer were valueless for money unit
they were made "precious" by govern
ments. The minis, under the direc
ton Of Congress, can make the gold
and silver dollar OF equal intrinsic val
ne. With all the artificial disadvan
tages under which silver labors, its
relative value TO gold is constantly
approximating. The immediate effect
of its reconciliation will be to restore
the equilibrium that had existed fol
centuries.
Among other devices against sill
yer, it is said that its reconciliation
will so seriously affect our credit
abroad that foreigners will send our
bonds home. 1t is to be hoped they
will do so. We shall be ready to take
all they will send. American CAPT.
talists now seeking investments at 3
and per cent. would gladly invest
their millions in government 6's al
par. We have lived through sixteen
eyentful years. The magnitude OF
our civil war is without parallel
The effort to dissolve the Union cost
rivers Of blood and millions Of tr cas-
ure. but those sacrifices did not "tram.
mel up the consequences" Twelve
years Of financial arrangement off,
cial decentralization ensued, leaving
to-day all the various business inter-
ests Of our country either standing
still or greatly depressed. We have
been looking forward anxiously to q
resumption of specie payment as our
best, snrest and speediest means and
hope of relief. That hope can be full
ly realized If we avail ourselves of the