The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1877-07-05
SILVER AND GOLD AND A STAY
Law.

III hnCleuL HlOutS -itudti was hSeAN
TO sag that silver imitation would be as
Iuinous as greenback initiation, and
there are crazy people who would flood
the country with paper promises to pay
instead OF silver fteis Of payment. Sill
yer money lie a valuable product OF the
conntry's industry; paper money IS a
valueless product Of the country's art.
The one has real, the other q supposi-
tious value. When paper becomes too
abundant to effect the exchanges OF in
dustry it depreciates; when silver, il
ever this happen, becomes too album
dant as a means of barter or trade rep
reacntative of values, it goes at once
TO India, the grave OF the worlds coin,
or into the mechanic arts. When the
rich have more silver or gold than they
can use protitably as money, they con
vert IL into tableware and furniture, and
il is quite impossible to reduce silver
below fixed standard of value. A
gold dollar is worth more than silver
dollar because, under the law, gold
has functions Of which silver dd dAff thus hh
lessen the relative value of silver. Re-
monetize silver and silver dollar
will buy as much as one of Geld' our
E-iAud -.iil- I:-vovrr the difference be-
tween paper ana silver money when
we suggest that silver is One of the
richest products Of the country, and
since 1t is an American product,
America should give it the highest
position and possible value. We seek
10 give great value to cotton and
TO manufactures, and yet Congress
proposes 10 lessen to the greatest
possible extent this peculiarly abun-
dant product of American toll and
energy. II Germany owned the silver
lOdes of the Northwest, Germany
would never have demonetiZed this
metal; and is it not strange, beyond
comprehension, that our Congress CO.
operates with Bismarck, when in this
our interests are directly the reverse OF
those Of Germany. But the bondhold.
ers that own Congress are of Germanic
sympathies and of concurrent interests.
When these good people tell US that
we will soon have too much silver, they
might as we'll assert that we will have
too much corn or wheat or potatoes.
We may ''inflate" paper that has no
real and only fictitious value, but can
not initiate silver. One might as well
goose-gabble about initiating cotton.
Greenbacks are only valuable because
government promises to redeem them
in something valuable and greenbacks
might he made so numberless that the
people would doubt the governments
ability to substitute silver and gold.
Gold, just now, is worth four per
cent. more than silver. The reason is
that silver has been deprived of its
properties as currency by Congress and
only fractional silver dollars are suf-
fsred to he coined. And then, too,
the day OF redemption OF grcenDacks
in gold approaches. Positive legisla-
tion to destroy the value of silver and |
thrust IL out of use has failed to lessen |
its value materially, and to restore it |
we need only restore it to its proper
place as legal tender for all debts of
the government and of individuals.
IL, however, the government persist in
tts policy OF contraction and in this
mad sacrifice of popular interests
in promotion of those OF bondholdeis,
1t only remains for Texas to prevent
the absolute ruin of the people by sus-
pending the operation of laws for the
collection OF debts or to enact law
scaling debts, even as Mr.. Sherman
scales the currency. II two dollars to-
day be worth as much as four dollars
two years ago, when the debtor agreed
to pay four dollars, only two dollars
should be exacted. Mr.. Sherman
should not be suffered, in pursuit of
the purposes of the bondholders. TO
bankrupt every purchaser of farm
and house who could not pay the cash
for it, and yet the Secretary of the
Treasury, or the law under which he
acts, is doing this thing. The only
remedy is discovered in the convoca-
ton OF the Legislature and the enact
ment Of stay law.