The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-06-01

ltization of silver was acting for the purpose of
bringing shame and confusion upon the mod
crn school of politico-finanCial theorists. Dur
inc the debate upon the silver BILL the cOun-
trv was entertained with the words Of John
Sherman, who declared that II the act wa,
passed az it was originally devised, all the own
crs of silver bullion would rush 1t upon the
minis ut once and would Hood the country
with dollars worth only % cents. He put the
whole force of his financial intellect into the
declaration, that with his consent the owners
of silver teapots should not have the right to
coin them into legal tender dollars. The coun.
try heard the profound financial utterance with
contempt, and Sherman declared that this con-
TEMPT showed the country TO be ready to re
pudiatc the national debt. In the senate how
ever his views met with more respect, and, at
his suggestion the bill was 50 detOrmed as to
give HIM power to purchase silver bullion and
he was given authority to prevent that flood of
silver dollars which he feared would sink the
country into ruin. But, on the Goth, the fol
lowing dispatch was sent by the Associated
Press all over the country:
| WASHINGTON, MAY 2O.-The treasury depart
ment has had some difficulty in the purchase Of
silver bullion for coming. Parties owning bull
lion wanted gold for it, rs bullion contains on an
average about 60 per cent of gold. The treasury
would however, pay only in the standard silver
| dollar.
1t thus appears, that instead Of that rush to
get bullion coined, which Sherman predicted
| there is no rush at all but that the bullion
owners are masters of the situation. He con.
trived to limit the coinage of the SILVER dollar
to S40O0,000 per month, with further pro
yisO that such coinage should not be less than
So 600 600 per month. But he is unable to
obtain this amount, and the owners Of the bull
hon are able, in spite of all his efforts, to con
troll the amount coined lie offers to pay them
for their silver bullion in silver dollars, bu,
these they refuse and demand gold. There is
no rush to the minis by the holders of silver
tcapots or the owners of other forms OF bullion
and the consequence is that the secretary OF
the treasury is in great trouble.
All the predictions he made with so much
confidence have proven to be baseless, and he
is left to gaze with dismay on the total wreck
of all his theories Another fact, not less an
moving to Mr. Sherman, is that the demand fol-
the new bonds is greater than his present means
of supply. The syndicate has taken the whole
of the Sj0,000000, and wants more, while the
people all over the country are calling for them
OF course, this fact does not surprise any hard
shell" or "bourbon" democrats, for all such
know that the value of our national bonds de
ponds, not only upon the disposition, but on
the ability of the people to pay them, principal
and interest; Or 10 state the fact more exactly
the disposition to pay them is based largely
upon ability to pay them, and the more rapid
| " and completely our bullion or agricultural
or mineral resources are utilized, the more able
and willing will the people be to meet the oh
legations due the public creditor.
! Neither the prediction of arush to the mint,
nor the prediction Of reputation and ruin,
have been justified by events, but, on the con-
trary the demand for silver dollars, and the
demand for the bonds, is alike unsupplicd.
| And now the lesson of these facts, to which
we have before called attention is, that the
modern political theories are all shallow, alb
surd and baseless. The original constitution
al theory, held by the democratic party, OF d
I free coinage OF gold and silver, offers the only
remedy for our distress, and that theory, So tal
as it has been applied is now producing the
: remedy The decisions Of Sherman, and his
class of theorists, and the decisions OF Phillips
Ben Butler and Sam Cary, are alike things OF
the past They will no longer torment the peo
pie though their memory may return to plague
Their inventors But il is probable that an
+. other phantasy still fingers TO certain extent
, and this is, that in some way or other RELIEF
for the people may be found in measures op
posed to the interest of the public creditors
This ought to be dispcllcd by experience, tol
the history of the country shows, that in the
, days when labor was most certainly employed
and best paid the capitalist found the best in
vestmcnts for his money. So 1t Will be again
and the more rapidly democratic theories are
put into practical operation, the more rapidly
will the value of the United States bonds al
vance, and when the democratic party has com
plcte possession Of the government the bonds
will be higher than ever before. The pros
perity of the people and the value of the pub
lie securities advance or recede together-Stat,
Register.