The daily gazette., 1878-02-18

resolving from France large amounts of
gold in payment of the indemnity she ex-
acted at the close of the war between
chose countries. What influence this
may have had upon her action in the
demonetization of silver coin it Is of
course impossible to say, but it may be
safely assumed that If she had been paw
ing to France the large sums of money
that she was receiving from that country
her action would have been different in
that regard. do not say that either
England or Germany acted unwisely in
adopting single standard of values. 1t
may be that the accretions of gold in
those countries, drawn from others, rem
dered tributary to them by reason of
their relation as debtors, justified the ex-
clusion of silver from their coins, nor do
say that II we were similarly circum-
stanced, with no debts owing abroad, but
standing In the relation of creditor to
other nations and receiving from them
annually large accession to our gold
coins, that 1t would be unwise in us to
follow their example. But, in view of
the facts TO which have already referred
and the difference in the respective con-
ditions of those countries and our own,
such step on our part would be a blum
der II not q crime.
taken place upon this question it has
been asserted that we cannot maintain
bimetallic standard in this country with
out the cooperation of the leading pow
ers of Europe; that the result of any
such attempt will be, in the language of
the Senator from Mississippi, lMr. La
mar, to "consolidate the currency of all
Europe on a gold basis and remand
America to the Asiatic role and that of
those poorer countries of Europe that
are condemned by their necessities to
receive the rejected coin of the great
commercial nations" / am fully aware,
MIR. President, that several theoretic
writers on monetary affairs have enter
tanned this view and laid it down with
the dogmatism of law, but i have long
since learned to distrust theories and
have become SO skeptical as to doubt
many facts asserted by science. i prefer
to enquire for the old paths and walk
therein" Against these theories l an
tagonize the stubborn facts of history
and experience. For eighty years we
maintained double standard in this
country without "entanghng alliances"
with European powers in referance to
our monetary system, and at the COM
mencement of the late war when legal
tender notes became the circulating me-
dunn we had more gold coin in the
country than we have to-day. / believe
It's estimated that we had at that time
about $210, ,000, 600 or $215, ,0O0, 900 in gold,
and the estimate now is not exceeding
SIX, 1000, 600 in gold, Notwithstanding we
have been coming for the last fifteen
years large amounts of gold because sill
! )ver was worth more than gold, and the
| mints of the country have been almost
exclusively confined to the coinage of
| the gold coin.
silver money had not driven gold out
| of the country, nor had gold banished
silver. Both maintained their status as
legal tenders and performed their func-
| tons as money in all the affairs of life.
This is the testimony of experience, and
| L oppose 1t to the dicta of theorizing
teachers and the speculations of scientific
financiers. / do not maintain Mr.. Presi-
| dent, that it is possible to keep in active
circulation at all time legal tenders OF
two distinct substances where there
is great discrepancy in their intrinsic
value. Our greenback circulation has
| taught us that lesson. 1t banished gold
and silver both from circulation. Nor do
| / maintain that you can determine def
| nitely at all times the relative values of
the precious metals. They fuctuate in
value as well as other things, and the his
tory of the metals will show as great fiuc-
tuations ingold as in silver. The fact is,
the law of supply and demand deter
mines very largely their value. Not the
demand for the purposes of money alone
| but for all the purposes for which they
are respectively used. This fluctuation
cannot be controlled by international ar
| rangement, if that were possible, in ref
erence to the quantity of silver to be used
in coin. The other uses to which the
precious metals are applied would still af-
feet the relative values of the two metals.
| This is so obvious that need not discuss
it further. But let me ask gentlemen
who insist that we can only properly have
silver coin by the consent and concur
renee of the leading powers of Europe,
If cooperative action on their part is
possible. England, Germany, and some
other states have no legal-tender silver
\ except for small amounts, and it is not
likely that they would be parties to any
such arrangement. Even in countries
where the double standard is in use there
would have to be an agreement upon
other questions, about which there is
great difference of opinion, before any
arrangement could be made for COM
mon representative of silver money.
| The character of the coin, its weight,
and the proportions of pure metal
and alloy, with other questions not less
difficult of solution, would first have
to be determined. The fact is that an
international agreement upon the rela-
tive values of gold and silver as money
would be attended with almost the same
difficulty that would be found in an at
tempt to bring about the unification of
| the silver coins of the world. IL cannot
be done, and if we wait until such an
arrangement can be effected we shall
! never have any more silver money in
this country.
[To BE Continued