The Leavenworth weekly times., 1878-02-21

~ pa LOA N"-AN- VA N"A
Government.
pause here to give Secretary Sherman
lue praise for has recent report in which he
favors the idea OF a spopuiar loan.
In the event that silver does not rise to
par with gold the loss to Us in the interest 1
account will be amply compensated for in
the relief il will give TO the private-debt |
interest. The only commodity that will be \
iujuriously affected is the Government bond. |
Every other species of property will be en-
hanced in value Farms, mines, mills, |
and every other producing
interest have been deprecated vastly more
than the value OF the leg l-tender dollar
has been advanced. until property has be-
come burden aud taxes a nightmare.
Restore the silver dollar, and prices will go
back to the point from which they were
depressed by the workings of
the act Of 1878. Nor will producing prop
erty and the debtor interest be the only
ones benefited; the private creditor gains
as we'll for il is out OF this property and
by the profitable Use of this property of
farms, mines, mills, and manufactures that
the "wherewithal' for the satisfaction of
his debt is to be realized. But, says the
poor debtor, who sees his farm or his fac
tory about to fall into the hands of his
creditor, "He is safe; he loses nothing; he
gains" Apparently he does at the time;
but when he has taken his farm and that
mill and the other piece Of property, his
interest becomes the one of producing
property, too, and unproductiveness and
taxes haunt him as they now haunt you.
What the money-lender wants for his debt
is money generally, not property; and if he
d l. I, ba Tnannia1
dition OF his country to be such as that
property in its present hands will be able
to earn money. At least he ought to want
that, for his true interest demands that
The public creditor, then, is the
only one damaged if indeed he is.
The great mass of the people are benefited.
The public creditor gets all his contract
calls for, even if it be little less than he
hoped for. The people get only justice.
And since this is a Government established
for the benefit of the people primarily, it
would seem like sound public policy to in
sist that if possible it should accomplish
that for which it was ordained.
1t is charged that this act will drive all
the gold out of the country. 1t may. If
silver does not rise and gold fall so that the
difference between the two dollars is slight,
it will drive gold out of the country In
time undoubtedly, that is, ii driving ont of
the country what we do not possess is pos
sible. If it does We shall simply be in the
condition we were in from 1892 to 1887. 1t
is quite possible that by and by We may be
compelled to reaGjust our coin age laws, but
first let US 60 back to where We were before
We plunged headlong into debt. Repair as
far as possible the damage done to silver by
the act of 1878. See first what the ratio Of
gold and silver will be when we cease to
debase and dishonor it and then we may
have some reliable data by which to fix the
relative weight and fineness of the two
coins; have some foundation on which to
build. But to ask a debt-ridden people to
allow one Of the two commodities which the
Constitution says shall be received in salts
faction of debts, dishonored and debased.
and then thrust into the background, and
the other commodity enhanced and over
valued and puffed up, made the grand
monetary standard of the nation with this
fictitious value attached to it, is to ask that
which sensible people, conscious of their
rectitude, will not grant.
The low price of silver has been secured in
large part by adverse legislation, not by over
production, and yet we are asked to measure
our coin by the over-valued gold dollar
while this condition of things exists.
Then we are charged with an attempt to
initiate the currency with silver, as il that
were a heinous offense. Initiate with silver
Is not silver commodity? Is it not fair
representative of labor? Can We have too
much OF it? Is not silver mine valuable? Z?
Can We have too many cattle, too much
food, too rich soil, too fine a climate? Can
We have too much of any commodity which
the people of every nation find conducive to
| their prosperity and well being, or too IA
| vorable conditions for the production of
such commodities? i would to God could
initiate the whole country with these things.
Which is better, to initiate with silver or
contract with gold? When we have given
that value to silver which this proposed
legislation will give to it, if then it proves
to be an initiation OF the currency, 80 be it !;
and let our people thank heaven for the
realization Of that prophecy of President
Lincoln, who saw in the undeveloped min
eral resources of the Nevadas and the Rocky
Mountains a vast storehOuse OF wealth that
was to furnish us the means of paying of
our enormous debts.
have often been asked, ''Of what advan-
tage is it to our people who are not in debt,
this restoration Of the silver dollar of Az! !!
grains ?" reply that to admit that it will
be OF advantage to those who are in debt is
something of an admission, and a recogni-
tion of the rights of the debtor is most just
But the double standard of value is of ben
eft to all in that, as against the single or
gold standard, it provides double the guam
tity of that legal-tender commodity in
| which civilized nations have declared a
debtor is at liberty to satisfy his debt. Le-
gal-tender coin is labor crystalized. Legal
tender coin is property realized. Legal
tender coin is wealth in such form that it
commands at will all those commodities
which man may need for his convenience.
pleasure, or profit.
Mills, mines, farms, and factories may or
may not afford their owners the means
wherewith to purchase that which their
pleasure or their necessity may demand.
Whether they do or do not depends upon
the varying conditions of trade and the ne
cessities of those with whom they may deal,
for the peculiar commodities they may pro-
duce. But their products converted into
coin possess the power of purchasing what
ever the possessor may desire at all times
and under all circumstances that can be
foreseen. That legislation which tends to
increase the volume of coin in circulation
will facilitate the process of conversion of
other commodities into coin. The worlds
history shows very clearly that that people
is the most prosperous, that that govern
ment is most easily maintained and protec-
ted, and that citizen is most advantageous
ly situated which posse sses the most of real
lied property.
Again, / desire that silver should be re-
monetized, because We very largely control
the market, because we can produce by the
application of labor that which many other
nations can procure only by the legerde-
main Of trade.
Again, l object to proposition which re-
tains as legal tender only the one metal,
gold, into which all property must be
squeezed before it can be used in satisfac-
ton of debt, into which it must be con-
verted before it can be made to purchase
any other specific commodity. We are
asked by our anti-silver friends to reduce
the volume of legal-tender coin one-half.
Just as it is undeniably true that small de-
Lucrative bodies are more easily made to
yield to base purposes by corrupt manipu-
lation than large ones, so it is true that a
small volume Of that metal by which the
business of the country is managed and
measured can be controlled by avaricious
and corrupt spectators. Hence crises
would come oftener and their effects would
last longer than if We broadened the base
upon which all commercial transactions are
founded. Walter Bagehot, in the London
Economist, (though faithful apostle of the