Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-02-08

The Bland silver bill being taken up, Sem
ator Morrill, said The bill now before the
Senate provides for the resuScitation OF the
obsolete dollar of 4l2i grains of silver,
which Congress entOmbed in 1891, by an
ac. which diminished the weight OF gold
coirs TO the extent of & Clio per cent. and
thus babe long farewell to silver. Ii is to
be a dollar made of metal worth now 53s
pence per ounce, OF ten cents less in value
than gold dollar; and on January %,
awkwardly enough, was :; cents less than
a dollar in greenbacks, gold being only II
per cent premium; but, nevertheless, to be
a legal tender for all debts, public and pr-
vate. except where otherwise provided BY
contract. The words seem to be aptly chOs-
en- to override and annul whatever now may
be otherwise provided by law. Beyond this,
as the bill came from the House, the hold
ers of silver bullion. not the Government or
the whole people, were to have all the pro-
fits of coinage, and the Government all the
expense. This. but for the amendment pro-
posed by the Committee on Finance. would
have furnished power t. enterprising ope-
rators in silver, either at home or abroad,
to initiate currency without limit, and even
as amended, initiation will be secured to the
full extent of all silver which NAV be issued,
for there is no proposition for redeeming or
retiring single dollar of paper cur
rency.
LABOR Is THREATENED
with a continuation of an unequal struggle
against a deprecated and fluctuating stand
ard of money. The bill, if it becomes law,
must. at the verv threshold, arrest the re-
sumption of specie payments, for were hold
ers of United States notes suddenly willing
to exchange them for much less than their
present value. payment, even in silver, Is to
be postponed indefinitely. For years
United States notes have been slowly climb
ing upward but now they arc to have
sudden plunge downward, and in every in
completed contract, great and small, rob
berry OF Peter to pay Paul is to be foreor-
dained. The whole measure looks to me
like a fearful assault upon the public credit
The losses it will inflict upon the holders OF
paper money, and many others. Will be
large; gnd il the bill, without further rad
ical amendments. obtains the approval OF
the Senate, it will give the death-blOw to
the cardinal policy of the country. which
now seeks a large reduction OF the rate OF
interest upon our national debt. Even that
portion now held abroad will come back in
a stampede to be exchanged for gold at any
sacrifice. The ultimate result would be.
when the supply for customs shall have
been coined, and the first efiervescence
passed away, the emission OF silver would
be far below the standard OF gold, and
when the people become tired OF II, disgust
ed or ruined BY its instability. as they soon
would be, fresh clamOr may be expected
for the reconciliation OF gold, and another
clipping or debasing of gold com may fOl-
low, to bring them again into circulation
on basis Of silver tquivaleney. In this
slippery descent there can be no stopping
place. The consoling philosophy of the sIl-
yer commission may then be repeated. and a
fall in the value of either or both OF the
metals is 'beneiactiun to mankind.
II that were tree, then copper, beng
more abundant and of lower value, should
be used in preference to either gold or sill
yer. The gravity of these questions will
not be disputed.
1t is my firm belief that the corporation
OF leading nations Is absolutely necessary
to maintain silver, even at Its present re-
duccd valuation. or to give it any tolerable
stability. As previous to 1850 only All
100 OF United States silver dollars were
ever coined in all our history and few or
none have been in circulation except as
curiosities for nearly fifty years, to
provide now fer the emission OF an un-
limited amount As unlimited legal tender.
in the face of the large depreciation
OF value and in the face OF large Treasury
contracts under existing statutes, would be
an act of folly, and separated from fraud,
as it seems to me, by partition 50 thin as
not to be readily distinguishablc.
We are the largest producers of silver, as
well as of gold, and seek for both a perma-
nent market Can this be realized by oul
separate, headlong adoption OF Il lOw-bullt
silver standard ? The idea that by
promptly coming silver dollars We can
drive Europe TO follow our example
will work Qiko driving an Irish pig)
by contraries. and Europe will be sure
to go oil in the opposite direction. | am
persuaded that an increased, liked, anf
stable value to silver Cannot be secured by
our action alone, except for the moment;
but il secured 1T all, which am inclined to
doubt, it must be secured by the combined
action of Europe and America. II attempt
ed BY Us alone it must surely turn out
stupendous failure, accelerating its ultimate
declension in value instead OF raising it, and
the United States would swiftly become the
common dumpihg-places where other ma
tions, to free themselves from deprecated
silver, would ship ard unload their trouble
some surplus. Alter that, with all room
for ii here exhausted lis further slide down
ward would proceed without let or hind
rance, and without hope OF idturc recovery.
The Oyermastering condition ui an approx
ilDatiOn toward the restoration OF silver to Its
former noble position, as tho copartner OF
gold, is a concurrence OF the major part Oi
the enlightened nations in its rlOre extensive
use as a Standard measure OF value, upon
fixed ratio with gold, wisely adjusted and
internationally and unalterably accepted.
But this concurrence of nations. however
exalted in theory, it is u he feared, will be
found in practice q long-pOstponed fnan-
cial millennium.
DEPRECIATION IN THE VALUE OF slLykR
From whatever cause it CONES. dcprecla-
tion and instability in the value oil silver
are inex0rable iacts, and facts no more to
he denied than visible eclipse oi the sun.
IL may he stoutly asserted that silver Is
stable ard cannot be moved meantime it
has moved and perverscly keeps moving.
not only here and in London. hut III Mexico
and India. The worlds entire stock OF
the precious metals received an increase
from 1862 to 1873, inclusive. OF 81 100, 500,
900, being now more than 80 Ter cent great
er than 1t was twenty-five years ago; and
the present annual additions promise an En-
largement OF the present stCcs for the next
twenty-five years by even larger percent
age.
" hen it is shown that the worlds stock
of silver within briei time has largely in
creased. and that its annual production has
been more than doubled since 1850 or has
risen from $40 900 900 to over $50, ,000, 000,
with some telling evidence that indicates II
further increase in both North and South
America, we know at least one ot the elc-
mcnts which must have largely contributed
to its rapid depreciation. The volume
annually required having been doubled, a
sinking in value became Inevitable.
Whether all markets have been glutted or
not. the fact Is obvious that, excepting the
United States. there are now few heavy
purchasers of silver, and even light pur-
chasers have grown cautious and shy
Russia, Austria and Italy cannot use much
OF either silver or gold, as they are unable
at present to redeem their deprecated paper
money; and whenever they become able,
they w.l be almost certain to make gold
their standard. The Bank Of Russia held
prior to the war with Turkey, $50 coo 900
IN gold. and the Russian government now
requires all duties on imports to be paid in
gold The most recent obligations OF
Austria have been made payable in gold.
Holland. having lost her commercial glory
silver, is row returning to the gold stand
ard which has long gwen such lnstre to
the commercial career of Great Britain
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have done
the same thing. and all OF these nations
have been steadily Increasing their stock of
gold. Our minister AZ Stockholm says:
The change of the monetary standard from
silver to gold is considered az a great benefit
for the country" France has gold in great
abundance and a limited stock OF silver.
which will remain limited as the free use of
silver IN the ratio OF Is! to OF gold would
cause all her gold to be exported. That
ratio, confronting the dead weight OF silver.
has become irksome and 1t is let alone
severely" Unless silver rises or gold falls
in value. the ratio OF silver must be increas-
ed or It will remain only n token Coinage.
Large as the issue of paper money by the
Bank of Franco may be. 1t holds nearly an
equal amount Of cuIu, OF over Si0O 900 900.
three-iOurths of which IL IN gold and II Is
to be noted that when resumption ni specie
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