The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-07-26
rnIaImeut o. 4 FinnilciaI T'roph-

issue would be revival OF puslness Anu
q return 70 national prosperity. But how
stands the case For months.the vATi-
Gus mints have been worked to their ut
most capacity in coming silver; but, sim
RuIarly enough, the people refuse to use
or hold ii; and the silver product Of the
minis, therefore, tends to accumulate 10
the Treasury, and when put in circnla.
ton returns to the federal vaults through
the Custom House with not q little eele-
rity. In view OF these circumstances IL
will DO both curious and profitable TO look
back and zee what one Of the so-called
"nou-practical men" or students Of Polit'
icsl economy, IS the result Of a thorough
consideration OF the subject, predicted
would be the result Of the experiment Of
the demonstration and enlarged issue OF
silver months before the experiment was
authorized and entered upon. For this
object we ask attention 10 some extracts
from Mr.. David A. Wells letter to Murat
Halstead, first published in the Cincin-
natl Comme eidl, in July, 1877, and alter
ward republished here by q. P. Put.
nan's Sons under the title "The Dollar oil
the Fathers versus the Dollar Of the
Sous" f...,l,
When the dollar Of the fathers was frat
established in 1892, When the wages Of
labor and the prices OF materials and
commodities were small and cash trans.
actions limited, said Mr.. Wells
"The gravity Of silver was = matter OF
ysry little consequence, and u bulky,
cumbersome coinage (the dollar Of the
fathers) WAs not then an inconyenient in.
strumeptality for making exchanges; but
under existing circumstances the weight
or tonnage Of silver becomes an element
the importance Of which cannot we'll be
overlooked In considering the extent 10
which this metal can in future be used As
currency.
Eighteen dollars and fourteen cents
Represented by the present subsidiary
silver coinage ofthe United States, weigh
a Mound; one hundred dollars weigh i've
and half pounds, and for every thou
sand dollars that man is paid in silver
wheelbarrow would become necessary
il be proposed 10 remove it..
"If business was extensive, and 1t be.
came desirable to pay at once $500, 600
lin the dollar Of the fathers), then the
yheelbsrroW would have 10 be discarded,
and the railroad car called into requisit-
ion. And II silver is 70 be made the basis
Of banking, it Is we'll 10 consider that
there Is not probably bank vault 10 the
country that can hold and sustain sin
gle million Of coined silver weighing
more than twenty. fye tons. II silver is
10 become our practical single standard q
new style Of bank architecture must be
adopted.
awhile silver, therefore, is not an in
convenient coin in countries Of low pri.
ces and limited internal exchanges, and
however II may once have favorably an.
swered TO conditions in the United States,
our present condition Of afairs-our
high nominal wages and prices, and the
necessity that exists for the carrying OF
comparatively large sums Of money upon
the person-would obviously seem to
preclude the possibility Of its use for the
bulk Of even the retail business Of the
country. And II by law silver should
now be made the exclusive standard for
money values in the United States, no
law could enforce its use for general cir.
eulation. Substitutes Of paper money
would be restored TO aud speedily re.
place il. In short, natural laws have or.
dained that the use OF silver, in any high
" prosperous commercial community,
shall be limited to its use as a Subsidiary
token coinage. 80 a
DEMONSTRATION OF silver is, therefore,
question OF convenience, Of tonnage. OF
gravity. and cost oil transportation. The
Kind OF coin a country should have and
use must depend upon the value OF its
transactions, the prices OF its labor, and
the rapidity and magnitude Of It's ex.
changes. Iron was not ill-adapted 10
Sparta as metal for coinage. Il would
not, however, suit Chicago; and everybody
10 Chicago and elsewhere who will take
the trouble 10 understand why il would
not suit will at the same time see that II IL
not the dollar OF the Spartan daddy or Of
the fathers that we want, but the dollar
Of the Yankee sons that the country re-
auires; and that it ultimately must and
will have, il it proposes TO prosper" NJ
Mr.. Wells said further: rl .
Nothing is to be gained a. to future
Transactions by having the coin currency
Of the country composed OF one or the
other Of the two metals-gold or silver
except so far as one may have an adyan.
tage over the other with respect to con.
yenience, adoption TO the business OF the
country-domestic and foreign-porta-
bility, and the like; and on all these points
and balance OF advantage for all trans.
sections above $40 "a sum weighing more
than pound in silver Ia largely on the
side Of gold, as will be evident when II Is
remembered that it requires sixteen
times more time TO count silver In any
considerable, quantity than il does TO
count like value in gold; sixteen times
more strength 70 handle il; sixteen times
more packages, casks or capacity 10 hold
il, and sixteen times more expense 10
transport IL, In other words,in this say.
ing age, to use silver for large transac.
tions in the place Of ofgold Is q misappli.
cation and waste OF fifteen sixteenths Of
agiven unit Of effort, time, expense and
capacity, when one sixteenth would &C.
conplish the same result" r''I'o'9'
The country has had the experience
thus far Of but a few months With the
great silver experiment; and yet the
time has been sufficiently long 10 verify
these predictions Of Mr.. Wells, aud 10 |
demonstrate as he expresses il, that "the
attempt 10 restore the old silver dollar to
ita place as lawful money, without quail.
fcation or Limitation, Is as foolish and
absurd a. an attempt To replace through
legislation railroads by stage coaches and
steamships by sailing yessels.', ,1,Ei
The mischief Of the silver movement,
however, Is that while the people cannot |
conveniently use the coin in, the lrAnsac.
tiOn Of their business, while, as is proved |
already, they will NOT use 1t, they are
compelled 70 accept II rs false measure
OF value. Ifninety cents worth Of metal
Ia declared bylaw 70 be dollar, It will
become a deprecated standard Just as