The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-15
The silver ni,I Before Congress.

The silver niil Before Congress.
EEtitor DemotvatL The representatives Of the
banks Of New Orleans have held a rnetdiug
and have passed certain resolutions protest
ing against the passage Of any law by Con
grcss authorizing the coinage of silver, rs of
any legal tender value, or except to very
small amount, II any.
There are two REASONS or Inducements ms
signed for the adoption of the resolutions.
The first is, that, whereas, the silver bill
referred to hass passed the House of Repre-
sentatives and may become a law" etc.
The second Is that, Whereas. certain news
papers Of the North have charged that the
South is favorable to the passage of the law"
therefore they resolve, etc.
These bank officers seem To he particularly
sensitive as to what may be said of the South
by Northern newspapers which are In the in
terest Of the bondhOdera.
If this meeting was intended to lindeceive
the Northern newspapers and bontlhOlders rs
70 Southern sentiment on the subject then
their resolutions nisreprestllt the Southern
merely intended to assure their Northern
friends large holders of United States
bonds that they were in unison with them,
then no objection can be taken to their action
The bank presidents have spoken 1t is time
that the commercial community and the pe-
pie of New Orleans generally should speak on
this subject.
It is not matter of surprise that all the
banks of the United States which are holders
Of bonds should bs opposed to the silver bill
would be strange indeed if the large ma iority
ii the people, who are. always debtors should
not favor the passage of the bill.
The reason Is obvious. 1t is. soid the silver
pared with gold. If this be SO, then all the
bonds of the country will he pnid in silver when
that becomes q legal tender.
Can the bondhold'r object to this2 He has
no legal on equitable ground on which to base
al objection. The bonds are payable In coia,
not gold coin. When they were issued by the
government silver coin was a legal tender.
The bonds were understood to be re,ltemable
either in silver or gold. at the option OF the
government. In 1873 the act Of Congress de-
monetizing silver was passed ut the instance
Of the bondhUldtps.
This was intended to be and was practically
a measure Of contraction nf circulation It
struck out Of existence n large volume uf cir
culating medium, and to this extent brought
about stringellcy in the money markets Of
he country. From that day to this matters
have grown from bad to worse until to-day.
when we cannot take mp a newspaper without
seeing accounts of failures OF business men all
over the country, and nl this il legitimate
consequence of the act of 1878 which af,o-
ished with one stroke of the pen the legal
tender Of our fathers.
say the bondholders have no legal ground
to stand upon when they object to the re-
and conditions Of the bonds they are payable
In "eoin,' and when the bonds were issued,
and up to ts79. silver. equally with gold. was,
the coin of the country, and was u legal ten
der i'm payment Of all debts
Have tltey any equitable ground Of ol,jec-
tion ttthe silver bill
When Theses bonds were issued they were
paid for in currency, not equal Mt the time to
10 cents on the dollar Of coin For several
years after the issue OF the bonds, 6 per cent
per annum in gold was paid in interest. This
was equivalent to Is or 20 per cent in currency.
In less than ten years after the issue of the
bonds the government paid in interest to the
holders largely more than it had received
from. the issue and sale Of the bonds.
To use the word repudiation in connection
with the silver bill Is simply absurd, and any
sympathy or solicitude for the great bond
holders OF our national securities, In view Of
the passage Of the silver bill. is mawksh and
misplaced The taxpayers. the debtors of the
country, have rights entitled to as much con
sideraton as the bOudhoiders.
The law of 1873 denonctizings silverby itsgreat
contraction Of the volume Of our circulation
and the consequent stringenCy in the money
market, has produced its legitimate effect in
ness men In oil parts of the country. The
large bondholders have, however. not suffered
in the general distress The relnonetizing Of
silver will, assuredly have greater influence
in restoring general prosperity than any
other measure that has or can engage the
attention Of the present Congress.
1t is to be hoped that our Legislature will
let the newspapers Of the North know that the
people Of Louisiana are In favor Of the silver
bill. and that II will instruct our Reprtsenta-
tivc5 to vote accordingly. CITIZEN.