The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1878-02-21

OF fraud or dishonor. Both houses OF con.
gress have, by overwhelming majorties de.
cided that no such fraud would be perpe.
trated by paying public creditors in the
silver dollar of 4l2M grains. II remonetiz,
ing silver will bring il to a par with gold,
the public creditor cannot lose. 1t is said
that to coin silver dollar of AJAX grains,
and make it II full legal tender, would de.
fraud individual creditors who have loaned
money or sold property to other individuals
since silver was demonetized-that is, since
June 90 1874. This is great mistake
Every creditor of the foregoing description
| is compelled by law to receive greenbacksi in
payment, unless his contract expressly pro.
| vides for payment in metallic money and
these exceptional cases are not affected by
| the bill under consideration. Now, no one,
! | think, doubts that il the coinage OF the
dollar of 4l2H grains be restored, and 1t be
made u full legal tender, its value will be at
least equal to that of the greenback; hence
| no possible in ury TO the individual creditor,
such as that above supposed, can occur. II,
as has been asserted, the average duration OF
individual debts in the United States is
ABOUT two years. think it is less--then it
is easy to see that the passage of this bill
cannot injure any considerable number OF
creditors, it, indeed, it should in jure any,
for it is certain that in the next two years
not over fifty million silver dollars could be
coined, and nearly all such dollars
would be absorbed by the payment of custom
duties, and would be used for nothing else.
1t is argued that if this biz pass, silver will
be less valuable currency than gold, and
will expel gold from the country, in accord
ance with what is called Gresham's law,
namely: That the least valuable currency
! drives out the more valuable, and hence
| OH 10
increase the number of grains in the silver
dollar, SO as to make it an equivalent, as it is
said, OF the gold dollar. TINS objection to
the bill rests upon the assumption that the
silver dollar Of 4l2h grains, if made full
legal tender, will be of less value that the
gold dollar. Mr.. Thurman argued that this
assumption was incorrect, and said il a
greeuback, which has no intrinsic value, no
circulation outside of the United States, and
is limited legal tender here, is yet within
less than two per cent. of par with gold, why
should not silver money, which has an in>
trinsic value. and which citculates over the
greater part of the globe, il indOrsed with
hul legal tender faculty. rise to a par with
gold, especially II we rate metals at 10 9S.l00
to one, while most other nations using both
give but l519 for one? The reason why
greenbacks have been aud are deprecated,
is on account Of the fact that they have not
been receivable in payment of customs
dates, or of interest on the public debt, but
make the silver dollar of il2A grains II full
legal tender, and it will be receivable for
both these purposes and it must closely
approximate, il it does not reach par with
gold | believe that it will reach it, but
suppose it does not, and suppose Gresham's
law to have its effect, to what extent would
gold be expelled from the country by silver?
Maniiestiy only so far AZ silver supplied it.
Three hundred millions in gold could not be
driven out by an issue of fifty millions in
silver. The utmost effect could only be to
.xpel fifty millions OF gold, the place of
which would be taken by SILVER, and the
volume of metallic money would be the
same. But would fifty million dollars Of
gold be expelled? Not unless three huns
dred million dollars was all the metallic
money that the country needed. II it needs
three hundred and fifty million dollars and
it needs more to safely and certainly main.
tain specie payments, the gradual addition
of fifty million dollars of silver to the three
hundred million dollars of gold would not
drive gold out. Bat we have not half OF
three hundred million dollars of gold, and
when we consider how slow will be the pro-
. cess of coming silver dollars, We will find we
are in no immediate danger of losing our
much by silver us it will be by small notes.
Whether the people of the United States
would ever give up the use of small notes he
would not venture to predict; but If they
would not they must agree that with us
metallic money shall be shorn of its fuDc.
tons--that of circulating medium. An
other set Of reasoners argued that silver
would 90 ont of the country should the dol
lar OF 4l2lG grains he coined ; that as silver
was undervalued III the dollar of 4l2I3 grains
! as compared with its valuation in the states
of the Latin union, it will leave here and
flow into these states. SO 1t would undOubt.
edly tend to do so were these states to open
miuts to an unlimited coinage of five franc
, pieces. But he thought they would not do
SO. Another objection to the bill was that il
, it should become the law we would be flooded
with silver; that Germany would pour her
| surplus on Us, and our mines would produce
so much that we would have more than we
would know what to do with. lie had nc
) fears from Germany. 1t was said she he'd
:: eighty million dollars to spare, Suppose il
| were all poured into the United States we
| could absorb it all without injury; but il
e would not be poured into this country. Ger
:, many could not spare her silver, but If sht
could the greater pant of it would be much
more likely to go to Asia and to Russia
Austria and Spain, to say nothing OF tht
Latin states, than TO come to the United
; States, who undervalue silver as compared
l. with the rest of the world. lie did not thnl
G we had anything to fear from m excessiv,
= product of our minis. He had not been con
= sidered an inilatiOnist, but he knew of NJ
o valid reason againstenlarging our specie bas
g s,and if we are to;have and maintain speci,
r payments il must be enlarged. Another OBJ
o lection to the bill was the well.known argu
z ment against bimetallism, and the mos
l. gloomy pictures had been drawn Of the ruiz
j. that would befall our country ii it adopt b
u meialism. He argued that il was by n
5, means certain that the standard value wa
70 less variable in mono ,me etalic than it wa
'e in hi metallic country. An absolutely III
III VARYING standard OF value was an impossit /
ie itv. Had there ever been more prosperOu
III country than the United States from l7S9
1851? Did any nation ever exceed the pr
GO yress we made in population, wealth. educ
g ton refinement and the general well bciu
g. of the people in these u years? And We
nd during all that period, we had bi.metallisn
m for we gave no preference to gold over 81
nd yer, or to silver over gold. These meta
he nuctuated then AS they have done since, an
IN probably ever will do but no America
ks statesman OF that period thought Of demon
nd tizing either. And now let us turn to +
mo- rome for moment. What do we hear? I'll
.er wall of thousands Of laborng men, WON'T
ke and children thrown out Of employment
mt the cries of thousands Of other men who, b
ey a year ago, were rich, but now banSrup,
ey In a word, the same notes OF sorrow that
m affect our ears in our own distressed Ian
es, But from what countries do they main
he come? Two-from gold mono metallic En-
,as land, and gold mono metallic German
h. while bi-metallic France-the land OF silv
he as well as gold enjoys a prosperity hard
"a, exceeded by any people on the earth.
,c. had been argued that our foreign CONNER
nat would be destroyed, would be dsjoigted
nu. the passage of the pending, bill. Had
for not carried on our business during the pa
ba sixteen wears with an nincontrovertibie pap,
in currency, and was not the balance o. lrao
tis in our favor nov? Again, it had been argue 1
,;si G that our credit would be destroyed. no ?,
vas destroyed-by US paying our as oohus s,s,s