Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-11-20

demand coined dollar without cost
or can carry silver bullion to the treas.
ury and receive certificates payable In
coined dollars for it, which certificates
will be receivable for all public dues
etc. ssi
What will be the effect of this? In
the first place the capacity of the mints
will only coin about $4,000 of sill.
yer per month. So that the coming
process will be slow one and the sur
plus will 60 into the treasury vaults
in the shape of bullion, and certifi-
Gates be issued for it. Thus silver
and gold bullion will be placed on q
par in this country, as to use, on the
rate of l to IL. But inasmuch as in
other countries and in this, silver
bullion Is worth about 15 cents less
than gold bullion, on that ratio it will
become at once profitable for all hold
ers Of gold or gold bullion to export
1t, and in return purchase silver bull
lion and carry it to the treasury and
receive certificates payable in dollars
for it. The first effect will be to raise
the price somewhat, SO that Germany
will be willing to sell her surplus Of
$10O, ,O0O, 900 to us, and take in return
our gold which she so much needs.
This being a profitable market for sill
yer, 1t Is quite probable that silver
would also come from Austria and
other countries. 1t is not likely that
France would part with her silver,
unless such a movement would lead
her statesmen to adopt gold stand
ard, as silver now performs duty
there as full legal tender at the ratio
of 153 to l, it would not be profitable
to send her silver here at the ratio of
16 to while it continues legal tender.
What would be the effect on specie
payments: 1t would be impossible to
hold our gold, as from 10 to Is per
cent. could be made by exporting it.
We could not resume in silver coin
because the mints could not i IS
than two years coin a sufficient guam
tity of silver to make such redemp-
ton possible. Therefore resumption
would take place in silver bullion GER
tificates, and whoever wanted silver
could get silver bricks weighing 20 or
100 pounds. Such resumption of
specie payments would hardly satisfy
the people. We hope our cotempora-
~ of Chicago will not urge free COIN
age OF silver now; but rather insist
that the Secretary of the Treasury
shall carry out in good faith the pres
ent law. There is no trouble and will
be none at present, or within four or
five years in making silver and gold
dollars travel side by side, even ii the
price of silver bullion does not ad-
vance. France uses both metals as a
full legal tender with at least $780,
DOG, 900 of coined silver dollars; at the
end of four years we are not likely to
have more than half that amount
with greater facilities for its use.
The Latin Union still adheres to
silver, and there is no danger of a dis
of the Latin Union. They
have just held their annual meeting
n Paris and agreed that Italy should |
his year coin additional silver, and it |
IS not disclosed that they even debat-
ed the question of abandoning silver. |
This Union embraces nearly 70,OOO, 900
of people, industrious, active and in
.elligent, trading with all nations and |
peoples. The real thing to do is to let
we'll enough alone. The T4aissez-faire |
policy should be ours for the present,
It is most probable that within two
)r three years at farthest silver will
again recover its lost value.
The Tribune article is a warning,
however. to the single standard Of
gold people that if that issue is forced |
t may be settled in a way not satis-
actory to them.