The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1878-02-14


| were also the money of the constitution.
They were the metallic money of the colonies,
| and afterward of the United States from the
declaration OF independence until silver was
! demOnetised by mistakes and withe9t the
| knowledge OF the people or congress, by the
| enactment of the revised statutes in 1874.
Both metals are suited to perform the func>
| tions of money, and silver does perform that
| function among large majority of the hu-
man race. Silver is especially suited for
| small transactions, end may therefore be
| properly called the money OF the people in
humble circumstances. 1t follows that tie
| burthen of proof rests on those who insist
| that silver should be demonetized. 1t was
| argued that to rebabilitate the dollar with
| 412K grains would defraud the public cred
itor. This can not be true, tor the contract
/ is to pay in either gold or silver of standard
| value in the United States on July Il, 1870,
when the silver dollar of All = grains was a
| full legal tender, with the right of unlimited
/ coinage, and it Is simply impossible that the
] creditor performing his contract, entered
into by both parties, but with full knowledge
| of its terms and effect, can thereby be guilty
Of fraud or disbonor. Both houses OF con
| gress have, bv overwhelming msjorities, de
| cided that no such fraud would be perpe-
silver dollar of 412K grains. If remOnetiz
| ing silver will bring it to a par with gold,
| the public creditor e4nnot lose. 1t is said
| that to coin silver dollar of 412 q grains,
|
| fraud Individual creditors who have loaned
| money or sold property to other individuals
/ since silver was demOnetized-that is, since
June %, 1874. This is a great mistake.
| Every creditor of the foregoing description
! is compelled by law to receive greenbacks 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 if the coinage OF the
dollar of 4127z grains be restored, and it be
| made full legal tender, its value will be at
least equal to that of the greenback hence
no possible injury to the Individual creditor,
| such as that above supposed, can occur. IL,
as has been asserted, the average duration of
! individual debts in the United States is
ABOUT two years. think 1t is less-then 1t
| is easy to SEE that the passage of this bill
cannot injure any considerable number Of
| creditors, if, indeed, it should injure any.
| for it is certain that in the next two years
not over fifty million silver dollars could be
coined, ana nearly all such dollars
! eould be absorbed by the payment OF custom
| duties and would be used for nothing else.
1t is argued that if this bill 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
1 drives out the more valuable, and hence
| several amendments have been offered to
| increase The number of grains in the silver
dollar so as to make it an equivalent, as ii is
| said. of the gold dollar. This objection TO
the bill rests upon the assumption that the
| silver dollar of 412H grains, il made full
legal tender, will be of less value that the
gold dollar. Mr.. Thurman argued that this
! assumption was incorrect, and said If a
! greenback, 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 circulates over the
greater part of the globe, if Endorsed with
full legal tender faculty. rise to a par with
| gold, especially If we rate metals at 10 e8- 1OC
to one, while most other nations using both
| give but I5H Tor one? The reason why
| greenbacks have been and are deprecated
is on account Of the fact that they have not
been receivable in payment of customs
d1ties, or of interest on the public debt, bu
make the silver dollar of 4I21z grains full
legal tender, and it will be receivable fOI
both these purposes and it must closely
approximate, if it does not reach par with
! gold. l believe that it will re ich 1t, but
; | suppose IL does not, and suppose Gresham'i
law to have its effect, to what extent would
gold be expelled from the country by silver
Manifestly only so far as silver supplied It
Three hundred millions in gold could not bt
driven out by an issue of fifty millions in
silver. The utmost effect could only be K
expel fifty millions of gold, the place o.
which would be taken by silver, and the
volume of metallic money would be the
2 same. But would fifty million doll1Ts o
: gold be expelled? Not unless three hun
: dred million dollars was all the metallic
| money that the country needed. If it need
three hundred and fifcy million dollars, anC
it needs more to safely and certainly main
tain specie payments the gradual addition
! of fifty million dollars of silver to the three
I hundred million dollars OF gold would no
3 drive gold out. But we have not half o
4 h,,nd mill IF
7 when we consider how slow will be the pro
7 cess Of coming silver dollars. we viii find ",
are in no immediate danger of losing ou
gold. If gold be expelled it will not be 81
: much by silver as it will be by small notes
: Whether the people OF the United State
1 would ever give up the use of small notes b
: would not venture to predict; but If the.
: would not they must agree that with u
! metallic money shall be shOrn of its fUnC
7 tions-that of a circulating medium. Al
: | other set of reasoners argued that silve
" would go ont of the country should the dol
: | lar OF 412H grains be coined that as silve
= was undervalued in the dollar of 412H grain
} | as compared with its valuation in the state
= of the Latin union, it will leave here an
= How into these states. So it would uEdOub
Il edly tend to do so were these states to 0pe
3 miuts to an unlimited coinage of five fran
pieces. But he thought they wonId not d
|. so. Another objection to the bill was that
IS it should become the law we would be fOode
e surplus On rs, and our mines would ProduC
e so much that we would have more than "
Y would know what TO do with. he had I
d fears from Germany. It was said she he
le eighty million dollars to spare, suppose
IT were all poured into the United States v
1t could absorb it all without injury; but
d would not be poured into this country. &c
rs many could not spare her silver, but ii II
v could the greater pant of 1t would be muC
ID more. likely to go to Asia and to Russi
lie Austria and Spain, to say nothing oil II
r Latin states, than to come to the Unite
J, States. who undervalue silver as compare
Ii with the rest of the world. he did not thin
le we had anything TO fear from an excesslV
he product of our mints. He had not been Co
Oh sidered an infiationIst, but he Enew OF
le valid reason againstenlaTglng our sPecIe bs
ne isand IL we are to'have and maintain spec
rs Dsvments it must be enlarged. Another Ol
r. lection to the bill was the well-known arg
OF ment against bi-metallism, and the mo
OF gloomy pictures had been drawn of the rui
te that would befall our country II 1t adopt
D. metallism BE argued that 10 was by 1
ed means certain that the standard value VI
Id less variable in a mono,metallic than 1t W
re in bi-metallic country. An absolutely u
er VARYING standard of value was an impOss1
v; itv Had there ever been more prOspeFo
~ country than the United States from 1889
ne 1851? Did any nation ever exceed the pI
= gress we made in population, wealth. educ
- ton, refinement and the general well bell
" " of the people in these - years? And -
- during all that period, we had bi-metallisl
- for we gave no preference TO gold over 2
y, " yer, or to silver over gold. These meta
Jf fuctuated then as they have done since, al
=. probably ever will do but no Americ
ri statesmen of that period thought of demon
- tizing either. And now let US turn to
- ro ,e for a moment What do We hearT L
- wall of thousands of labOuBg men, wom
~ and children thrown out Of employ mer
G Gba the cries of Thousands of other men who, !
~ a year ago, were rich, but now baBSTap
In awoEd, the same notes OF sorrow that
affect our ears in cur own distressed laI
Ice But from what countries do they maii
ee> Gomez Two-frOm gold nOno-netailic II
re- land, and gold mono metallic GeTmai
nd while hi~meiallic Frsnee-the land OF sll'
-. -. Ill ee o,oId -euinvs urOguerity hare