The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-01-16
SILVER MONEY.
Something to the Point Oh the Silver
Question.
A wall Street Letter to the New York
Graphic.

ity of mankind in all civilized countries re-
ceive their wages. weekly or monthly, and
expend them in numerous small items In
the support of themselves and families.
1t is equally, with gold, made money by
the constitution. Hamilton, one OF the
wisest statesmen and soundest tinanciers
this country has produced, advocated silver
equally with gold.
dollar the money unit of the nation and a
legal tender for all debts. Every bond the
government has now out is by its very terms,
and the clear words of the statutes under
which it is issued, payable, at the option of
the government in either silver coin OF
given weight and fineness, or gold coin OF
given weight and fineness.
Whenever at maturity the government
tenders either the amount OF silver or the
amount of gold specified in the bond and
statute under which II was issued, 1T equally
fulflls every legal and every moral obliga-
ton to its creditor. Nothing can be palmer
than this as a question of law or of morals
and every intelligent man who reads the
bond and the statute knows it.
Why, then, the insane cry of fraud" and
''cheat," and ''repudiator," raised by the
Yew York city press against every advocate
of the reconciliation of silver?
Why does paid counsel In courtsometimes
exhaust his intellect in fierce denunciation
of his opponent, instead of calmly and lOgi-
cally combining himself to the facts a1d law
OF his case? It is simply because he is con-
scious that the facts and law are not on
his side. Hence, and only hence, the bad
temper and language of the newspaper
counsel retained for the creditor class.
Half of the coin of the world is silver.
Strike this out of existence as money,
and the other half which is gold, has to do
double work What is the result? Its pur-
chasing power is doubled. 1t takes twice as
much labor. or the products of labor, to
obtain a given sum of coin, as before.
Whom does this profit? The creditor class,
and the creditor class only. Debts, bonds
and mortgages call for the same number of
dollars as before, and each dollar costs the
debtor double. If half the money of the
world is to be demOnetized fairness requires
that all debts should be reduced one half;
vet the creditor class do not suggest this.
They would doubtless denounce as "cheat"
and a 'repudiatOr" any one who should
propose it. Yet do they not see that unless
the scaling of debts goes with the demOne-
tiZation of half the money of the world,
they become Shylocks and extortioners?
The debtor class have rights as well as the
creditor class.
hundred years ago the balance of trade
set firmly in favor of England she saw that
she was in the future to be in the favored
class of creditor nations. Her interest then
was to make the purchasing power of money
the greatest possible, in order that her
debtors might have to send her the maxi
mum amount of their products to pay their
debts to her. She accomplished this by de-
monetizing silver and requiring them to
pay her in the equivalent OF gold.
Four years ago she saw that we were be-
coming a great silver producing nation. She
held large amount of our bonds, payable
either in gold coin or silver coin. Could she
stop our mint from coming silver the pur-
chasing power, OF gold would be largely
increased, and we should be obliged to
redeem our bonds in gold alone. She re-
quired large amount of silver for her East
India possessions, having 150,000,0O0 of
people, and wished to get it cheap Neither
she nor her colonies produced silver, while
we produced one-half of the whole annual
product She became a bear in the silver
market and sent skillful agents here, and
such proceedings were had Unbeknown 10
our people, that few lines slipped into a
bill relating to the mint demonetized silver.
She then could buy our silver cheap to
supply the $50 100000 OF people in her
Asiatic dependencies, while the gold from
her mines in Australia and New Zealand,
equal in amount to nearly one-half the gold
product in the world, was vastly enhanced
in value.
Germany from the days of Hermann, had
used silver for money, but as a result of the
late war she extorted 81, 900 900, 600 of gold,
or gold obligations, from France, and then
believing she had not only emptied France
of gold, but controlled more ready gold than
all other European nations thought to
double her own power and weaken France
by demonetizing silver and so enhance the
purchasing power of her $1,000000 900 oil
extorted French gold, and reduce the pur.
chasing power of the silver left in France
Apparently, 1t was for the moment great
stroke of blood and iron" craftsmanship
but it was violation of the laws of trade
it. as it were, cut off at home one of the legs
of German industry, and has caused her
20 ao1r or fofr
pace, until now her people are tounderine
in financial distress, while France, with heI
silver and gold, mas nearly recovered from
the loss of the 81, 900, 600 900.
Clearly, England and Germany are not ex
amples for us TO follow. They had special
reasons for depressing silver, while we have
special reasons for enhancing its value. IL
demonetizing it we were made tool by
them; we did stupid thing and did it in
stupid way. The opponents of its remoneti
Zaton, in the light OF the distress of the las
three years in this country and Germany
are like the man Solomon speaks OF when h'
says:
Though thou shou'd'st bray him in a morta
yet will not his foolishness depart from
him.
Our legislators at Washington are the pc
-litical agents. the trustees of the people
They have, in demonetizing silver, abused
their trust and made the burdens on thl
backs of the people heavier and more griev-
Gus to be borne. They have no right to saI
by law that debts contracted in silver Of
gold shall be payable only in the deare
metal. This, so far as the debtor is concerned
is impairing the obligations of the cOntrac
with vengeance.
They have no right to alter in the leas
the terms of the bonds issued, whether il bG
to favor the one party to the bond or thu
other. The people, Notwithstanding th'
New York city press understand the ques
ton. They want right done and they meal
to have it. IL this congress will not remone
tie silver they will choose another that will
III the executive vetoes reasonable bill 70
this purpose they will take care that thu