The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1879-09-11
MisreHany.
THE FINANCIAL QUESTION.
Extract of Speech of Hon. A. H
Stephens Before the Georgia
Toujc1oturo


The financial question is the most
important of any. In connection with
that comes the money questionable
question that is going to stir the public
mind throughout civilization, in the
next twelve months or two years. more
than any event since the crusade. Mr..
Sherman in his speech refers to the
panic of 1873. He says Germany,
France, Italy, England-all those
countries suffered as much or more than
we did. What the real cause of the
panic Of 1873? 1t was the demonitiza-
tion of silver in Europe. Germany
took the lead; the Latin States follows
ed; and it was brought about withous
the peopl's understanding or knowing
anything of it. and it was followed up
in this country, in 1873, about six
months before the panic. What was
it? From the days of civilization, from
the dawn of the Mosaic history and ante
rior so far as we get the record, the
world has had two standards of value
/ mean the civilized world-gold and
silver They have been together run
ming down from the time the cave of
Macpelah was brought with such an
amount of silver. 1t is known as the
bimetallc system-double metals-and
the two from the days of Babylon they
have come down to 1873, running along
and bearing the proportion from ten to
fifteen or fifteen and q half. In our
country from the beginning it was
about sixteen to one-twenty.fve
eight t-tenths grains of gold was doll
lar; four hundred and twelve half grains
Of standard silver was q dollar. They
were by law declared equal. They
were the double standard. 1t was so
until recently, when the money holders
of the world craftily in legislation got
the silver struck out. At that time,
when, by the best estimate, the most
reliable, in round numbers, there were
IS, 900, 900, 900 of metal money in the
world, silver and gold. Four thousand
five hundred of these millions we're sill
yer. More than one half the money Of
the world from time immemoral was
stricken from the roll of debt-paying
capacity. Here is the fault in my
judgment, of the panic in Europe
Germany. Italy and England-and it
succeeded here whenever Congress
passed it, and no man can tell now
when and where it got through. 1t
was in 1878 the money of our fathc rs
WAS stricken from the list. Some peo-
Pile may say there was as much silver
here then as before. 1t was not that.
They declared that gold should be the
unit of value. Silver was stricken from
its dept paying capacity, and it was
declared that greenbacks, legal tenders
ard silver must come to the unit of
gold 1t WAS to strike ont half the
money of the wor!d-biiGht it and blast
it. Before chat l cared not how
much was here or how lit
tie; that was the basis, and a co-equal
basis. Its debt-paying value with gold
had been equal from the beginning of
our country and from time immemerial.
The effect of this was to double the
debt of the country, and of State, and cor>
porations, aud individuals. When the
debt,paying power of half the meta!
used in the world for money was
stricken from the roll everything came
to the gold standard. L have seen
statement recently, and l believe it
true. made by gentleman with a great
deal of care and prudence, that ten
thousand millions of debt-Federal,
State, individual and corporation debts
existed at that time, 1873, and the
striking of silver and elevating the
price of gold necessarily increased that
debt, in effect, one half, and SO with
the interest upon the public debt. Now,
in my judgment, this is one of the great
issues now before the people. You
know what was done last session. You
know what we attempted. after the ex>
ira session was called, when we endeav>
ored to go into measures for the relief
of the country, to restore the free
coinage of silver and were obstructed,
but finally got the measure in. In an
indirect way we got it before Congress.
We got through the Warner bill. The
bill which I introduced last session, l
could not get vote upon. We did get
it through this time. but it failed to be
acted npon in the Senate. l will
briefly state some of the features of
that bill If it will pass, as trust and
feel assured it will next session, gold
and silver will be on the same footing
as to coinage. Certificates will be
ISSUED from the Treasury for both
alike. Our mines will be put into op-
Grafton. At this time many of them are
like our fireless furnaces and mills
are standing MS dead industries-for
great many of these industries, East
and West, are like great burnt out vol
canoes. But should this bill pass, all
these industries of the country will be
put into operation, and with that will
come new life, new blood, new volumes
of currency. But the people, they say,
do Lot want silver. Mr.. Sherman says
he cannot get off his hands what he has
now, because the people don't want it.
We want volume of currency to the
extent of not less than 5000, 600, 900.
[Applause. The money per capita in
the United States in circulation, even
counting the silver and gold boarded
up, is about $14. When the panic
came it was $45. In France, which
they say nov is the most prosperous
conntiy in Europe, it ia $53. She has
paid off her debt to Prussia. and Prus-