The daily gazette., 1879-05-27
FIRST EDITION.
From the World.
How to Treat the silver Question

tiOn in the House for week or so, has
passed in that body by vote of IA to
81. Precisely what the measure is can
not yet be declared with certainty.
Whatever may be the Southern States
appear to have generally favored 1t as
reasonably fair, while the North, East
and West were as generally divided in
opinion respecting its merits. So far as
we can ascertain, 1t appears that the
measure-whereve 1t emerges from a
huge heap Of amendments and SUPER
amendments-callsf for no serious change
In our existing law excepting in so far
as 1t requires the issue of silver certifi-
Gates on the deposit of bullion which
"shall be received at par in payment
"for all dues to the United States in
"cluding duties on imports. But
such certificates isued for silver bullion
shall be issued at the average market
value of such bullion in standard coin
of the same metal in New York or San
Francisco for the week next preceding
such deposit, and the bullion which
shall become the property of the Govern
ment, by the certificates to the Treasury
in payment Of dues thereto, shall be
coined and paid out the same as other
money. This makes it clear that the
Treasury is only to pay the market
price for the bullion. The contrivance
of silver certificates, therefore, much re-
sembles Mr.. Sherman's idea of green
back, which is that the greenback is to
be certificate of deposit of so much
gold coin in the Treasury payable on
demand.
Under the House measure as reported
by telegraph the Treasury must receive
all offered silver bullion and coin 1t into
the "dollar of the fathers" but the
charges for converting gold and silver
bullion into coin shall be the difference
between the market value of the bullion
in New York City and the legal-tender
value of the coin. Thus, if an owner of
silver bullion carries s. cents worth of it
TO the mint and receives coined silver
dollar he must pay the mint Is cents.
And, in general, it may be said that the
intention Of the bill, as it stands, is to
bring about a coinage of silver dollars
limited only by the deposits of silver
bullion, and in any event to secure a
coinage as now of not less than $2,000,-
600 year.
So far as an opinion can be formed
uPN' sAA( bCiCSi6 6Dllt ICPpAto vi biC hC-
bate on the bill or illuminated from
other quarters, neither the friends nor
the foes of the measure seem to have at
tempted scientific or an international
treatment Of the silver question. Mr..
Morton, of this city, made fair though
brief exposition of one of the possible
effects of the original bill which differs
greatly from the measure as finally
adopted. But Mr.. Morton took rather a
bankers and creditors than states
mans view of the subject. He handled
the bill rather in its local than In its gen.
eral bearings, and really contributed
nothing to an international understand.
ing of the subject. On the other hand
Mr.. Warner, the Ohio sponsor of the
original bill, was evidently guided ap.
parently more by the emotions of his
neighborhood than by his own researches
which are understood to be extensive
and thorough. Doubtless he set fortf
what he understands to be the desires
of the debtor class. Nobody, absolutely
nobody in the House, took up the silver
business as Professor Newcomb anC
Francis A. Walker would have taken il
up or lifted to the heights of statesman
ship. This is largely a result of the
two-penny, partisan and selfish spirit in
which Secretary Sherman has discussed
the matter in his Treasury reports and
elsewhere. 1t comes, too, in a measure
from the influence which the syndicates
for selling Government bonds on coT-
mission have exerted over the question
When Mr.. Bland and his allies pro
posed to pay in a silver dollar worti
only "a cents the interest on natiOna
bonds which the Government had prom
ised to pay in gold worth 100 cents on the
dollar, the question raised was mora
question, to which there could be but
one answer. But on none of the bond.
issued since the Bland bill became law
has this moral question arisen, because
the purchasers have bought them will
open eyes, and with certainty that the
interest might be paid in silver dollal
of specified quantity and fineness
The same thing is true of private con
tracts since that enactment. Before th'
Bland bill the public listened with sym
pathy to the Treasury syndicates, bu
this need not now be the case. As
question of domestic morality and de
cency the difficulty with the present sill
yer dollar Is that the nation compels tn
| clLlZtIS 10 tdht IOT lUV Cciibo - tihii}
which costs the nation only S5 cents.
The truth is that the future of silver i
still wrapped in deep uncertainty. W.
all see that highly civilized communite
are every day getting on with less ant
less coin, or Government currency o
any kind. Bank checks and clearing
houses are making the exchanges. Me
tallic money is daily becoming less AM
less essential to business. And this ap
plies to gold as well as to silver. Th
desires and the needs of trade run to
wards banks, bank deposits and BAN
checks. The telegraph has made on
CITY like New York the money store
house of q continent.
So far as voters are concerned In tn
United States they are, by large major
8 ity, bi-metallists. A powerful minorit
? in the Nest favors single standard G
silver, and still more powerful major
ity in the East and South favors a singl
!. gold standard. Mr.. Sherman will nc
venture to deny that he is bI-metallist
g nor will he say that he resisis every efioi
to restore silver to the place from whic
Germany did so much to cast it dowr
The United States in their present ten
n per will not repeal the Bland Allison lay
d and stop the coinage of silver. Nor wi
the United States accumulate silver bul
ion in the Treasury without coming Il
Nor at pres sent will "the Sta es" Gas Ene
r lishmen and Canadians significantly ca
us) allow holders of silver bullion
I-,.,,o m ,,,nfit of TX uar cant: nor WI