Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-05-12
Natrhman & Numnal.
WEDNESDAY, MAY ~, 1880.
Is Silver Money q Nuisance !

A Washington letter says; Z" When Con-
gresham Chittenden of New York draws
his pay and his ten per cent of silver is
counted out to him, he leaves it in the treas
ury as deposit. He has several hundred
dollars there, and says he intends to let it
accumulate until the pile is as big as a
wheelbarrow load, when he declares that he
will wheel it into the house of representa-
tives, to show what nuisance silver money
is" Now we do not know but to a rich
New York congressman all kinds of money
except gold is "nuisance." But so far as
we can learn the farmers and working peo-
pie do not agree with him. We feel
that as soon as possible our silver coin
should be made intrinsically worth its
face. This has been impossible during the
violent fluctuations in the market price of
silver caused by demonstration in Germany
and its large production in America But
when silver steades ITSELF" that can and
will be put right. Meantime the govern
ment does what it can, and all that is neces-
yer coin at the full nominal value. But to
increase the weight of the silver dollar
would only make it more of " nuisance
to gentleman like Mr.. Chittenden. 1t is
not its short weight, but its coinage and
existence, that they object to. They object
to it no more than they do to the greenback
currency They call themselves hard
money men," and "honest money men,"
But what they want is different from what
they cry for. A full weight silver dollar
would be more Objectionable to them than
the present coin, if for no other reason,
because they could make no deusive cutlery
against it. And on the other hand it can
hardly be that they honestly oppose "soft
money" when they are unanimously in
favor replacing the greenbacks with national
bank notes. They know well enough that
there is not gold enough, and never will be
gold enough, to do the business of the coun-
try; and that small coins, from the dollar
down, cannot be satisfactorily made of gold,
even if there were enough. If we are to
have genuine "hard money currency"
we must have at least as much silver as
gold. So far, we have had few signs of the
replacement of paper money by coin. We
suppose our own experience is an average
one, and though resumption is nominally a
year old we have not yet seen a gold piece,
and have not received over a dozen silver
dollars since they began to be coined
There is certainly no superabundance OF
them among the farmers, however it may
be with congressman. We never knew a
farmer to object to asilver dollar in place of a
dollarnote Generally they are rather pleased
to get one. They are handsome coin, and
still scarce enough to be rather a curiosity
1t is much safer to give to the babies than a
paper note, not only because they cannot
destroy it, but because they cannot catch
the measles from it. A bag of dollars has Q
pleasant jingle, and very few of us are evel
likely to get that wheelbarrow load which
so terrifes Congressman Chittenden. We
think his Vermont ancestors would have
had quite different opinion of them. Il
we know anything about the feeling of tht
common people on the question of the cur
rency, neither the blaating" greenbacker
nor their "gilt-edged" opponents among
the politicians and in congress represent i
at all. They do not want an inflated, ire
deemable paper currency. That Injuries al
classes, but the workingmen the most, anc
they know it. They want a sound currency
and sufficient one to do the business o
the country. If there is enough of tn
precious metals to make this all of coin, tn
people would be glad of it. If there is no
enough, then they want in addition a ma
tonal paper currency based upon a sufii
cient reserve of coin in the treasury to max
it always good Whether this nationa
paper money is better issued directly from
the treasury, or indirectly through banks
we think the people are not yet fully agreed
But they are studying it up and thinking i
over. We do not think any large number O
them want anything but coin, or its flu
equivalent, made legal tender for debt
They don't like being paid off in shin
plasters." 7. II. II.
BosToN Herald: :" If the Republican car
didate be Objectionable and the Democrat
candidate one of the best possible, som
hundreds of thousands of voters who are nc
the slaves of party will vote the Democrat
ticket and we shall have change as raj